Y’all are in for a treat. I’ve got two great recipes here that take NO TIME at all and are super delicious and, let’s face it: impressive. These two items, Cheesy Sausage Bread and Homemade S’Mores never fail to have that “Wow” factor when I take them to parties or church potlucks. And really, they are easy-smeasy. I’ll tell you how.

The Cheesy Sausage Bread recipe came about from an Emeril show I was watching years ago. I love Emeril’s recipes, but sometimes they call for long lists of expensive spices and ingredients and we just don’t do that around here. If it can’t be made in 30 minutes, I’m probably not going to try it. Also, my husband likes spicy food so I make the hot version, but you can always leave out the peppers and cayenne and it’s pretty tame. I also changed up a few of the ingredients to make it even better. Don’t tell Emeril!

Cheesy Sausage Bread

1 loaf french bread

1 package breakfast sausage

1 onion, diced

1 jalapeno, diced

1 package mushrooms (washed and sliced)

1 can black olives

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 green bell pepper, sliced

1 small container sour cream

1 container onion and chive cream cheese

1 block regular cream cheese

2 cups sharp cheddar, shredded

2 cups monterey jack, shredded

salt, pepper, cayenne pepper to taste

In a large skillet, brown the sausage. When it’s almost done, put in the onion, peppers, garlic and mushrooms. The beauty of this recipe is that if you hate any of these veggies, just leave them out. Nobody cares. I promise the Veggie Police will not be pounding at your door. Likewise, you can get fancy by adding other veggies you do like. I bet some chopped asparagus would go nicely in this recipe but nobody at this house would eat it.

After all the veggies are good and cooked, drain off the grease and add turn off the heat. Add the cream cheese, sour cream and 1 cup each of the shredded cheese and mix it really good with a sturdy wooden spoon or some such thing. If you don’t have Monterey jack, and you like pepper jack or provolone, go for it. Any of the cheeses can be substituted here. It’s a thing of beauty. It’s kind of like meatloaf: a lot of license for creativity.

Take the loaf of french bread and slice it down the middle, scooping out the bread to make room. This bread makes perfect homemade bread crumbs or hubby likes to use it to sample the sauce when I’m not looking. Next, pour in the cheese and sausage mixture and spread it out evenly in the bread cavity. Cover with the last of the cheese. You’ll want to cover the whole thing with some foil and bake at 350 until nice and bubbly. If you don’t need it till later, you can make it ahead of time and put it in the fridge. It will keep overnight and you can bake it later. SO. GOOD.

Indoor S’Mores

I got this recipe from the Pioneer Woman and made it for a ladies’ event at church. It was a complete HIT. Here’s my pic I took of the ones I made, and a link to her recipe on her website. You’re welcome. These are really fun to make and if it’s a rainy day, nothing will cheer up your kids more than these!

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2012/08/chocolate-covered-smores/

If you make these, you must tell me how they turn out! I’d love to post your pictures on a blog post, or let you do a guest post!