W.W. Sunrise Over Expedition Everest at AK in Disney World

 (This is one of my favorites from our trip!)

Bloggy Boot Camp (BBC) next month!!

So I just purchased my ticket for Bloggy Boot Camp 2012 in St. Louis! I’m so excited!! This will be my first blogging conference, so a little nervous (don’t really know what to expect), but from the little I’ve heard, it’s pretty amazing J My question to you is…April 21^st…are YOU going?! If so, let me know! I’d love to meet some of you ladies J

Cheeseburger Loaf

After two weeks of a whiny children ridden, mad-woman rushed, behind-numbing, wallet-breaking fun-filled Disney Vacation (plus a little family trip for a wedding), we are back and I'm so ready to get back in the swing of things! After looking, I see that my post stating that I wouldn't be posting for two weeks did NOT show...grrr...so I'm sorry for anyone that looked and was confused. Also, being fairly new, I didn't feel comfortable asking for guest posters for that long.

To kick things off I have a "new" recipe for you! This one we have used as a go-to recipe for years and the entire family loves it. It's very filling, time and cost-efficient (after a Disney trip, I'm all about that), and most importantly--delicious! I adapted this recipe from a Taste of Home magazine about 5 years ago. You can find the original recipe here. What I like about this recipe is that it is easily adaptable to suit your tastes and there are so many different things you can do with it.

Here's my version of The Cheeseburger Loaf:

1 1/2 lb ground meat of your choice (I'm using 82% ground beef in this one, but ground turkey is great in it)
1/2 can of condensed tomato soup
1/2 cup your favorite BBQ sauce
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped green pepper
Salt and Pepper to suit your tastes
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tsp sugar
1 loaf of French bread (l lb) (unsliced)
Approximately 5 slices of your favorite cheese (using American here)

First, begin browning the meat and while it's going, work on chopping/mincing the green peppers and onions.  I, of course, do all the mincing by hand ;)

Some people like to add their veggies at different times, but I prefer once the meat is cooked about halfway through so that some of the fat has cooked off of it. By the time the meat is browned, the veggies are tender. 

Drain the fat and return meat and veggies to pan.

Add garlic powder,salt and pepper, sugar, tomato soup, and barbecue sauce.

On medium heat, bring the mixture to the point where it just starts to bubble up.

Allow to slowly simmer (low heat) for approximately 15 minutes. Sauce will bubble slightly and be thick.

While the mixture is simmering, turn your attention to the French bread. Using a bread knife, cut off the top third of the loaf.

Set the top aside and using a spoon, carefully scoop out the inside of the bottom side, leaving approximately 1/2 inch for the shell and creating a tunnel. (My family likes to snack on the scoopings as it cooks! Saving for breadcrumbs is also a good idea.)

Slather the top side with butter and place both pieces on a baking sheet. Fill the tunnel with the simmered mixture.

Top with slices of cheese.

Using the broil setting, place the loaf in the oven. Watch carefully and pull once the cheese is melted. It only takes a few minutes, so don't walk away!

Once it's done, place the top back on the loaf and slice in 1-2 inch sections and....

ENJOY!!

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Hurry! Vote For My Iron Baker Entry by Sunday!!!

Hope this finds you all well! We are wrapping up our Disney trip and headed to Louisiana for a wedding next, so I'll be back late next week! In the meantime, I entered the Iron Baker Blogger Edition contest over at 20 Going On 80. She picked two ingredients and asked us to come up with a recipe. They were White Chocolate and Caramel. Many of you know my love of Starbucks Fraps, so I you won't be surprised that I recreated my favorite! It's a White Chocolate Mocha Frap...in the form of a cheesecake!! Go check it out by clicking the banner below! It's entry number 7! See ya'll next week :) Oh, and one more thing, voting closes Sunday, March 18th, so if you want to vote, please get it in by then!

Quick Sweet Cornbread

I love good ol' fashioned cornbread as much as the next person. Homemade, cast iron skillet, the whole shebang. However, a friend of mine told me a way that she heard to do it and I usually make it this way now. There's rarely a time I prefer anything out of a box over homemade, and I can't say I actually prefer this, but it's just as good!

Ingredients:
2 boxes Jiffy corn muffin mix
1 box Jiffy golden yellow cake mix (I've also used the Jiffy white cake mix before too)
2 eggs
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup milk

Prepare both corn muffin mixes according to package directions. In separate bowl, prepare golden yellow cake mix according to package directions. (Tip: I always prepare the corn muffin mix first to allow it to rest so that I can beat it again with the cake mix for a good rise)

Pour cake mix into corn muffin mix and mix well until blended. Pour into greased 9X13 and bake at 400 degrees F for approximately 20-22 minutes until golden brown.

You should end up with something like this: 

Here it is with my Easy Crockpot Red Beans and Rice

Enjoy!!