M is for My Favorite Stuffed Cheese Bread

and Melanie Mouse, It’s a Very Sad Day at Our House

As promised, today’s blogging through the alphabet segment is appropriately named…because it IS my favorite stuffed cheese bread.

I mean, doesn’t everyone have a favorite stuffed cheese bread?

I really try to keep things simple around here, simple AND good.

Good meaning delicious.

And in keeping with that mindset, today’s recipe has been in my cooking war chest for years.

And I’ve made it all kinds of ways.

It’s true, I’ve stuffed this bread with everything but the proverbial kitchen sink.

Like crawfish tails.

And pepperoni and mozzarella.

And shrimp with peppers and onions.

And hamburger meat and cheddar cheese.

And chocolate chips and pecans.

That’s not true.

I’ve never stuffed it to sweeten it, but I bet it would be good, though.

Don’t worry…I’ll be back with some of those other variations soon, especially during the holidays.

Today, however, we are going to stuff it with good ole’ Jimmy Dean and Mexican Velveeta.

My husband doesn’t like processed cheese, by the way.

Neither does my cardiologist.

And I know cubed sharp cheddar cheese would also be really GOOD.

But probably not GREAT like this Velveeta…

…that melts with this sausage into this homemade-like bread.

What is homemade-like mean?

It means I don’t think I could home make bread that tastes any better than these frozen loaves.

So, to answer your question, Mrs. Pat, “No, you don’t have to make your bread from scratch.”

This ain’t Little House on the Prairie!

But when you stuff these loaves with pan-fried sausage and Mexican Velveeta, your family will give you a virtual high five.

Because everything is virtual these days, you know, because of COVID.

I know what I also do know.

My son loves this bread.

My son…what a joy he is to me, with his 22-year old Bobby Flay self.

My son…who went through a lot in his childhood.

My son…who lost his brother when he was five years old…and inspired me to write a book about his loss.

Wowzer…we went from some really great stuffed cheese bread to some really heavy conversation.

But that’s how I roll, readers.

Light to heavy and back to light.

But this particular heaviness in our lives was really, really heavy.

Still is.

And it was hard to share this heaviness with my readers.

But then one day it occurred to me, that as much as children need to hear stories about being truthful, or being kind or making good food choices, they also need to see and hear about grief.

After all, we are all going to grieve.

And from my experience, children grieve very differently than adults though.

I know that’s probably common sense, readers, but watching it first-hand makes that “common sense” very real.

It’s true, though, children have this innate ability to compartmentalize their grief.

By that I mean, my son would be playing baseball in the front yard for hours, and then suddenly he would be in my arms weeping for his brother.

For like five minutes.

And then he would move on.

As an adult, though, I was stuck.

By stuck I mean, like quicksand stuck.

But Robert Scott was able to move in and out of his grief with relative ease and much less frequently than me or Scott.

But when it hit him, it was powerful.

And real.

His anger and confusion and sadness were just as real as mine.

His questions were also mature and deep and quite frankly, unanswerable.

At least for me anyways, because I didn’t have the answer for why his brother left us, either.

I still don’t.

What I DO have is a glimpse into our lives during that time through the pages of this beautiful book.

And as difficult as it was, I felt compelled to share it.

And now that Robert Scott is older, he’s happy I shared it, too.

Because the short amount of time we had our baby was the most sacred, special time of any of our lives.

Or ever will be.

And for that time, we are grateful.

Thankful.

Privileged.

And once again I find myself at the juncture of the blog post were I need to connect the dots…you know…stuffed cheese bread and a book about grief.

And I got nothing.

But, what I got is a really great book.

And a really great recipe.

OH…I know…this blog post is about MY favorite stuffed cheese bread AND MY favorite children’s book in my series.

Or the world.

So with TWO of MY favorite things you get a really good blog post.

Right?

And if you need a personal reference outside my family, just call my BFF Mrs. Pat, who got her own loaf of this wonderful bread just for being my neighbor.

She is in fact, part of the Test Kitchen Crew.

You have to apply for that prestigious position, by the way.

And thankfully, Pat’s been passing the recipe around before it even made the blog!

I love having fans.

And I love this recipe.

So, let’s start with the ingredients…just three!

For this recipe we will start with Rhodes frozen loaves (sometimes I use Bridgeford, just whatever is available at the grocery), Mexican Velveeta and good ole’ Jimmy Dean.

There is a time element to this recipe because you have to allow your bread to thaw and rise, so put them out the morning you want to make them, about 4-6 hours ahead.

I put mine on a baking sheet, sprayed with Pam, and covered with Saran Wrap that I also sprayed with Pam, so they won’t stick.

Let them rise and they will look like this!

Next, pan fry your sausage and drain.

Last step for preparation is cubing your Velveeta. I love the Mexican flavor and they didn’t have the small one at the store (along with toilet paper) so I cut the 32-ounce one in half and cubed it up.

After your bread is ready…so are you!

So, preheat your oven to 375.

Simply flour your board so your loaf don’t stick, and roll it out. You don’t need a rolling pin, I just use my hands, but feel free to go all Laura Ingalls Wilder on us and use yours if you have one.

Line your cheese along the loaf…use as much or little as you like. Sometimes there are no exact measurements, just go with what you like.

Then layer your good ole’ Jimmy Dean on top of the cheese.

Now, pull one side of the bread over the top of the cheese and sausage and pinch it together with the other side.

Next, move your loaf back to a cookie sheet and get it ready for its bath!

Here’s a great hint for cooking bread or pies or anything with a crust…brush an egg white over the top of your dish to make it really brown and glossy.

Glossy is important in cooking, right?

Or hair…I like it on days when my hair is glossy.

Repeat these steps for your second loaf and get ready to bake!

Place in your preheated 375 oven and bake 20-25 minutes.

And this my delightful readers, is what you will end up with.

A bread that will become YOUR favorite just like it is MY favorite.

And speaking of favorites…here’s my oldest favorite…I have a middle and youngest favorite, too.

And I’ll be YOUR favorite blogger after your family gets a bite of this bread!