Loaded Cornbread Casserole

My husband's grandfather is amazing. He is Mr. Fix-it, Mr. Build-it AND Mr. Cook it. And he is 85.

For Thanksgiving he is always in charge of the stuffing (except for one year when they gave that assignment to someone else, but he still brought some for me! I love him!

Well, this year, he brought his Stuffing AND he brought a cornbread casserole that he had seen on TV. I would show you a pretty little picture of this casserole (let's just call it manna from Heaven) but it no longer exists. We ate it. ALL! And BEFORE we ate it I had NO idea that it would be this good. Blog Worthy Good!

Basically imagine a pan of cornbread that has french fried onions (like what you see on the top of green bean casserole) on top. Green bean casserole on top, cornbread on the bottom. I know that doesn't sound appealing, but just listen to the ingredients!!

What you need:

1 1/4 cups yellow cornmeal
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup milk
1/2 cup butter, melted
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 15-ounce cans creamed corn
6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1 cup canned french-fried onions

What you do:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9- by 13-inch pan. In a big bowl, combine the cornmeal, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Add the milk, butter and eggs. Mix well. Add the corn and mix well. Pour into the prepared pan. Spread the cheese and bacon evenly over the top. With a fork, push the cheese and bacon into the batter, just submerging it. Sprinkle the onions over the top. Bake for about 1 hour until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Serve warm or at room temperature. The consistency will be more like that of a casserole than cornbread. (It was pretty cornbread consistency.

I bet you have the ingredients in your house. And I know you are thinking I am crazy if I am even SUGGESTING that you add one more thing to your menu on the ACTUAL day of Thanksgiving, but you will NOT be sorry!