Tag Archives: Pizza Casserole

Fun with grandchildren as winter weather continues

Today baby Allison is already two months old. She’s so petite but very active. Last Sunday I was holding her in church, and she made so many facial expressions. When we started singing, she wasn’t sure if she should be sad or smile. It was so cute to see her smile then change to a frown and almost cry then smile again. Such little sweet innocent angels. She has brought much joy to daughter Elizabeth and Tim. Abigail likes being the big sister and T.J. isn’t sure if he wants to hug her or try to slap her. That little guy keeps them on their toes.

Baby Ryan is seven months old today. He weighs 20 pounds and is a tall guy. He gets around everywhere with his walker when he is in it. Ryan did his best to ignore me when he saw me holding baby Allison. Not until I took him would he look at me. Isn’t it amazing how fast they catch on to things? Jennifer makes sure to push Ryan’s walker away from things he shouldn’t have. She will say, “No, Ryan, you can’t have that.” Ryan has such a calm personality and is full of smiles. He tries to talk a lot. Jennifer and Ryan keep Mose and Susan busy, but they enjoy every minute of it.

Abigail, 3, sings a German song that she learned from just hearing her father Tim sing it. She does a good job. It’s amazing what young children pick up so fast.

In today’s column Lovina shares stories about spending time with her growing grandchildren.

Sons-in-laws Tim and Mose have been busy tapping Maple trees for syrup. They use bags now to collect the sap, instead of buckets.

Yesterday we awoke to winter weather again with the world coated in white. I would guess we have six to eight inches of snow. It’s the kind of snow that sticks to everything and, like our children used to say, the kind that makes good snowmen. I remember one year they made a snowman and the weather warmed up overnight. Son Benjamin wasn’t very old and woke up the next morning to see the snowman had disappeared. He looked up at the fluffy white clouds and said, “Mom, our snowman is up there.” He was so sure those fluffy clouds were his snowman.

Schools were closed yesterday due to the road conditions. Last night we had a voice mail from our school saying school has been cancelled for today as well.

Lovina and family experienced more snow this week in the waning weeks of winter.

Daughters Elizabeth and Susan had plans to come home yesterday for the day with a driver. The driver cancelled at the last minute, so they had some disappointed little children who were looking forward to spending the day at Grandpa and Grandma’s house. It is understandable when the roads are not good but trying to explain that to little children is hard. Their plans are to come today instead. It has quit snowing so maybe it will work out.

Son Joseph, 17, was home from work Monday and Tuesday. The contractor he works for is son-in-law Tim’s brother-in-law. His father passed away and the funeral was Tuesday, so they didn’t work. Monday evening we went to the viewing, which was a two-hour drive with a hired driver. Those going with us were my sisters Verena and Susan, sister Emma and Jacob, daughter Elizabeth, Tim, and baby Allison, my husband Joe and I, and son Joseph and daughter Lovina. We dropped Abigail and T.J. off at daughter Susan and Mose’s house until we came back. It was 4:00 p.m. when we started picking everyone up. It was after 11:00 p.m. when we got home so it was a late night by the time we made it to bed. Our sympathy goes to the family. It is never easy parting with loved ones. After traveling that many miles, we are always thankful to make it back home safely.

Sunday we will already be entering March. Where did the time go? Spring is just around the corner which I am so ready for, but God controls the weather so we will accept whatever he sends.

Take care! God’s blessings to all!

 

Almost Pizza
5 cups cooked and shredded potatoes
2 cups white sauce (see below)
1 cup pizza sauce
1-pound ground beef, browned
1 1/2 cup shredded cheese
All your favorite pizza toppings

Layer potatoes in the bottom of a 9×13-inch pan. Pour white sauce over potatoes. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Remove from oven and layer on pizza sauce and remaining toppings. Bake 15 minutes longer.

White sauce:
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups milk
1 teaspoon salt

Melt butter in saucepan. Stir in flour until smooth and bubbly. Slowly add milk and salt stirring constantly until thickened and smooth.

 

Lovina’s Amish Kitchen is written by Lovina Eicher, Old Order Amish writer, cook, wife, and mother of eight. Her newest cookbook, Amish Family Recipes, will be available in April 2020 from the publisher, Herald Press, 800-245-7894. Readers can write to Eicher at PO Box 1689, South Holland, IL 60473 (please include a self-addressed stamped envelope for a reply); or email  LovinasAmishKitchen@MennoMedia.org and your message will be passed on to her to read. She does not personally respond to emails.

A day in Lovina’s Life: Diary of September 20, 2017

A day in Lovina’s Life: Diary of September 20, 2017

3:00 a.m. Alarm rings telling us it’s time to start another day. Mornings come around too quick. I pack Joe’s lunch and put on a pot of coffee so he can take some to drink on his way to work.

3:45 a.m. Joe and son-in-law Mose leave for the RV factory. I go back to bed and set the alarm for 4:45 a.m. I hear nephew Henry, 20, leaving every morning around 4:15 a.m. to go to work. He does really well to always hear his alarm and get ready for work.

4:45 a.m. I pack lunches for sons Benjamin, 18, and Joseph, 15. They will go help nephew Noah today on his construction job. The boys go do the morning chores while I make them a breakfast sandwich consisting of egg, ham, cheese, and toast. I wrap it in aluminum foil to keep it warm. Sometimes they eat their breakfast here and sometimes on their way to work.

Favorite breakfast fixings.

5:15 a.m. The boys leave for work. I get a cup of coffee and relax in my recliner until it’s time to get Kevin, 12, up for the bus. How different it seems from when I had five or six children to send on the bus by 7:00 a.m. Kevin makes his own breakfast and when he packs his lunch I help with that. I usually wake Kevin up around 6:15 a.m.

7:00 a.m. The bus is here and Kevin leaves for school. Lovina, 13, gets up to get ready to start her school work here at home. Daughter Susan and I are getting ready to leave today. Susan harnesses our pony Stormy up and hitches him to the pony buggy. Susan and I are going to help bake pies, etc., at our neighbors for their daughter’s wedding which is Friday. Susan and I are both cooks at the wedding.

Daughters Verena, 19, and Loretta, 17, will be here today with Lovina while we leave. Verena helps tutor Lovina on days I can’t. She grades her work for me and gives her the spelling tests. So far it’s really going well and Lovina understands the work well.

8:15 a.m.  Susan and I are ready to leave. We go pick up my sisters Verena and Susan as they were asked to help also and to be cooks at the wedding Friday.

12:30 p.m. Susan and I are back home from helping the neighbors. I helped with the pecan pies and making crusts for the peanut butter pies. Tomorrow they will make the cherry pies. We were done early with all the jobs that were assigned to us.

1:00 p.m. Susan and I are ready to leave to go get groceries for Sunday. Mose and Susan will host church services here on Sunday. It will be Rule Church (preparation for communion services) so services will go until mid-afternoon. We serve lunch during the services to two tables at a time while the services keep on going. Usually chicken noodle soup is on the menu with the regular church lunch.

4:30 p.m. Susan and I are back home. Benjamin and Joseph are back home. With everyone’s help the groceries are carried inside and put away.

Joe, Henry and Kevin are all home as well. Mose went to his parent’s house to help his dad set up their tree stands. Everyone is getting prepared for the upcoming deer season.

6:30 p.m. Dustin comes for supper or rather ends up making supper for all of us! We have supper outside on the porch. Dustin has the deep fryer going (propane). He makes French fries, jalapeño poppers (jalapeños with cream cheese inside and breaded), breaded mushroom,s and breaded mozzarella sticks. It’s a different kind of supper for us but easy to do and out of the house on this hot day. Temperatures are hitting the 80’s and it takes some getting used to after all the cool days we had.

7:00 p.m. Mose is back home and joins us for supper.

10:30 p.m. Finally everyone is settled for the night. Dustin left and it’s past our bedtime. It was a nice evening sitting on the porch.

One additional note: We had around 80 people here for the family gathering last Saturday. Quite a few of the nieces and nephews couldn’t attend. Joe and Mose grilled 100 pounds of chicken starting at 3:30 a.m. We had lots of food with everyone bringing a dish or two.

God’s blessings!

Pizza Casserole

1 pound sausage
1/3 cup onions, chopped
½ cup green bell peppers, diced
1 (4-ounce) can sliced mushrooms, drained
½ teaspoon salt
8 ounces rotini pasta, cooked
2 (10-ounce) cans pizza sauce, or equivalent amount homemade sauce
2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
15–18 slices pepperoni (optional)

Brown the sausage, onion, and bell peppers in a skillet. Drain grease. Add the mushrooms and salt, then spoon into a greased 9 x 13-inch baking dish. Cover with cooked rotini. Pour sauce over top and sprinkle with cheese. If desired, arrange pepperoni on top of the cheese.

Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes, or until cheese has melted and casserole is bubbling.

Note: This recipe can be made a day ahead; add 15 minutes to baking time if casserole has been refrigerated.

This recipe is from Lovina’s newest cookbook, The Essential Amish Cookbook. (Herald Press, 2017) If you love her cookbook, consider writing a review on Amazon. There are over 25 reviews and almost all rank them 4 or higher (on a scale of 1-5 stars)!

 

Lovina Eicher is an Old Order Amish writer, cook, wife and mother of eight. She is the co-author of three cookbooks; her new cookbook, The Essential Amish Cookbook, is available from 800-245-7894. Readers can write to Eicher at PO Box 1689, South Holland, IL 60473 (please include a self-addressed stamped envelope for a reply) or at LovinasAmishKitchen@MennoMedia.org.