Menu for April

Sitting down and making my menu plan for April. The days are getting longer and I begin to take soups out of the menu and replace them with salads, sandwiches and grilled food. One thing I can never replace is pizza. We eat it a lot. I make a mean homeade pizza and the kids would eat it once a week. I like it more like every other week and never the same way twice. In the spring and summer, I like to lighten my pizza's up with fresh tomatoes and spinach and a little feta cheese. I will use more grilled chicken and less sausage in the spring too.

A favorite casserole recipe year round at my house is pizza casserole. This is good for those nights when everyone is inviting someone over. Every kid I've ever had around the table likes this dish and some even request it when they come over. It's a nice pantry/freezer dish that can be whipped up quick and you can double or split it and freeze one for later.

Puffy Pizza Casserole
Sauce:
1 1/2 lbs. ground beef, cooked and drained (I keep mine in the freezer already)
1 15 oz. can tomato sauce or homemade- If you can or freeze homemade spaghetti sauce omit the onion and pepper.
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup green pepper, chopped (I leave this out, hubby HATES green pepper)
1/2 cup water
1 package spaghetti sauce mix
1 teap. crushed oregano
1 clove crushed garlic
dash of hot sauce
Crust:
1 cup milk
1/4 cup melted butter/margarine
1 T cooking oil
2 eggs
1 cup flour (can be 1/2 whole wheat)

8 oz (4 cups) shredded mozzeralla cheese (I keep this already shredded in the freezer)
1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Mix tomato sauce, onion, pepper, water, spaghetti sauce mix, oregano, garlic, hot sauce and cooked hamburger. Bring to a boil and simmer covered for 10 minutes.

Beat milk, butter, oil and eggs for one minute. Add flour and beat for 2 minutes more.

Turn meat mixture into a 13x9 inch pan.(If you're splitting this, it would be 8x9 or 9x9)

Sprinkle with mozzerella cheese. Top with the flour mixture. make sure to seal the edges of the crust over to the side of the pan. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. If you're freezing this for later, label and freeze. To bake later, just refridgerate until thawed and cook as normal.

Bake at 400 degrees F for 30 minutes or until crust is done in the center. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

When you're ready to serve, turn it upside down onto the plates. It looks like a deep pan pizza. I usually serve this with a veggie tray of carrots, peppers and cucumbers and ranch dip because I usually have a bunch of kids eating!