The bachelor lifestyle has it’s downsides. My last night in San Diego Mamma Walls made this wonderful turkey-sausage lasagna. We stuffed ourselves on it so much Chrissie had to roll onto the couch, grab her tummy and moan for her stomach to “digest faster.” I must say I ate a ton as well, but I can handle a full stomach better than most people 😉

This week, tiring of Marie Calendars(tm) Pot Pies for the 3rd night in a row I decided to build a lasagna of my own. This dish would be a monument to culinary engineering. Not only would it satiate my hunger but it would be quick to reheat, portable – for easy lunch access – and tasty. I had all the basic ingredients: ground turkey, noodles, sauce, onions, know-how and a 9×12-baking dish. I stopped by the store on my way home and picked up some zucchini (bet you didn’t know I knew how to spell that!), mushrooms, cheese, then I paid the electric bill and was ready to bake!

I must say the process of making the lasagna went very smoothly, but then, I am a PROFESSIONAL process engineer, so there was really no surprise there. The surprise was in just how much fixings I really had. I wasn’t “technically” using a recipe but going off of instinct. I was channeling Martha Stewart, Jamie Oliver, and Dom Deluise. The noodles were flabby, the meat was brown, the veggies were soft – but not soggy. It was time to put it all together. That’s when the plan started going south.

I had so many fixings I couldn’t possibly fit them all into the dish. One layer of noodles, one of meat, veggies, more noodles, more meat, presto the baking dish was full and I still had a lot ingredients left to go. But wait, where