Cleanup time

My goal tonight was to start cleaning out the refrigerator and pantry. The produce drawer is overflowing with the vegetables I can't seem to convince Jim to eat, while the meat drawer only contains pancetta and proscuitto. I'm exaggerating a bit with Jim and the veggies of course. It's not that he doesn't like them. He just isn't all that good about keeping space in his stomach for them.

Last night was the first night in close to a week where I attempted to sleep Ny-Quil free, and it was a disaster. Something woke me up at 2:30 am and I couldn't fall back asleep thereafter. I had several cookbooks above me on my headboard, and so I started flipping through them instead of counting sheep. I found a scat recipe for a sausage pizza casserole, and the rest is history.

I got to use a can of Pillsbury pizza dough that's been in the fridge for quite a while, provolone cheese, green bell pepper, red onion, a can of olives, and jarred marinara sauce. I only had to buy sausage and mushrooms, and I needed mushrooms anyway for my upcoming potluck with M & R. I trimmed down the recipe by buying chicken sausage instead of pork, and the provolone that I used was reduced-fat. It was an incredibly easy dish. All I had to do was brown the sausage and chop the veggies. Then came the assembly: I sprayed the baking pan with nonstick spray, unrolled the dough, plopped down the sauce, sausage, veggies, and then topped it off with the cheese. The dish went into the oven for 35 minutes and came out all brown and crusty. Jim liked it, although I'm a little concerned about leftovers. The dish was on the watery side, and I have this sinking feeling that it's going to be awfully soggy. I just hope it's edible tonight.

The plan is to keep getting through the veggies tomorrow. I'll be roasting eggplant, red bell peppers, mushrooms, and onions for a baked penne dish for my potluck. The recipe will also use the rest of the marinara sauce I opened tonight. I'm excited to make it--I think the smoked mozzarella and fontina will make the dish extra special.