I spent most of the day working in the garage, cutting drywall panels, and putting the last of them up. Also watched the Indy 500, and other TV during my frequent rest breaks (it is Memorial Day after all, and I'm on vacation)

Bunch of junk in the fridge, and in the pantry. I wanted something that would stick to my ribs a bit for dinner, and I came up with this today. It is just another one of those by chance deals, and it turned out fairly well if I do say so myself. I call it the Memorial Day bachelor casserole, because I just threw it together on a whim today.

zardozs' Memorial Day Bachelor Casserole

You need some bread. I had some left over 100% whole wheat that I made in a bread machine, but maybe most whole wheat bread would work. About four or five bread slices from a regular loaf would do it. Cut them into little squares, maybe an inch on a side.

Fry up a half pound of pork breakfast type sausage. I used a spicy hot sausage. The kind you make little patties out of of. Just cook it like hamburger in a small pan. Slow cooking is best, and get it crumbly like hamburger. When done, just turn down the heat to keep it warm, and cover it.

Cook up a couple of cups of dry pasta. I found those little tubes about a couple of inches long, and about 3/8" in diameter. Can't remember the name of it now, but the ends are cut at angles. Boil for 10 minutes until done, and drain, then set aside.

Get 15 oz cans of jumbo black olives, and diced Italian tomatoes. Also get a small 7 oz can of those baby sliced mushrooms. You also need an 8 oz block of medium cheddar cheese.

Only use half the olives, and slice them up into little rings. Whatever thickness you want. Put these with the whole can of baby sliced mushrooms, into a another little bowl, and set aside.

Grate the 8 oz. cheddar cheese into a bowl, and put it in the fridge for now.

OK, now you are ready to make the casserole. I used a little Pyrex casserole dish about 5" by 9" on the sides, by about 3" deep. You could use something roughly the same size, and get all the stuff in there.

Put the bread squares in the bottom of the dish first. Then sprinkle about half the shredded cheese on top. Then throw on about a teaspoon each of basil leaves, and Italian seasoning herbs. Then pour on about half the mushrooms and olives from the bowl. Then pour over about a third of a can of the diced tomatoes.

Next put a layer of cooked pasta on, then your 1/2 pound of cooked sausage. Put the rest of the mushrooms and olives on top of this. Then put on the rest of the shredded cheese, and finally about a third can more of the diced Italian tomatoes. Finish with some more basil and Italian seasoning.

Now here is the neat part. I set the microwave for about 30% power, and nuked for 5 minutes. Let it set for a bit, and check the condition of the cheese.It should only be slightly melted. Then 30% power again, and nuke for two more minutes. Check everything again. Let it set for a few minutes again to let the flavors blend, and then do a final 30% nuke for 2 minutes. (This is what worked for me, but your microwave may be different.)

Just use a flat spatula you to get it out of the dish like you do lasagna.

I needed to write all this down, because I'll never get it again by chance. Again, this was all put together from stuff I had in the fridge and pantry. If you decide to make it, I hope it works as well for you as it did for me. Have a better one.

Mmmm.......
Wife will be none too happy when I tell her never mind about the pork chops, mashed potatoes, green beans, and salad which are almost done.
Hmmm.......how 'bout we just call it zardoz's Bachelor casserole ?
Good race, second closest finish in history. Last lead change after the last turn of the last lap.

Do you deliver?

If so, bring your tools along .

Yea, the race was pretty intense. I watched Danica Patricks on-board camera for most of the race. Damn, that woman can drive. I noticed several times that she was taking the corners so fast, that she would gain distance on cars behind her. But then on the straight aways, they would make the distance back up. That meant one thing to me, that it was the car not having the power on the straights. I was guessing maybe the downforce adjustment on the wing was the factor.

In an interview later on, she sort of alluded to that fact about the car. It was the different chassis than most of the top finishers had.

A lot of elements go into making the winner, but her speed through the corners tells me that its not due to a lack of driving skill on her part.