Funny how it does nothing for me when I hear the tenants in the next apartment having sex. Monday night I made the bag of Celantano tortellini, had half with jarred pesto and stored half. Last night I finished stage 2 of chili-making with the first batch of frozen pre-cooked turkey/allium mix and a couple cups of 5-bean stew. I let it cook for... hours... enough to cook down probably 1.5-2 cups of liquid. Then I spooned some of that over the leftover tortellini. High calorie but at least there was a significant amount of protein to go with the hi-cal cheese.

And only then did it occur to me that chili is nothing more than "meat sauce" with the garlic toned down, and chili powder and cumin instead of oregano, basil and parsley. A chef I ain't. But a casual googling of "red gravy" immediately suggested some credible recipes, so I'll have to look into that to boost the protein value of whole-grain pasta meals. (protip: jarred garlic AND garlic powder for extra garlicy goodness)