So Much for More Cooking Posts While Unemployed

Yes, I have been unemployed for almost three weeks and haven't yet posted a cooking blog!  That is mostly because I no longer have the funds to go to the grocery store a few times a week to shop for extra ingredients not on our regular shopping list just so I can "try" new things for the blog.

You'd be surprised how $15 here and $20 there to make fancy new dishes I've always wanted to try can add up over a few weeks or a month.  So we've been sticking to our regular shopping habits and I have found out that you don't need to go out and find fancy ingredients in order to try new recipes!  Here are a couple things I've tried over that past couple weeks.  I apologize for not having pictures for every one.

Spinach Lasagna Rolls (personal recipe taken from my memory of other recipes)

I was bored my first week unemployed.  I'd already cleaned the whole house (I mean, DEEP-cleaned) and had spent hours online looking for work and sending out resumes.  So that afternoon I wanted to cook something.  I knew I wasn't going to waste my time and money buying all new ingredients so I found a box of lasagna noodles in the pantry.  I also happened to have a can of tomato sauce, a can of no-salt-added diced tomatoes, a bag of frozen spinach, and a container of low-fat ricotta!  Oh joy.  :)  Here are the lasagna rolls I made (which we thoroughly enjoyed!).

I normally make spaghetti/tomato sauce by sprucing up the $1.50 jars of sauce I get at Ralphs.  I was out this time so I made my own out of the following:

EVOO

1 onion
4 cloves garlic
1 can tomato sauce
1 can diced no salt added tomatoes
dried basil, oregano to taste

I cooked the lazagna noodles while I was making the sauce.  Then I made the filling for the lasagna rolls:

1 pound ricotta (I just used about half of the large packages you get at the store)
1 large bag frozen spinach, defrosted
1 handful mozzarella cheese

I put a little bit of the sauce on the bottom of my baking dish to start.  Then I mixed all the cheese and spinach together and put about 1/4 of a cup on one end of each lasagna noodle and rolled it up, setting it in a row in a large glass baking dish.  I did this until the dish was full and all the cheese and spinach mixture was used up.  I poured the rest of the sauce on top of the rolls using the spoon to make sure it got into all the cracks and crannies and there was still a good amount on top.  Then I topped it all off with a generous handful of shredded cheese and into the oven it went.  350 degrees for about 45 minutes.  DELISH!

Our neighbors below us are two single young guys and our other neighbor on the other side of our wall is a single guy so I gave some to both guys.  Lasagna isn't the healthiest of dishes (even though I used low-fat, it's loaded with carbs and how about all that mozzarella on top??), so I wanted to make sure to share a lot of it so we wouldn't be eating it for two weeks.  :)  They concurred it was a success and I really loved it.  One of my favorites--but I won't be making it too often.  Gotta watch our waistlines! :)


(No picture, sorry.  I can't find it).

Unemployment: a New Opportunity for Cooking Adventures?

On Friday at approximately 6:30 PM I will officially be unemployed again.  It's a lot less scary this time, that's for sure.  But nonetheless, I am a little apprehensive.  I think the main reasons for my apprehension are random articles I stumble upon that proclaim "Unemployment Insurance Funding Dried Up!" and things like that.

I now know that life can indeed be lived just fine on unemployment insurance.  But still--I do not like having a lot of time to myself, at home, alone, with nothing to do.  Can't pick up any of the hobbies I'm really interested in because they cost money--sewing (I don't own a machine, fabrics cost money), and other such hobbies. 

This time around, I will cook.  Not gratuitously or wastefully; no, I will cook for my husband.  It will be nice to be awake when he gets home.  Maybe we will eat dinner together at 10:30 PM when he gets off work every night.  It will be nice to go to the gym with him in the mornings instead of racing out the door for work before he's even awake.  Yes, I am seeing the positive side of this next period of unemployment.

I really have learned a lot about jobs, interviewing, resumes, and relationships with people during this whole experience.  I remember the two closest people to me at the time telling me "You are going to look back at this scary time of being unemployed and see it as a good thing."  They were right, and I have.  I have learned a lot, actually.  It's been a good experience.

Starting Monday, I will be (obviously) looking for jobs.  But in my down time I hope to cook more and to try out new things and maybe introduce you all to some of our family staples.  I am also hoping to spend some time with my sister-in-law and nephew, and try and visit some of my cousins at college.  We shall see!