What We Had For Dinner, Day 13

Cheesy Lasagna -Vegetarian Style

preheat oven to 375 degrees

12 lasagna noodles

1 quart crushed or whole tomatoes 
with juice
2 TBS fresh basil
1/2 onion, chopped fine
2 cloves garlic, minced

1 package tofu, pressed and crumbled
1 egg, beaten (optional)
1 8oz. package non-diary, 
mozzarella style Daiya cheese 
or 8 oz. shredded mozzarella
1 TBS fresh parsley
1 TBS fresh basil
1/2 - 1 tsp salt

Cook lasagna noodles according to pkg. directions.

Cook tomatoes with basil, onion and garlic and simmer until onion is translucent. Set aside.

Crumble tofu into a medium bowl. Add egg, 1/2 package (4 oz.) cheese, parsley, basil, salt and mix well. Use in place of ricotta cheese)

In a 9 X13 inch baking dish, layer sauce, noodles, tofu mixture; repeat. Top with remaining sauce and cheese. Bake covered in a 375 degree oven for 30 minutes. Uncover for 15 minutes more. 

Serves 6-10

What We Had For Dinner, Day 12

OOPS! You'll have to use your imagination for this one! I forgot to photograph dinner last night!

We had pesto with penne pasta, bread and a salad. Dining on pennies!

What We Had For Dinner, Day 11

Fun Friday = Cooks Night Off!

Tonight we decided to splurge and have a little fire pit. Enjoyed the grilled hotdogs, chips and smores! Furlough fun...

What We Had For Dinner, Day 10

Still no sign of a paycheck...

Lentils and Pasta
(The Good Housekeeping Step-by-Step Cookbook)

1 cup lentils
1 small onion, chopped
1 ounce ham, chopped (1/4 cup) 
 *we didn't have ham so we left it out.
1 medium carrot, chopped
1 medium celery stalk, chopped
1garlic clove, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil

3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 cup ditalini or small shell pasta
1/4 cup chopped fresh parley
Flat leaf parsley sprig for garnish

Rinse lentils with cold running water and discard any stones or shriveled lentils. On cutting board, chop (ham), onion, celery, and garlic together until very fine. In a 3-quart saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add (ham)-vegetable mixture and cook, stirring often, 10 minutes, or until tender.

Stir in lentils and 3 cups water; heat to boiling over high heat. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 15 minutes. Stir in salt and pepper; cover and cook 15 minutes longer, or until lentils are just tender. 

Meanwhile, cook ditalini as label directs; drain. Stir ditalini and chopped parsley into lentils; garnish. Serve with green salad.

Serves 4-6 people (cost of dinner, less than $1.00 per person)

What We Had For Dinner Last Night, Day 9

Last night we needed a little something to cheer us up as we geared up for day 10 with no pay check in sight. Clams are amazingly tasty and inexpensive. We found Bumblebee Clams for 1.25 a can. 

Cost of this meal: approx.  $2.00 a person. Light some candles, serve ice water in wine glasses with a slice of lemon and try to relax.

Steve's Linguine and Clam Sauce

1 pkg. Linguine (cooked according to pkg. directions)

2 cans, 6.5 oz. minced clams with juice
1/2 medium onion, diced fine
2 cloves garlic, minced
olive oil (or dry saute)
salt and pepper to taste
Fresh Parsley


In a medium pan, add a little olive oil and saute onion and garlic until onion is translucent. Add clams with their own juice and simmer for about 10 minutes until the liquid reduces a bit. 

While the sauce is simmering, cook linguine according to package directions.

When the sauce has reduced, add salt and pepper to taste. We had some Trader's "4 buck chuck" white wine on hand; horrible to drink, great for cooking...so, we threw that in for flavor.

Add parsley and stir sauce just before serving. 

Serve hot over linguine with No Knead Bread and Green Salad. Serves 4.

Mary's No Knead Bread

1 1/2 cups warm water (100 degrees)
scant Tbs active dry yeast
drizzle of honey or tsp or so of sugar (really, it's not rocket science)
1 tsp salt

3 1/4 cups all purpose flour (I usually sub 1 cup whole wheat)
1 cup hot water in an oven proof baking dish


Combine warm water, yeast, honey, and salt in a medium to large bowl. Let sit 5 minutes or until yeast is disolved. 




Add 3 cups of flour, stir to combine (DO NOT KNEAD). Dough should be soft, but still form a ball. If too wet, add 1/4 cup xtra flour a little at a time until consistency is that of a soft dough.

Cover with a damp tea towel and let rise 1-2 hours until double in bulk. 

Turn dough out onto a floured piece of parchment (if you don't have parchment, upturn a cookie sheet and lightly flour that). Form dough with floured hands, into a round or oblong form. 

Dust with flour and make three or four shallow cuts across the top (this allows air to escape while cooking).

Slide parchment onto hot baking stone or upturned cookie sheet. Place baking dish with hot water in bottom of oven. Bake in a preheated oven at 450 for 25 minutes. Allow bread to cool completely before slicing.

*variation: For more of an artisan crumb, leave out the whole wheat flour and do not preheat the oven. Instead, place bread and water in when you turn it on. 

If you have any recipe ideas for the furlough or if you make one of ours and like it, please let us know in the comment section! If you are furloughed let us know what agency you work for (or are not working for, as the case may be at the moment) and how you are coping! Maybe even toss in a little furlough humor if you have any.  We could use that.

Cheers,
Mary and Steve

Welcome to the Furlough Cookbook, a.k.a. 101 Ways to Eat Beans and Rice

Welcome to our journey through the pantry.

As day 10 of the shutdown continues, my husband and I (like thousands of others) are busy trying to find creative ways to feed our family of four, while spending as little money as possible. Luckily the pantry is stocked for now, but with no pay check in sight as we head into mid-October, we will be eating beans and rice. Maybe, even three times a day. I joke, but I may not be joking for long...

My husband and I have been spending his furloughed time inventing and searching for recipes that are inexpensive or made with basic ingredients. Everyday until the shutdown is over we will share "What We Had for Dinner Last Night." We hope you enjoy the recipes.

If you have any recipe ideas for the furlough or if you make one of ours, please let us know in the comment section!

If you are furloughed let us know what agency you work for (or are not working for, as the case may be at the moment) and how you are coping! Maybe even toss in a little furlough humor if you have any.  We could use that.

Cheers,
Mary and Steve