Life is crazy right now!

Between two summer classes-both involving reporting and producing stories-I am constantly thinking of new ideas and events to cover. You can either find me lugging around a giant HD camera accompanied by an even larger tripod, trying to catch anything newsworthy or 12 tabs deep in story ideas via the internet.

Today, I was doing both!

I had about 4 story ideas, which all fell through until I decided to just show up with a camera and see what reaction I got. [people are not always fond of the media, even if you're just a student reporter]

And while my first story idea fell through, it still lead me to a delightful event where I met an author who coined herself “The Party Girl.”

This is her book, The Party Girl Diet–

Aprilanne Hurley is a woman who advocates delicious, real food that includes some of life’s best indulgences.

The Party Girl Diet is not really a “diet” per say, more like a healthy lifestyle guideline. It appears that this book will outline how to enjoy delicious food with moderation with the support of a healthy, whole foods diet. I am pretty excited to read this book because:

1. This is exactly how I approach food, with balance. [Mostly, my diet is filled with nutrient dense, wholesome food, and about 10-20 percent of it is decadent things I love]
2. Aprilanne Hurley was such a genuine, kind person to meet. She gave me advice for the my future in food journalism, and even tried setting up other story ideas when I was not able to do mine on the book signing. I am sure her book will reflect that genuine nature.

Once I finish the book, I will be sure to review it for y’all! But, until then I want to talk about something a reader brought up during Q+A time with Hurley.

“I am a single women, cooking for one and I have a hard time finding the ‘want’ to cook for myself or even eat.”

Instantly, I understood her dilemma because when Jordan is working late nights,  I have to make dinner for one. [And, if there wasn't a beautiful spread of food from Whole Food's at the book signing, I would be doing that right now] And, honestly there are times when I find myself eating chips and salsa or popcorn for dinner on these nights. But, it’s definitely not the majority.

There are a few problems when it comes to eating for one:

1. There are dishes to be washed, and well you are the only one to wash ‘em.
2. Recipes usually call for multiples, and unless you have the appetite of a family of four, you are out of luck. [this is a good thing]
3. It can be difficult to use up fresh produce when you are only making one or two servings of a meal.
4. We have no one to impress or provide for, and usually we have lower standards for ourselves than compared to the ones we love.

But I have some quick tips for fixing the single diner dilemma. These have worked for me, and I hope they provide you all with some ideas.

1. Let’s get the dirty stuff out of the way–dishes. There is really no way to make dirty dishes more appealing, but we can make it easier. The most obvious option would be to use the dishwasher, duh! But if you don’t have one or you aren’t a dishwasher kind of person, I suggest filling the sink with soapy suuuper hot water when you begin cooking. This way, once you are finished using a pan or utensil you can shimmy it in the water, give it a good scrub and let it dry! Much easier than looking at a pile things to wash.
2. Google “recipes for one.” There are a lot of blogs out there dedicated to creating tasty dishes to be enjoyed solo. If you want to use a recipe that calls for 4, split it in half and use the other serving for lunch the next day.
3. Dream up meals using less than 5 ingredients, that way you are not using several perishable ingredients. By honing in on only a few ingredients, you are creating less waste. Also, look at what is coming to the end of its road in the fridge. [The red pepper is starting to look a little sad? Base your dish off that!]
4. Appreciating ourselves enough to provide tasty nourishment is something that seems so obvious, and yet people continue to eat low-quality food. I think we all need a crash course in Italy to truly understand why this is so important. Someday!

[Photo is a couple years old ]

This is my FAVORITE thing to throw together when I am left to cook for one.

I don’t have measurements for this because it’s a dish that changes every time I make it.

What you will need:

whole grain or semolina pasta

chicken sausage [sub any protein, chicken breast, shrimp, ground beef]

shallots or onion

mushrooms

cherry tomatoes or red pepper or green pepper

marinara sauce or pizza sauce or pasta sauce

spinach [frozen or fresh]

fresh parmesan

What you will do:

Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Add about 1 tablespoon salt and pasta. Cook according to package directions.

Meanwhile in a medium sauce pan, render the chicken sausage in cooking spray until it’s cooked through and browned. Remove sausage and set aside. Next, saute onions/shallots and mushrooms in the sausage renderings. Once the onions are translucent and the mushrooms are caramelized [about 5-7 minutes], add cherry tomatoes/red pepper/green pepper and saute an additional 4-5 minutes. Add your sauce and spinach. Once the spinach wilts, add drained pasta and mix thoroughly. Garnish with freshly grated parmesan. DELISH!