about Jane

cooking for 1

one of the unavoidable, unlikeable realities of being single - modifying recipes to make enough for only one
(woe is me - I don't like being a single)

so for lunch today I made this and it was really tasty and very simple to make.  I only cut the ingredients in half and now I have left-over.   I always forget how little spinach amounts to when it is steamed.  I'll just make a spinach salad with the left-over instead of getting out the steamer again.




Stuffed Balsamic-Grilled Portobello Mushrooms

Serves 4
 * Meat eaters love the steak like texture of these mushrooms.
If smoked mozzarella tastes too strong, feel free to substitute
a milder cheese in its place.

3 1⁄2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 1⁄2 pints red cherry or grape tomatoes
1⁄2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for sprinkling (optional)
1 1⁄2 teaspoons freshly ground pepper, divided
1 teaspoon dried thyme
4 large portobello mushrooms, stem and gills removed
4 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
4 ounces smoked mozzarella, thinly sliced
1 10-ounce bag baby spinach, steamed

1. Preheat oven to 425º. Drizzle a roasting pan with 1 tablespoon
of the olive oil and add tomatoes, 1⁄2 teaspoon salt, 1⁄2 teaspoon
pepper, and thyme. Toss to mix. Roast for 15–20 minutes, or until
tomatoes start to burst. Keep oven hot.

2. Preheat grill or broiler to medium heat. Place mushrooms gillside
up on a work surface and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons olive
oil, balsamic vinegar, a little kosher salt (optional), and remaining
1 teaspoon pepper. With remaining 1⁄2 tablespoon oil, lightly coat
the rounded side of the mushroom cap.

3. Place mushrooms, gill-side down, on grill or broiler pan. Grill or
broil for 6–8 minutes on each side, until soft and slightly charred.

4. Transfer mushrooms to a roasting pan and fi ll with 10–15
tomatoes each. Top with cheese. Place in hot oven until cheese
bubbles. Set each mushroom on a mound of steamed spinach
and serve immediately.

Per serving * 262 cal, 61% fat cal, 19g fat, 5g sat fat, 22mg chol,
12g protein, 15g carb, 5g fi ber, 486mg sodium

creative upwellings...

so this personal blog was up for renewal just recently and I was going to let it just fade away, in fact it did.  it was suspended because I didn't update my credit card info.  but within a few days of that happening, all of the sudden I wanted to blog again (seriously, not like on my MySpace page). 

blogging for me has been very therapeutic.  i started my blog when i first moved away from American, all those years ago. and it really helped me get through some tough times.  just when i couldn't feel more alone or far away from everyone that i loved, i would get a comment from someone back home and it immediately made me feel better.  it let me know that i could go on to experience all that i had hoped for and i did most everything I set out to do.

for the past year, my life has been so upside down, so topsy turvy that i haven't been able to make heads or tails of anything.  i returned from china to travel back and forth to indonesia for months while living in my best friend's guest room. i moved to Arizona and two weeks later I was full time on the road between cleveland, chicago, jersey and indiana for many, many months of work. my vacations, already planned and paid for, took me to mexico and costa rica. my holidays were a whirlwind driving marathon to san diego then vegas and back to phoenix.  i've not had a moments rest until about a month ago.

instead of coming home to phoenix for my weekend off from work, i escaped to Moab. a mental and physical retreat, away from all the stresses in my life - work, home, family, friends, the guy i was dating - all of it!  i had two days of true unadulterated, solitudinous days of ME time.  i really had time to think and to NOT think, just be. i came to a lot of conclusions during that trip and just needed right timing to act upon them.

so now the time has come.  i'm making plans and getting ready to go forward. again.

some things haven't worked out as i wished but i'm dealing with that reality. but i am continuing on the path that i feel i need to go down. and part of that is my blogging.

so I will keep this original blog, AboutJane, as the on-going sage about the trials and tribulations of this single woman, the world over.  yes, my incessant whining about how awful it truly is to be single (now at 40!). it will still contain lots of horoscopes and other non-sense that i find that keeps me hopeful that someday i will fall madly in love with the right man and he with me. that i will actually, willingly, settle down in one spot, marry and start my family.  (pathetic, I know but my friends will still love me any way)

but i will add to my repertoire two more blogs:

only a reflection    an ideal that came to me back in Feb 2005 but abandoned rather quickly. i wanted to explore my PhotoShop abilities in combination with the massive amounts of photos i've taken.  this blog will probably get the least amount of attention, especially if I am forced to do more traveling during the remainder of the year.

and then there will be

Miss Anthropy    resultant of my recent Moab trip and the accidental acquisition of a profound book.  this blog will be entirely dedicated to and about Edward Abbey's Desert Solitaire and what impact it is having on my life. 

i picked it up in the Arches gift shop and I say accidently because i had already brought four books with me on the trip and i ended up buying two more, this being one of them.  I started reading it immediately while enjoying my simple but tasty dinners that I prepared in the well equipped kitchen of the Lazy Lizard hostel. I was as voracious a reader as i ever have been (did i mention i read rather slowly) but with the physical exhaustion setting in as early as 9 pm each evening and my hikes starting immediately after breakfast and lasting until dinner, i continue to read it.  i am just about finished and will be starting it over again as i blog (with that knowledge, it prevents me from continuously going back and re-reading parts of it now).

So, now that I have explained all of that, only the execution remains.  additional time will be needed to revamp each of the blogs and come up with thoughtful designs that further express where i'm at in these creative endeavors.