Crazy Creations/Cooking adventures

So it's been a pretty crazy month, but then most of my days have some level of craziness involved.  What can I say, I'm pretty NUTS on my best days.  Thus, I thought I'd touch base and share some of my recent excapades...

I've been seeing an ad on TV for a new "Buffalo Chicken Sandwich" which I thought looked interesting, so when Jason commented on the same ad, I set out to create that spicy morsel for our dinner that night.  Simply by eyeballing the ad, I decided how I would prepare my version.  I began by searching for a buffalo sauce recipe, as I couldn't find the one a now deceased friend had shared with me.  I finally decided on a simple version while a chicken breast thawed out.  When the chicken was adequately thawed, I pounded the crap out if, forming a thin slab, which I then cut into two serving pieces, and marinated it in the sauce I had made, refrigerated of course!  Shredded some lettuce, and set aside the bottle of ranch dressing. 

After baking the chicken pieces drenched in the sauce, I prepared the sandwiches...  Lettuce, buffalo chicken, topped with ranch dressing, and the bun top.  Salad on the side, and we had a very flavorful meal.

My next crazycook endeavor was to convert some plain leftover rice into a side dish.  I had some cleaned broccoli that needed to be cooked, and originally was thinking a pasta salad, but then remembered the rice.  Pulled out the rice, par steamed the broccoli and chopped it, added some sweet yellow and orange peppers - ya know, those little ones about the size of a jalapeno.  I also had a partial can of cheddar soup, so I tossed it all with a little milk, and created what I guess might be called a "cheesy confetti rice."  (???)  Whatever, we had some tonight with some leftover ham, and it was very tasty!

Many years ago, when my friend Denise still lived in Los Angeles, I used to call her for cooking advice...  At that time, I could not cook anything without following a recipe.  Words of wisdom she shared, were to "think outside the box."  I have done that over time, as my skills and confidence have grown.  The result is being that I can now pull a bunch of leftovers out of the frige, and create some kind of a new meal, or side dish from the bits and pieces, or to even take a leftover entrée and create and entirely new meal out of it!

I'm sure I have much more to share from the past few weeks, but right now the old grey cells are tiring, and frankly I just can't think of any other adventures.  So, for now I'm going to call it a night, and bid you all adieu. 

Be well!