[Imported] I should just turn this into a food blog and get it over with

I really do love to cook, and it's a shame I don't do it more often. Money is the biggest issue - it's just so much cheaper to eat cereal all the time. But for whatever reason, with my mom gone, I've acted upon that urge with gusto. I think it has something to do with the fact that if whatever I cook turns out completely sucky, no one has to know about it but me.

Now, I'll try anything once - which is a complete lie because seafood is disgusting, and I can't even stand the smell, let alone the idea of shoving it down my gullet, but that's exactly what people say right before they tell you about some really gross sounding dish they tried, so that's why I'm saying it now. Because this dish does sound kind of gross. It's chicken with teriyaki sauce, ranch dressing, cheddar cheese, and bacon bits. What the heck kind of combination is that? Well, it got good enough reviews on the website on which I found it, so I went for it.

Now, as much as I love cooking, I hate this part: the handling of raw meat. More specifically, cutting off the fat from raw meat.


Ew ew ew ew ew. It's enough to make anyone a vegetarian. But then I remember how good meat tastes and how much vegetarians annoy the bejeezus out of me, so my disgust is usually short-lived.


All the ingredients laid out (including greed onion, which I didn't mention earlier). The recipe said to use vegetable oil for sauteing the chicken in, but the people on all those fancy cooking shows always insist on using extra virgin olive oil. So, I went with that.


After I sauted the chicken, I brushed on the teriyaki. I actually used teriyaki with honey in it, because between that and the bacon bits, the salt content was raising my blood pressure just from reading about it, so I figured the sweetness of the honey would balance it out a bit. (I WAS RIGHT, OMG TEH SALT)


Then I brushed on the ranch, at which point I realized how little sense this recipe was actually making. But lo! I pressed on!


Finally, I put on the rest of the ingredients - the cheese, the bacon bits, the green onions - and while I don't have a photo of the Before part, here's a picture of the After, after it baked in the oven:


It was definitely unique. But it was really tasty, believe it or not, and I'd certainly make it again. The only thing I'd do differently is I'd marinate the chicken in some extra teriyaki beforehand, because the chicken itself tasted quite bland unless I sopped it up in the sauce with each bite.


I have two pieces remaining (I halved the recipe, actually), so if anyone would like to come over for left overs, you're more than welcome. I don't think anyone lives close enough to do so, but still - can't no one say I ain't never shared.

Also, I think my pie was a success. My aunt, uncle, and cousin all had a slice last night, and each one of them had only clean plates left. I figure if they were eating it just to be polite, there'd at least be little pieces and cut up bits that they had merely shuffled around on their plates to fool me. But since that wasn't the case, since they left not a morsel, I think I can give myself a pat on the back for a pie well done. Good job, self.