SPOILER ALERT: Awesome recipe for teriyaki chicken at the end of this bloggeronie.

So, a not so glorified but still pretty epic award was given to me by whoever has the rights to do so over at MTV and/or Harras and/or Harmonix; the award being "Best Pipes" of the Total Rock Total Rewards Rockband competition hosted by said industries above, that happened this past June. I must say I am humbled by the little tid bit of recognition on their part. With all the trouble I have had dealing with my self confidence issues, the Atlantic City competition really jump started my confidence, and this "best pipes" award has done that for me even more.

So I am making a promise to myself: to go out, have fun, and not freak out about trying to be who I know I am inside. I will go to karaoke when I say I will, and actually karaoke. I will not shy away from praise and applause, or brush it off like it is not important. Because being recognized for excellence in something should be embraced, not scorned.

In other news, I have begun to ponder ideas for a book. I am still in the infant stages; I don't even know what type of book I will write. Writing some fiction has always been a deep desire of mine, but it is such a huge process to begin with that I fear I will fail each attempt without some sort of training. So, what then? A children's series seems easy and profitable, but is it fulfilling at all? The best part about it would be that I could illustrate and write the book. My biggest and best ideas have centered around cook books. I love food (and whoever doesn't must not be human), and I love to cook. But cookbooks are no niche, and the only way to be successful with one (or at least this is how I see it) is to write a cook book that is either novelty, or focused on "healthy eating." So novelty it is; because my views on healthy eating or dieting, no matter how accurate they may be, will likely be criticized by many. So how about cooking for the lazy? Or healthier cooking for the couch potato? How about "From Can, to Can-do! A guide to turning canned and boxed food into tasty masterpieces!" A novelty cook book is not just funny, and fun to read, and fun to cook, but seems most fun to make! So, before I even establish the type I will write, I must write and consolidate a bunch of recipes! And so, without further ado, TERIYAKI CHICKEN!

Ingredients

• A breast of chicken per person (now, I buy Safeway brand chicken, and the breasts are usually either very large, or very small, but the bag is always totaled at 8lbs)
• Your favorite Teriyaki sauce. Recently I have been using Soy Vay. It is super delish, super kosher (I think-may want to look that up), and super awesome. You can use your own favorite sauce, but I recommend a sauce that is thick/syrupy to some extent, because a thin sauce - like a marinade - will not work with the way I am cooking this dish; i.e. if it has the consistency of soy sauce, it is no good.
• Broccoli! This is the only veggie I use, but I have been known to add green or red peppers, and maybe carrots. Instructions for cooking either will be included.
• Rice Noodles. These are the type of yum yum noodles you can find in the "Asian" section. I buy mine at the official Asian Seafood market in my area. No matter where you get them, just know that there are a few rules to rice noodles (at least, according to ME): 1) The less you understand/ can read on the package, the better the noodles. This rule is usually valid in all cases (unless the noodles look super gross to you). 2) NOT ALL RICE NOODLES ARE CREATED EQUAL. Some are thicker, some or thinner, some are more opaque, some are super solid. Which leads to rule 3) The thinner the noodle is based on how many layers/ loops the noodles are in. It is tough to explain this, sorry; for example, super thin/flat noodles are coiled like x-mas lights around the plastic thing you wrap x-mas lights around, and packaged in a way so that the layers are visible from the side of the packaging, and a flat layer of rows of noodles is facing up; the thicker noodles have less of this wrapping (less layers of it) and are often packaged so that the layers are visible on top, and the flat row of noodles is visible on the side. I KNOW THIS IS COMPLICATED, BUT ITS THE ONLY WAY I CAN THINK OF EXPLAINING IT. What also may help is: thinner noodles are packaged hamburger style, and thicker are packaged hot dog style. 4) transparent=thinner noodles + take less time to cook. Foggier/ solid=thicker noodles + take longer to cook. DISCLAIMER: You can use rice - which is more typical for teriyaki [anything] and is super delicious. However, rice is easy to make and boring sometimes, so it will not be part of this teriyaki!

So there are your ingredients.

But my apologies folks: for Cody's sake, I am kicking myself off the computer, and finishing my recipe instructions another time. Apologies to those who wanted to make this for their 4th meal.