Whose Meal Is It, Anyway?

As I write this I'd just finished dinner and my head --and head alone-- is perspiring like someone squeezed a whole orange too hard. This is because I placed too much pepper in my latest original (to myself, at least) pasta recipe.

When cooking for myself (as I often do when I find the already prepared meals wanting of a healthier flair and flavor) I usually just improvise. Take tonight's dinner, for example:

• Half a bowl of uncooked corkscrew pasta equals 2 servings of cooked ones, or one-and-a-half when I'm really hungry.
• So as not to risk letting the remainder of a newly opened can of spaghetti sauce spoil (since I only need a single serving's worth), I go for sauteing (w/ olive oil, 'natch) 3 whole tomatoes and a good portion of onion, all sliced thinly. Caramelizing them took a while to perfect (and I suspect I still haven't), and I occasionally add water so they won't burn.
• To taste I add a little bit of butter and instead of salt I sprinkle grated Parmesan cheese (and unfortunately too much pepper) over the sauteing veggies. I used to add some sugar too but I now realize this was redundant (caramelizing, duh).
• Note to self: don't bother adding salt to the boiling water if you just wash it off the pasta after (to stop the cooking process).
• The meat of choice was shredded chicken meat seasoned w/ pepper, stir fried with garlic and enhanced (last minute) w/ rice wine, w/c did wonders for the taste. Move the now cooked tomatoes and onion out of the pan first, then cook the chicken in it, then add those veggies again, folding them in thoroughly. Finally add the cooked corkscrew pasta, folding it in, as well.
• Add some Italian seasoning to fool yourself into thinking the whole thing smells marvelous, then move the pasta to an appropriate bowl (presentation counts!) to serve.
  
• I always try to do this while Pa's occupied/not around, so as not to catch hell in the process. Catching hell is fine afterwards, since I'm already eating.