So, a few weeks ago, The Wife^® and I decided to scrap plans for Chicken Penne Pasta, and use a hodgepodge of ingredients we had sitting around to make something different for dinner.

We more or less invented a recipe, which The Wife^® aptly christened Pineapple Mayhem^TM.

Essentially it was a few bell peppers, an onion, some pineapple chunks, and some chicken, all kind of stir-fried and then served over rice.

But the key was the sauce, which The Wife^® was in charge of. One small can of pineapple juice, a can of chicken broth, and some brown sugar. She used some flour and corn starch to thicken it up.

It was OK, but don’t look for it at your local PF Chang’s any time soon. We discussed what we’d do differently next time, and filed it away mentally for the next time we were avoiding Chicken Penne Pasta.

Flash forward to tonight, where we attempted Pineapple Mayhem^TM 2.0. I was in charge of the sauce this time.

For tonight’s variation, we left out the chicken broth and went with just pineapple juice and brown sugar. Oh, and the Corn Starch for thickening.

Well, after I had added 2 tablespoons of corn starch to the mix, which effectively turned the sauce into pineapple pudding, we had to come up with yet another alternate plan.

So, the lesson here is that less is more when it comes to corn starch. Add just a pinch at a time. It will thicken- have patience. And always have a backup plan when experimenting with dinner.

I guess it’s back to the drawing board for Pineapple Mayhem^TM v3.