That’s the way I cook a lot too. I have started to kinda keep some notes as I go. When Hubby says I hope you can make that again, at least I have an idea what is what.LOL
My wife is a by the book, by the recipe cook. Her meals are delicious. I grill, smoke, cook chili, spaghetti, Chinese etc. by the seat of my pants. Even when people tell me I have nailed it, I continue to experiment. I need help.
Mess, as in mess hall meal; it is NEVER a mess in the other sense.
One was so well liked by both us & friends that we had to spend a few weeks perfecting and duplicating and recording ingredients and amounts, so she could enter it in a cook off. Ate it until it ran out of our ears, but it was worth it: it took First Place in the Main Dish-Poultry category.