Although I started week 28 menu plan with old fashioned spaghetti and meat sauce (which I had been longing for for the past several weeks), my goal for the week was leaner meals.  We have spent the last several days eating chicken and ground turkey.

We transitioned into the menu plan 28 with a new meatball recipe calling for ground chicken.  Since I was making my sister’s recipe for Greek turkey burgers later in the week, I purchased only ground turkey for the planned meals.

Baked Orange Chicken Meatballs Recipe

Baked Orange Chicken Meatballs Chinese takeout menus, prepare to step aside. Classic orange chicken is getting a healthier, fresher makeover in the form of extra-moist meatballs that are baked and then tossed in a sweet and tangy glaze. Baked Orange Chicken Meatballs are the culinary counterpart to Baked Teriyaki Chicken Meatballs.

The first success was the baked orange chicken meatballs.  I love meatballs that are baked in the oven instead of pan browned…so much easier.  I substituted the ground chicken with ground turkey and was very generous with the fresh ginger.  I  did not use a muffin tin, but a broiler pan that allowed the drippings to drain.  The next time I will line the pan with foil.  The high temperature for baking caused the drippings to burn and the clean up more intense.  After baking the meatballs and prepping the sauce, I transferred the combination to my crockpot and kept the meatballs and sauce warm until serving.  (I have been using the crockpot more and more for keeping foods warm and ready to eat without drying them out.)  I served with brown rice, roasted broccoli and a small salad with oriental dressing.  We enjoyed this oriental meatball recipe very much.  It is also a “cook once, eat twice” recipe.  It will be a repeat dinner for us.

The continuing success which I have not made for quite sometime is Greek Style Turkey Burgers.  This recipe was first posted by my sister quite some time ago.

Grasshopper or Ant?

Did you ever read the fable of The Grasshopper and the Ants? There is a grasshopper who fiddles away his time through the summer and fall while the ants industriously harvest food and store it away for winter. When winter comes, guess who is hungry and comes knocking at the ants’ door?

Initially, I made this recipe reluctantly, thinking we would not like a “turkey” burger.  Well, this has become one of our favorite “burgers”!   I made 3 minor changes to the recipe.  I use Greek Oregano, 2 tablespoons of fresh dill, and lemon juice.  This time I served the burgers on toasted English Muffins with a Greek Horiatiki Salad.  What a perfect meal!   I make the salad frequently year around.  It is simple and a family favorite.  I try to keep all of the ingredients on hand and my herb garden abounds with fresh Greek Oregano.

Finally for Sunday Dinner I made a whole chicken roaster in the crock pot.  I was excited to make this meal because it was From Slow Cooker Revolution Volume 2: The Easy-Prep Edition by Editors at America’s Test Kitchen.

Easy “Roast” Whole Chicken in a Slow Cooker

We’ve got a partnership with the recipe, equipment, and product testing gurus at America’s Test Kitchen. They’ll be sharing some of their time-tested recipes and technical expertise with us weekly. This week they’re sharing how to cook an exceptionally succulent “roast” chicken using a secret weapon: the slow cooker.

I have found some of my favorite recipes from revisions made by America’s Test Kitchen.  For this recipe they related several tips for preparation.  They suggested rubbing the seasoning both under the skin and over the entire surface of the bird. They also advised cooking the bird breast side down rather than the traditional breast side up.   The recipe also called for Garam masala to be used in the rub, a spice that I had purchased for another recipe and never used again.  The seasoning mix sounded interesting.

I do have a tried and true recipe for a whole roast chicken, but we had a Sunday full of soccer games and I wanted dinner ready when we got home.  Seasoning the chicken and setting the crock pot was just what I needed.

I served the chicken with a broccoli, grape pasta salad, sautéed zucchini and onions, and sweet potato fries.  It was like having an old fashioned Sunday dinner

But…

I will go back to my tried and true whole chicken.  Our meal was fine, but I had high hopes for the chicken both in moistness and flavor.  We were disappointed enough that I will not be serving it again.

I have an abundance of leftover chicken, some of which will be a repeat meal.  The second breast was wrapped and frozen for future use, and the rest of the meat shredded and frozen for yet another meal.  This will be a cook once, eat several.

Our first week of leaner meat replacing red meat was a success.  I will admit that we won’t go “cold turkey”…but we will continue to substitute lean as long as we maintain flavor.