I Love Fall

Yes, I really do love fall. I love the crispness in the morning air and the leaves when they change colour. And I love getting back into our regular routine. Admittedly, the meal planning has fall off the back burner in the lazy summer months, but no more. The kids are back at school (yeah) and the activities have started. Such is the life of a Stay-At-Home-Mom. My little one has started kindergarten and loves it. My 8-year-old can take it or leave it.

On my meal plan for tonight is written "Slow Cooker Chicken". I have a whole fryer chicken in the freezer, so I could make a roast slow cooker chicken, but was really not in the mood for that. I was pretty brisk this morning, so I knew I still wanted to dust off the slow cooker from months of neglect. I had a pound of ground chicken in the fridge, so how about.... meatballs. The kids love meatballs and I love creating something new with ground meats. (It's something about making the ordinary, extrordinary)

So, What's for dinner tonight?

Slow Cooker Honey Sesame Chicken Meatballs

I had found a recipe online, but it used chicken breasts, which from the pictures, looked like it was shredded; and there were no vegetables in it. So, in my version, I used my lean ground chicken and added a ton of vegetables. The kids loved it.

Meatballs:

1 lb ground chicken

3 tbsp ground flaxseeds (or breadcrumbs)

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp ground ginger

salt and pepper

1/2 onion, diced

Form into balls and place on a baking sheet lined with foil. Bake at 350F for 10-12 minutes. Transfer to slow coooker with diced onions.

Sauce:

3/4 c honey

1/3 c tamari

1/4 c ketchup

1 tbsp sesame oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp Asian hot sauce - or more to taste

2 tbsp corn starch mixed with 1/4 c chicken broth

Mix together and pour over chicken in the slow cooker. Cook on low 5-7 hours.

Add the vegetables:

1 green pepper, diced

1 red pepper, diced

1 can baby corn, drained

3-4 oz snow peas

Give it a mix and cover for another 30-40 minutes.

Serve over rice.

Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

I particularly like this dish because there is so much you can make ahead of time. You can have the meatballs made and frozen in the freezer, you can make the sauce the night before and prep all the vegetables. Not only is dinner ready for you, but most of the cleanup is done too.

This would also work with ground pork, diced cooked chicken  or even browned pork chops.

Enjoy