Strike Out Or Change Expectations?

Last night I cooked a whole chicken, an anorexic whole chicken.  It was a grass fed chicken.  I question if it even ATE grass!  I'm talking made a cornish hen look fat!  But to be fair I did look for the smallest as I knew that this was a trial chicken and I didn't want to be out too much money if it was a bust.  I put it in the oven to cook and about 15 minutes later it was burnt.  Okay that is a SLIGHT exaggeration.  But needless to say, this really expensive teeny, tiny chicken was over cooked and super, duper tough.  After serving my family large servings of mashed potatoes, large servings of sauteed kale and spinach, and a bite or two of chicken each, we all left hungry.  Really hungry.  I might even say that for dinner last night I had an appetizer of the above mentioned meal and 2 bowls of cereal.  So all that work preparing a meal and it was an absolute strike out.  Note to self: if ever again cooking a TINY whole chicken check it every 30ish minutes.  Really check it.  It is probably done.

I did notice a few differences between the grass fed cooked chicken and the conventional cooked whole chicken.  The most striking differences were the size of the breast.  There was hardly any meat when you are comparing it to what is now "normal."  Conventional chickens are pumped with hormones to make them larger and have more breast meat.  The other difference was that the chicken legs and dark meat were MUCH LESS greasy.  Even tough as rubber the flavor was yummy.  I can tell we will enjoy it if ever cooked again. 

The lesson I learned was this, I am going to have to adjust my expectations in my new life style.  Mabye nature intends us to eat just a little meat and load up on veggies and other healthy stuff.  Maybe just a little meat is actually better for our bodies.  Maybe next time I need to make four sides instead of 2.  Expectations, please adjust soon!