YOU GUYS. what even is breakfast sausage? I don't even know. well, i do know. because I MADE THAT ^^^^

and it was WAY better than the sausage links that i grew up on. i can't even explain. it's better than the stupid jimmy dean rolls (i'm SO KIDDING jimmy dean i love you and I still love browning you up and eating you straight in a hot dog bun like a crazy lunatic…. nostalgia)

but THIS is so fresh and delicious and um. you can pronounce every. single. ingredient. better yet, you'll have over half the ingredients in your pantry already!

but if you don't, we won't judge you. however, I feel the need to let you know that over dinner last night, frankie told me “I love this Himalayan sea salt – it's like candy.” whichhhh is not entirely accurate, I wouldn't call it “candy” but i do think it's wayyyy better than normal sea salt. and you should invest in some.

because HEALTH. (also because then you can buy a snazzzzyyy pepper/salt grinder)

DOES ANYONE ELSE REMEMBER SAND ART? that's what that seasoning reminds me of. I made my little brother a sand art bottle when I was five and he wasn't born yet. I gave it a pink cap because i wanted a sister …. and here we are. (spoiler: i'm actually really glad i got a brother and not a sister… 20 years later)

Um. so maybe we should talk about food?

A reader/friend, Cassie, said she wanted to see this one on the blog this week… sooo here it is! this recipe is adapted from the Whole30 cookbook! {Basically, I quadrupled the recipe so i could freeze the sausage and have it when i needed it. I left out the lemon zest. I used pork AND turkey combined. and I added in my pink sea salt/fresh pepper/ fresh rosemary!)

You can totally make a huge batch like me, orrrr just make up the seasoning and save it! For each pound of meat you use about two teaspoons of seasoning.

um. btw. YOU CANT EVEN TELL THESE ARE HALF TURKEY SAUSAGES. is this wrong? is it a foodie no-no to mix pork and turkey? i don't even care. i really don't.

I've always been a sort of all-or-nothing girl. I don't want fake turkey bacon. i want the real thing always. the end. except here. i almost prefer the turkey in there. it gives it a good balance. leans it out a little. and keeps the sausage from being overly greasy. YES.

these suckers freeze BEAUTIFULLY btw. as long as you let them actually become frozen before putting them in a bag together…. if you don't, then you'll get a clump of sausage that you avoid because you don't know how to approach it….

the wax paper is KEY. and so is leaving it in the freezer long enough…. i'm talking at least 2 hours. don't make my mistakes people. its not worth it.

how many pictures of my half bitten sausage am I going to make you look at? this is the last one i promise.

SO. the best part of this whole thing. this batch makes 48 sausage patties – enough for TWO WEEKS for frankie and I on whole30 (where we eat sausage EVERY DAY for breakfast). yes. we've if you've peeked at the Whole30 update – we've eaten sausage EVERY morning. <- this is primarily because i hate eggs. with a passion. i tried to eat them over the weekend and i couldn't. i made frankie eat them. it was sad. so i eat sausage or bacon in the morning (WOOHOO.)

I promise, this will knock your socks off. and everyone will be DYING to know how you made breakfast sausage yourself!

Homemade Breakfast Sausage

Author: Ashley Renee
Yield: 48 1x

Scale

Ingredients

2 lb ground pork
2 lb ground turkey
1 teaspoon ground sage
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 teaspoons pink Himalayan sea salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary

Instructions

Prepare the seasoning by combining the sage, garlic powder, thyme, onion powder, cayenne pepper, nutmeg, sea salt, black pepper.
Combine the seasoning, fresh rosemary, ground pork, and ground turkey and mix well.
Shape the meat into patties, for each pound of meat I generally get 12 patties, so a full batch as described in the directions yields 48 patties. You can make yours bigger or smaller as desired, or if you want to make individual batches use 2 teaspoons of seasoning per pound of meat.
To cook the sausage, I place the patties in a frying pan over medium/high heat. I flip them after about five minutes and let them cook for another 1-2 minutes. You'll know the sausage is done when it is no longer pink inside. You can also bake them – I would say baking them thawed takes about 10 minutes at 350.

freezing directions

If you're making a full 4 pound batch you may want to freeze them. Place the patties on wax/parchment paper on a baking sheet and freeze for at least 2-3 hours. Once frozen remove the patties from the paper and put in a plastic bag to store in the freezer.
To cook, you can take patties out the night before and let them thaw. If you thaw them cook as directed above. If you forget and want to cook them frozen, I generally cook the patties in a frying pan on medium high for five minutes on each side. Or you can bake them at 350 for 15-20 minutes!