Homemade Turkey Sausage with Lemon, Thyme, and Sage

Homemade Turkey Sausage

Whoa!  I've not posted any new recipes in quite awhile. Truth be told, I've gotten a little off track with healthy eating... some old bad habits have crept back in.  Being retired, going out for dinner... specifically pizza and beer... is a source of entertainment.  And we discovered a really good donut called a "Pinecone" at a local mom and pop donut shop. Such a nice treat after our early morning hikes!  Somedays I do really well, eating healthy and conscientiously all day long. But then around 8:00 pm, a glass of wine (or a beer or two) and a salty, crunch snack sounds great.  The pounds are creeping back.

I decided to challenge myself to take the plunge and am doing a Whole30 Challenge. Today is Day 2.  You can find more information about the Whole30 on the Internet, but in a nutshell, you eliminate many things from your diet for 30 days... dairy, gluten, legumes, alcohol, sugar, grains, and others.  Instead you focus on lots of vegetables, healthy proteins, healthy fats, and some fruit.  After the 30 days, you slowly start to reintroduce food groups to see how your body responds.  The process is said to help identify food sensitivities and can also help with a variety of ailments such as hormonal imbalance, inflammation, joint pain, skin problems, high blood pressure, heartburn, migraines, allergies, high cholesterol... the list goes on and on.

I don't have any problem I am trying to fix per se, but all of the foods I will eliminate for the 30 day challenge are the foods that I've been indulging in too much lately; I am looking at the Whole30 Challenge as a sort of "reset" to get myself back on track with healthier, more conscientious eating.

Last week I did a few "trial run" days and I was amazed how great I felt on the days where I focused on eating lean protein, veggies, fruits, and whole grains.  Then one day I had blueberry pancakes with peanut butter and maple syrup (ummmm…. delicious by the way), and I felt crummy (I was hungry all day long too).  I find it interesting that I seem to be so sensitive to processed white carbs and sugary things.

I have a cook book called "The Whole30: The 30-Day Guide to TOTAL HEALTH and FOOD FREEDOM" by Melissa Hartwig and Dallas Hartwig.  This week I am enjoying making a variety of recipes from this book.  The first recipe I will share is called Banger Sausage.  In the cook book, they pair the sausage with sweet potato mash and caramelized onions.  So far, I am just enjoying the sausage. It's incredibly flavorful and it's great with eggs! The book version calls for ground pork; I used ground turkey. The book version recommends baking the sausage in the oven; I cooked my sausage patties in a skillet on the stove top.

Banger Sausage: Turkey Sausage with Lemon, Thyme, and Sage
Adapted from "Whole30 Cookbook"

1 pound ground turkey (I used 93% lean)
1/2 tsp. dried sage (or 1/4 tsp. ground sage)
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. dried thyme
1/4 tsp. onion powder
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper (red pepper)
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 tsp. salt
grated zest of 1 lemon

In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients.  Form into 8 equal size patties.

Heat a large skillet over medium to medium high heat.  You will be cooking the patties in 2 batches so as to not crowd the pan.  Drizzle in a scant amount of preferred cooking oil in the skillet (coconut, olive oil, avocado oil) and swirl it around.  Add 4 patties to the skillet and cook for about 3 minutes; turn patties and cook an additional 2 to 3 minutes until cooked through and no pink remains.  Repeat with remaining 4 patties.

This is a great recipe to make ahead and have at the ready in the refrigerator.  Yesterday I chopped up one of the patties and added it to eggs scrambled with steamed broccoli and topped with chopped fresh tomato (photo below).  Today I had one of the sausage patties along side two over-easy eggs with sautéed butternut squash on the side (photo above).  Delicious!