Italian or Breakfast Sausage... from scratch! (Easy Peasy)!

The time has come... I can't put it off any longer ... I absolutely have to lose 30 pounds AND get back in shape!  A year ago, I started taking blood pressure medication... the only daily prescription I have ever taken ... I admit, it does make me feel better...but well, I don't want to KEEP taking it...so!

I've been mostly following a low carbohydrate style of eating and I have to say... I like it.  BUT it's not really taking the weight off.  SO, I have to get active.  My book-selling business is really taking off for me, but it's a sedentary job listing books.  I of course, enjoy buying the books much more than I like the listing of them.

On Facebook the other day, I saw a video of a woman who had lost half of her body weight (155 pounds) in 3 years by doing Zumba ... oh man, Zumba looks intense!

So, I'm happy to say that yesterday I took my first Zumba class and I already feel so much better, it's not even funny! The plan is to take class two times a week until I get my strength back and my movements faster. I'm really looking forward to this journey!

Oh, and I have to say that I have a lovely great-niece who posted pictures of herself on Facebook as a result of doing Zumba, and she looks AMAZING!

In honor of low-carbing I bring you a recipe!

Homemade Italian style breakfast sausage! 

It was so easy to make and is just delicious!  This recipe makes 3 pounds of sausage, so some to use right away and more to put into the freezer.

After I made the sausage, I made a wonderful sausage and cabbage stir-fry.  That part took all of ten minutes and dinner was on the table! Noel really liked and and so did I... YUM!

I used 2 pounds of ground pork and 1 pound of ground turkey.

Add 12 herbs & spices and you are in business!

I got this recipe from allrecipes.com and modified it to my low-carb specifications...specifically I left out the brown sugar - The original recipe was submitted by Michelle Leigh Grossman and called for 3 pounds of ground pork, modifications are mine.

3 - Tbsp  Red Wine Vinegar                       2 - tsp Paprika   

1 - Tbsp  Sea Salt                                    2 - tsp Crushed Red Pepper Flakes

1 - Tbsp Black Pepper                                    (to your taste...more or less) 

1 - Tbsp Garlic Powder                              1 - tsp Fennel Seeds (ground)

1 - Tbsp Onion Powder                                   (I used a coffee grinder)

1 - Tbsp Dried Basil                                  1/4 - tsp dried oregano

1 & 1/2 - Tbsp Dried Parsley                      1/4 - tsp dried thyme

Sprinkle all the above ingredients onto the ground meat mixture and knead until everything is nicely distributed.  Form into 3 rolls and wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate 12 hours and then use or freeze.

Naturally, I couldn't wait 12 hours to make the sausage cabbage dish...

Saute the sausage mixture until it looses its pink color and place aside.  This makes a very lean sausage and so I added some olive oil while it was sauteing.  

In the same undrained pan, saute about /12 cup sliced onion and about 3 -4 cups sliced green cabbage for about 5 minutes or when the cabbage and onion look barely done.  You want some crunch left.  

Add the meat back in and about 2 Tbsp cooking sherry.  Stir and cook 2 more minutes.  Adjust salt and pepper and then enjoy!

YUM!

If you decide to try this, let me know how you liked it!

And you don't have to make your own sausage, any bulk sausage will do!

Thanks for dropping by!