Paleo/Whole30 Spicy Pork Breakfast Sausage

If you've been following my blog, then you know that I was doing another round of the whole30 in January. I made it to day 23 before I had to go off plan. I am proud to say I didn't go off plan because I couldn't hack it, or because I ate something that I wasn't supposed to. I made a conscious choice to go off plan because I have an appointment today that I need to be at a certain weight for. One of the most important aspect of the whole30 program is to not weigh or measure yourself for the entire 30 days and I didn't want to violate that, but I had to step on the scale!

Today I will be meeting with a surgeon to see if they will do a replacement of my right knee. This is something I desperately need due to the amount of pain I am in constantly and the decreased quality of life. I am a few pounds off from where they wanted me to be. It is so hard to lose weight in a healthy way when you are so limited by the exercise you can do.

But enough of my pity party! A few weeks ago I tried my hand at making my own breakfast sausage. I love sausage, but with all of the preservatives that are in store brands, my body didn't love it. I read a few different recipes online and made them a few times before I feel like I got it right. Last Sunday I asked my son what he wanted for breakfast and sausage was one of the items he listed. I asked him if he wanted the sausage from the grocery store, but he said no and that he wanted my homemade sausage. What a mom victory! My smile was huge the whole time I was cooking!

The spices are what makes sausage yummy. Without the spices you
are just eating bland pork patties! I love sage in the sausage and my son likes his sausage with some spice, so we came up with a yummy compromise.

Paleo/Whole30 Spicy Pork Breakfast Sausage

Recipe by Sarah Golnik

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients

• 1 lb Ground Pork
• 1 tsp Sage (ground or dried)
• 1 tsp Fennel Seeds
• 1/2 tspGarlic Powder
• 1/2 tsp Onion Powder
• 1/2 tspRed Pepper Flakes
• 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
• 1/2 tsp Paprika
• 1 tsp Coconut Oil (or other cooking oil)

Cooking Directions

1. Mix ground pork and spices in a large mixing bowl.
2. Add oil to a large skillet over medium heat.
3. While the pan and oil are heating, use your hands to create 8 patties out of the meat mixture. I normally roll them into meatballs and then flatten slightly as I am adding them to the pan.
4. Once all of the sausage patties in the pan, cook covered, checking often to make sure they aren't burning. Once the first side has browned, flip and brown the other side. At this time I add just a tablespoon of water and recover. This helps them cook a little quicker.
5. Once the patties are cooked through, remove from the skillet and place on a paper towel to soak up any extra grease.