Skip the sugar and mystery additives! Flavoring your own sausage is very simple. If you can add herbs to your scrambled eggs, you can do this.

We're busy organic farmers, and the way we make time for cooking with whole foods is by prepping as much as we can ahead of time. Our family is all about batch cooking and leftovers.

Rather than starting a new batch of sausage each time we’re hungry, we flavor up extra and freeze what we don’t need for emergency special breakfasts. And lunches and dinners.

There’s a food myth out there that you can’t re-freeze uncooked ground pork once it’s been thawed. It’s not true! According to the USDA, it’s fine to thaw frozen ground pork in the fridge, season it, form it into patties, and refreeze it again before you plan to cook it. Just be sure to keep the pork in the fridge while it thaws, and you’re OK.

The recipes below are for 2-pound batches of sausage.

GINGERED PORK SAUSAGE

2 pounds plain ground pork

4 cups chopped scallions (it sounds like a lot, but trust me)

2 inches finely grated ginger

1/4 cup tablespoon soy sauce

1/4 cup fish sauce (optional)

Mix all the ingredients together raw and form into patties. Bake on a cookie sheet at 400 degrees for 30 minutes, or until a meat thermometer shows an internal temperature of 145 degrees. Do use a cookie sheet with a rim, so you can catch the meat juices. 

Serve wrapped in a collard leaf, garnished with shaved purple carrots. The patties are also delicious on their own. 

GARLIC & HERB SAUSAGE

2 pounds plain ground pork

1/2 cup fresh, chopped rosemary

1/2 cup fresh, chopped marjoram (or oregano or savory)

1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves

4 cloves of garlic

3/4 teaspoon sea salt (or green salt)

Mix all the ingredients together raw and form into patties. Bake on a cookie sheet at 400 degrees for 30 minutes, or until a meat thermometer shows an internal temperature of 145 degrees. Do use a cookie sheet with a rim, so you can catch the meat juices. 

SUGAR-FREE BREAKFAST SAUSAGE

2 pounds plain ground pork

1 tablespoon fennel seeds

½ teaspoon hot paprika (or substitute ¼ teaspoon cayenne)

1 tablespoon maple syrup

2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage leaves

3/4 teaspoon sea salt

Mix all the ingredients together raw and form into patties. Bake on a cookie sheet at 400 degrees for 30 minutes, or until a meat thermometer shows an internal temperature of 145 degrees. Do use a cookie sheet with a rim, so you can catch the meat juices. 

You can also read this article in our Eat Like a Farmer column in the Petoskey News-Review here.