Beef Breakfast Sausage

This recipe was adapted from a turkey sausage recipe I got from a friend years ago. Since I don't have access to affordable, quality, ground turkey,  I have adjusted and tweaked that original recipe to use with our hamburger meat instead.

For every pound of grass fed hamburger add:

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp rubbed sage

1/2 tsp thyme

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp sea salt

ground black pepper to taste

1 or 2 large cloves of garlic crushed

I usually cook a tiny bit in a small pan after mixing it to make sure I don't need to adjust the seasoning but otherwise that's all there is to it.

I prepare about ten pounds of this at a time. Some I fry up ground to freeze and have on hand for soups, casseroles and such then I make the rest into patties which I keep in the freezer to fry up when ever needed for breakfast.

Because I can't eat eggs, my staple breakfast is one of these patties simmered in broth with squash or whatever leftover veggies I have on hand.

Lemon Kefir Smoothie (Popsicles and Ice Cream too)

I love smoothies, my kids love smoothies, and even more they love popsicles made from the leftovers! They are fast, filling and super easy plus I can pack loads of nutrition, protein and good fats into them. Because of this they are often my "oops I forgot to plan something" meal if dad's working late or they serve as the perfect breakfast for hurried mornings.  Lemon Kefir happens to be one of our favorite smoothies so I thought I'd share the "recipe" with you. 

Ingredients:

-Raw whole milk kefir,  enough to fill my vita-mix about 2/3's full (can you

                           see all that beautiful cream on top of mine :)  )

-One whole Meyer lemon with ends sliced off, cut in half and any visible  

                           seeds picked out

-Good splash or two of vanilla

-5  raw egg yolks ( I leave these out if making it for myself as I'm allergic but

                                   they add loads of nutrition and nice rich creaminess if not
                            allergic. Also omit them if you don't have access to good 
                            eggs from a source you trust. I would never use store 
                            bought eggs raw.)
-Good tablespoon of a clean beef gelatin free of MSG (I get mine in bulk 
                             from Azure Standard but Bernard Jensen is a good brand
                             too)
-Raw honey to taste (a pure stevia extract can be used instead if you have 
                            blood sugar issues)
-Nice big spoonful of raw coconut oil (optional but a good way to get more 
                             coconut oil in you)
-Extra kefir grains if you have them (smoothies are a great place to use up
                            extra kefir grains if you have them to add a nice extra
                            dose of fantastic probiotics and no one will ever know)

* See below for tips on making this into ice cream 

Instructions:


Place all in blender and blend until nice and smooth. If there is any left over it makes great popsicles! 

* This also makes a beautiful ice cream! However, I have always omitted the oil when I make it into ice cream, I'm not sure if the texture would be as nice with it in. Also when making ice cream a very nice addition to this is a few good scoops of homemade sour cream.  If I get carried away with the vanilla, as I sometimes do, it doesn't set up well (due to the alcohol in the vanilla) so I prefer to use the seeds from a few vanilla beans in order to get a nice rich vanilla flavor without compromising the set up of the ice cream.