Meat – The Pajama Chef

Homemade Turkey Sausage Patties

January 26, 2015February 19, 2016 Sarah

Enjoy homemade turkey sausage patties seasoned as you like. My version includes a little sweet [brown sugar], a little spicy [cayenne pepper], and a little herb [oregano]. Mmm!

When creating my 30 before 30 list last spring [and BOY am I running out of time…yikes!], I put homemade sausage on my list because I thought it was, ya know, hard or something. Umm, no. Not really. Well, maybe there’s something that makes real sausage legit… but this? It tasted pretty good to me. Pretty much like sausage. These sausage patties are sweet and savory with a lil bit of spice. You should definitely try this for your next fancy breakfast or brunch. I’m sure you’ll enjoy them!

one year ago: Quick & Healthy Pineapple Fried Rice
two years ago: Healthy Mexican Hot Chocolate Breakfast Bars
three years ago: Cream of Broccoli Soup with Cheese
four years ago: Pork Chops with Red Wine Sauce

Homemade Turkey Sausage Patties

Servings: 16
Time: 1 hour + overnight
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Ingredients:

1 pound ground turkey
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper – optional
freshly ground black pepper to taste
sea salt to taste

Directions:

In a medium bowl, mix together all ingredients. Season with pepper and salt to your taste. Divide in half, then in half again, and in half again to form 16 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball, then flatten into small patties and place on a baking sheet. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour if not overnight. When ready to serve, cook on the stovetop until no longer pink inside.

Note:

Seasoning amounts are VERY flexible. Adjust as desired–especially the cayenne pepper. Sausage patties can be frozen for another day if desired.

Breakfast, Main Dishes, Meat, Pork, Recipes

Sausage and Ranch Potato Skillet with Fried Eggs

September 10, 2014December 14, 2015 Sarah

This easy sausage and potato skillet is seasoned with a healthy herb ranch blend and topped with a fried egg, making it a perfect breakfast, brunch, lunch, or dinner! Delicious!

I love skillet meals! One dish meals are seriously my go-to for weeknights. Less courses=less dishes=less clean up=more time to read on the couch/bake pumpkin treats/watch tv/brush our little spoiled cats or anything else my little heart desires. Usually my skillet meals include rice, pasta, or quinoa, and cheese. Always cheese! But sometimes you want something a little lighter and fresher. Not that rice or pasta dishes can’t be light, but you know what I mean, right? For me, the key to delicious light meals is lots of flavor. Like ranch! Mmm, ranch dressing. Whoever invented that stuff was a genius!

A few weeks ago, on a whim, I made a batch of healthy herb ranch seasoning and used it for some roasted potatoes alongside a little breakfast-for-dinner meal with cheesy scrambled eggs, oatmeal scones, and berries. Not that you’ll NEED extra ideas for using this ranch seasoning [I think it’s going to become a standard addition to my pantry] but let me just say that ranch seasoning on popcorn is amazingggg! Mmm, it’s 8 am and I want some ranch popcorn. Haha.

Now, that meal was good…but I had visions! Visions of a ranch-seasoned skillet meal with crispy roasted potatoes, crumbled breakfast sausage, bell peppers, onion, garlic, jalapeno and a fried egg on top! Well, my fried eggs are actually over-easy eggs but same diff. 🙂 I am happy to report that this skillet was everything I dreamed it would be… a fresh, filling meal full of ranch flavor AND the best part was that it’s healthy! That’s why I used that ranch seasoning blend… all the flavors of a hearty, creamy ranch without tons of salt, sour cream, or mayo. To make the potatoes super crispy I roasted them in the oven with some of the ranch seasoning, then tossed them with the sausage and bell pepper mixture after everything was cooked. Don’t forget the avocado on the side… a bite of creamy, cool avocado alongside this spicy ranch-y skillet is just divine! Enjoy!

P.S. Don’t forget about my giveaway for Healthy Solutions Spice Blends! Ends Saturday! 🙂

two years ago: Peach Ginger Pie
three years ago: Roasted Vegetable Quinoa Salad
four years ago: Chili Burgers

Sausage and Ranch Potato Skillet with Fried Eggs

Servings: 4
Time: 30 minutes
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Ingredients:

1 pound red potatoes, cut into eighths [quarter, then half each quarter]
1 1/2 tablespoon ranch seasoning, divided [see below, or use your favorite]
cayenne pepper – optional
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/2 pound breakfast sausage
1 cup red onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1/2 red pepper, diced
1 jalapeno, diced – optional
2 cloves of garlic, minced
4 eggs
diced avocado, for serving

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Toss red potatoes in 1 tablespoon ranch seasoning, a sprinkling of cayenne, and olive oil. Spread in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until fork-tender. I like to bump the heat up to 475 for the last 5 minutes or so of baking to get a nice crispy crust.

While potatoes are cooking, heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add sausage and cook, crumbling with a wooden spoon. Drain grease and return sausage to pan. Add onion, green pepper, red pepper, and jalapeno, if using. Saute for 10 minutes or until onions are soft. Add garlic and cook until fragrant. Cover and remove from heat. When potatoes are done, add to skillet with sausage and vegetables and stir in remaining 1/2 tablespoon ranch seasoning.

Cook fried eggs to desired doneness, then serve a fried egg on top of each serving with diced avocado.

Healthy Herb Ranch Seasoning

Servings: 1 cup
Time: 5 minutes
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from Wildflour’s Cottage Kitchen

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons dried parsley
1 tablespoon dried chives
1 teaspoon dried dill
2 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
2 1/8 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon sugar, optional
1/4 teaspoon dried minced onion, optional
1/4 teaspoon salt, optional

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a Mason jar and shake to combine. Store covered until ready to use.

Can combine with 1 3/4 cup sour cream or Greek yogurt for a ranch dressing/dip; just mix well and thin with milk or buttermilk to reach desired consistency.

Linked up with Weekend Potluck.

Breakfast, Meat, One Tablespoon Testosterone, Recipes

OTT: Brown Sugar Bacon Twists

August 9, 2010June 4, 2015 Sarah

This is a guest post from my husband, Ben. Periodically, he has agreed to share some of his favorite recipes with you–and this is his first. He has entitled his guest post column, One Tablespoon Testosterone, or OTT for short. Enjoy!

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Hello all. I’m here to add a slightly more masculine variation to this blog. While I don’t claim to have the cooking experience my wife does, I’m not an incompetent bumbling oaf in the kitchen either. But I do like man food. Like bacon. Mmmm…nothing makes me happier food-wise than bacon. So today I’ll share a recipe I made with bacon as the main ingredient… too bad they didn’t use my recipe last night when bacon was the featured ingredient on The Next Food Network Star.

Brown Sugar Bacon Twists

Servings: 8+
Time: 40 minutes
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from the Peace Meals cookbook by the Junior League of Houston

Ingredients:

1 pound bacon (16 slices [the amount, of course, can be adjusted to fit the number of people you’re serving…this amount serves 1 bacon fanatic such as myself…actually my wife would have a heart attack if she found out I ate a whole pound of bacon, then I would have a heart attack because I ate a whole pound of bacon])
1/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoons freshly ground pepper
1 cup awesome

Directions: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil; place a wire rack on top of the sheet. I don’t have a wire baking rack (or at least one that my wife would let me place in the oven), so I just use one of the oven racks, and place the rimmed baking sheet on the bottom oven rack to catch the grease. Sprinkle the bacon evenly with the sugar and pepper. The amounts for this are really subjective to your personal tastes. More brown sugar and less pepper make it sweeter, more pepper gives it a little more kick (which I like). You can also add cinnamon. Tightly twist each slice to form a spiral. Bake until the bacon is crisp and browned, about 30-35 minutes.

How long you cook them is also subjective to your tastes. The first time I made these I cooked them almost 35 minutes and they were crispier than I would have liked. This time, it wasn’t even 25 minutes and they were still soft, but perfectly cooked as far as bacon goes (in my opinion). So you just have to decide how crispy you want them.

Okay, I think this about wraps up my first guest post. I don’t have much else to say about this recipe…or anything else for that matter. I’ll be back (if my wife lets me) in the future with more man-approved recipes (mancipes?) or just random other things I find amusing for which I’ll use my wife’s blog as an outlet. In conclusion, bacon makes everything better. Everything.