A healthy breakfast sausage

In an effort to eat more healthily (...you're laughing, aren't you?) our family usually opts for poultry and seafood rather than beef or pork. But one item that has been difficult to do without is breakfast sausage. On Monday through Friday, we dutifully toast whole-grain bread and/or pour skim milk on whole-grain cereals. And truthfully, we're always in a hurry so toast or cereal works for us. But on the weekend, we would like to eat a more leisurely breakfast. In the past, we would enjoy eggs and potatoes with bacon or sausage, but we recognize that those aren't really healthy options. (Sigh!).

I can forgo the fried potatoes (although unwillingly). And actually, eggs are not a bad dietary choice. But what about the "meat"? OK, bacon is out. We occasionally cook "turkey bacon", but honestly, it's not even CLOSE to being bacon, is it?

So what about sausage? Full of fat and guilt. But I think we can change that.

Here is a recipe for homemade Turkey Breakfast Sausage that has found a place in our diets, and we hope that you will like it too:

Turkey Breakfast Sausage

Ingredients

• 1 cup quick oats
• 3/4 cup spicy V-8 (or you could use Bloody Mary mix)
• 1 pound ground turkey
• 1 1/2 teaspoon ground sage
• 1 teaspoon  ground black pepper
• 3/4 teaspoon  salt
• 1/2 teaspoon  ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

Instructions

1. Soak oats in juice for 15 minutes in a large bowl. Add remaining ingredients and mix until very well blended. Form the mixture into a 12-inch log. Wrap and freeze until firm enough to slice, about 1.5 to 2 hours. (Do NOT freeze solid).
2. Cut into 32 slices (about 3/8 inch thick). Place on a cookie sheet and freeze until firm. Remove from cookie sheet and store in a zip-lock bag for up to 3 months.
3. To cook, pan fry for 8-10 minutes--no need to thaw.