Saturday and Sunday are the 'Big Breakfast' days; since my sweetie loves a solid manly breakfast which means plenty of protein.
You need to buy fresh ground mild pork breakfast sausage. I am quite lucky in that my local grocery always has fresh ground on Friday. I pay no more than $3.25 per pound.
Eggs should be fresh too but I realize that organic or free range at grocery stores are pretty expensive. It would be nice if we could all raise our own chickens in the backyard but some neighbors don't appreciate that. Hopefully, we will soon have our own chickens and are fortunate to be zoned A1-Ag.
For now, I buy at the grocery stores (including ALDI) and pay no more than $1.59 per dozen. Sometimes I can get them for .89 a dozen.
As for pancakes, I like the mix from ALDI which is about $1.99 per box. This is the big box which is close to the old label 'Bisquick' as you can make not only pancakes, but also waffles and dumplings. The have delicious syrups at ALDI as well and this time of year I buy the pumpkin spice @$ 2.99.
Take from the pantry list:
Butter
Olive Oil
Coconut Oil
Pancake Mix
Pancake Syrup
I always take out my covered skillet. It is just so user friendly, deep but not huge. To get started, I put into the skillet a few spoons of coconut oil and 1 tsp of olive oil. Then I make a few sausages patties and when the oils start to melt and spit just a little, I put in the patties and cover, use a med flame.
In the meantime, I just follow the recipe for the pancakes on the mix, adding a few of my own secret touches, like pure almond extract. Then I turn over the sausages and cover.
Whenever I have guests for breakfast, I cook the sausages and eggs first as a kind of first course. I do pancakes as a second course.
Once the sausages are cooked, you can tell when you press down and clear pink juices run from the patties. The rest of the cooking happens on the platter. I move the patties from the skillet onto a platter and cover.
Next, I put a large dollop of butter into the skillet and then about 5 eggs. I don't drain the fat from the sausage since I buy good sausage having only little fat. The flavor from the small amount of fat that remains is tasty. I just stir slowly until nearly all yellows and whites are cooked.
I like juicy food, so over cooking in my kitchen is a no no. I don't serve raw food but I don't serve it dry or blackened.
First course is ready and my sweetie is at the table.
What is so brainy? The brains behind this as with all my cooking, is first and foremost not spending a lot of money and not spending a lot of time cooking; why?... I like to spend more time eating. I like food that has not been prepared and cooked fresh. For me this is already eating healthy.
Eating healthy means celebrating food! The best and brainiest cook knows this and applies it. Buy fresh, don't buy packaged processed foods, on the shelf or in the frozen section. Don't eat out. Cook at home. Get the most for your buck. I shop a lot at ALDI. Why? Because, it is European and having lived in Europe, I appreciate their approach to the quality of life. ALDI is based in Germany. The chain was founded by brothers Karl and Theo Albrecht in 1946 when they took over their mother's store in the town of Essen which had been in operation since 1913. Their father was employed as a miner and later as a baker’s assistant. Karl Albrecht was born in 1920, Theo Albrecht in 1922. Theo Albrecht completed an apprenticeship in his mother’s store, while Karl Albrecht worked in a local delicatessen. The brothers wanted to supply food stuffs cheaper and could as they chose items back then that had a longer shelf life. So, originally, no fresh fruits/veggies. They did not want to be 'the' local grocer' yet they wanted to participate in the local market. They were quite successful together until they (the brothers) had a argument over the sale of cigarettes in stores back in the early 1960s; so, they split the company. The brothers retired as CEOs in 1993; control of the company was placed in the hands of a private family foundation = The Siepmann Foundation, which safeguards the common interests of the members of the Albrecht family similar to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The ALDI though a German based stores employees Americans and pay good wages with comfortable work flexibility as I have read. Their stores nationwide here in the US have expanded their product line and offer nutritious foods, they now have a line of Simply Nature USDA organic.
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