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Love Breakfast Sausage but Hate Jimmy Dean? Try This!

March 4, 2011   81 Comments

Snack Girl is a mostly vegetarian website because I have mixed feelings about eating meat and it is SO easy to create yummy snacks with fruits and vegetables.

Healthy Breakfast Sausage

The reason I have mixed feelings is that I love eating meat - pastrami, bacon, pulled-pork sandwiches, hot dogs, ham, corned beef, hamburgers.....what don't I like about eating meat?

Well, there is an environmental impact to being a meat eater that, frankly, makes my stomach turn. After reading Michael Pollan's brilliantly written and researched "The Omnivore's Dilemma" (see below), I couldn't stand the idea of buying meat from a "factory" farm.

I was living in San Francisco when I read it, and I was able to find chicken that had been "pastured" for $9 per pound. That's right, folks, I bought a $40 chicken!

(it was a special occasion)

Recently, Applegate Farms sent me some breakfast sausage to try and I have to tell you it was delicious.

Their mission is "to change the way America eats meat". Sound lofty? They want to do it by conducting farming practices with integrity - treating land and animals with respect.

This is not factory farming. My favorite part of their website is their Promise Tracker where you can see videos of the farmers who made your sausages talking about their practices.

Try that, Jimmy Dean.

So here is a comparison:

Applegate Farms Savory Turkey Breakfast Sausage ingredients:
Turkey, Water, Contains Less Than 2% Of The Following: Evaporated Cane Syrup, Salt, Spices.

Jimmy Dean Turkey Sausage Link ingredients:
Boneless turkey, water, contains 2% or less of the following: sodium lactate, salt, dextrose, sugar, spices, sodium phosphate, sodium diacetate, BHT, citric acid, caramel color.

I just LOVE the smell of butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) in the morning.

The two sausage companies produce almost exactly the same product in terms of nutritional facts:

2 links = 90 calories, 6 g fat, 0 g carbohydrates, 8 g protein, 0 g fiber, 320 mg sodium, 2 Points+

Of course, Applegate Farms breakfast sausage is going to cost you. All that clean water, space, fresh air, and antibiotic free animal lifestyle costs more than a "factory" farm. These sausages retail for $5.99 versus Jimmy Dean's $3.00 per package.

Applegate Farms would like to give a Snack Girl reader coupons to purchase their breakfast sausage (or another Applegate product that you want to try). You would receive 3 coupons for 3 Applegate Farms products (maximum value $30).

Here is where you can find Applegate Farms products: Store Locator.

Comment below on your thoughts about the meat industry and you are entered!

This product was received for review consideration. No other compensation was provided.


What will I win?

Three coupons for a maximum value of $30 of Applegate Farms products.

How do I enter?
Comment below on your thoughts about the meat industry.

Additional Ways To Enter:

  1. Follow Snack-Girl on FaceBook. Comment on the FB page on your thoughts about the meat industry.
  2. Follow Snack-Girl on Twitter and Tweet this post (use the Tweet Button in the Share Box at the top of this post).
Snack-Girl can follow and count all the additional entries using magical website tools.

Am I eligible to enter?
This giveaway is offered to US residents only.

When do I find out if I am the winner?
The winner will be announced on March 11th, 2011. You will have 2 weeks to e-mail us back with your home address so we can mail the prize.


Want to read about snacks?
Try This Healthy Pie.....Naked
Save Money, Your Waistline, And The World By Making Your Own Cereal
Can Domino's Deliver A Healthy and Tasty Meal?
The Cheater's Guide to Healthy Yogurt


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First 20 Comments: ( See all 81 )

In our home, I've greatly reduced our meat intake for the same reasons. We now enjoy vegetarian meals at least 4 days a week. My husband still complains a bit, but he understands why, and supports our effort. By reducing our meat consumption we can afford better (less factory farmed) meats. We are fortunate to live in an area where farm raised meats are readily available, not cheap by any means, but available. I'm sure my husband would love to try this sausage - I'll have to look for it at my local store. Nice post, as usual! I already follow you on FB.

I grew up on a family farm & because of it, I also have issues eating "factory" meat. I'd LOVE to try these Applegate Farms sausages! And keep up the awesome-ness Snack Girl!!

Applegate is my meat of choice when I can't get local humanely grown meat.

I highly recommend the book "The Dirty Life" by Kristin Kimball. She and her husband have a CSA farm in upstate New York. Unlike many CSA's, the Essex Farm provides meat and dairy as well as veggies. They took a disused farm with land laying fallow and now feed about 100 families a nearly complete diet year round. Her book really gave me something to think about about "sustainability".

Thank you for posting this!! I love Applegate farms..I get their regular sausages..the spinach/feta and Chicken/Apple are devine :-)

I'm eating much less meat than I used to as well, for various reasons. And you're right, you can get so creative with fruits and vegetables these days, you won't even miss the meat. Don't get me wrong though, I still love meat...and am lucky to have farmers in my area that I can purchase it from that are using best practices that put my mind at ease. Big fan of Applegate products -- almost all of their stuff is gluten-free, yay! Great giveaway. (I'm already a big fan on FB and Twitter)

I am a meat eater but prefer to find other options when they taste good. Would like to try Applegate!

I'm a former Jimmy Dean eater... I used to get those sausage biscuit sandwiches. Then I realized how bad for you they are! I love a little meat with my eggs in the morning, but have cut it out almost completely now, due to the fact that it just seems so sodium and chemical/preservative laden! I'd love to try some Applegate products!

First let me say that I love Applegate Farms! I have only tried 2 of their products (it is expensive!) but I really appreciate what this company is doing.

My husband is a meat-and-potatoes man, so I just can't avoid it. I do go meatless 2-3 times a week, by making some of his other favorite meals such as fettichini alfredo. Sometimes if I'm making goulash or pizza, I'll leave the meat out of my portion.

I do try to get organic brands of meat when I can such as Applegate, or I get my grass-fed beef from the local farmer's market. Not only is grass-fed beef healthier, but it tastes better and it looks beautiful! Buying from your farmer's market is probably the best thing you can do for meat all around (environmentally, health-wise, and it supports the local economy). I encourage everybody to shop their local farmer's market when they can :)

Would love to try something new. Sometimes the same stuff gets borring.

I read Michael Pollan's book and have not eaten a fast food chicken or meat item in many years. I do buy some meat but only organic grass fed from Whole Foods. I try to limit our intake of meat to about once per week. I have been using soy crumbles in my chili and tacos with no complaints from my husband or son. I will look for Applegate farms products at WholeFoods next time I am there.

After watching Food Inc., my husband and I agreed to try to buy as much meat from local farmers, and then if we need to buy at the grocery store, buy organic. I have only fed my daughter chicken, because I am scared to give her beef. I'd like to try applegate!

I also cut back on eating meat after watching Food, Inc. My favorite was about the pigness of the pig! I love all things pork but have been buying turkey sausages among other things to try and eat more healthy. i do worry about the turkeys though. I get the sizzlers for a buck when I can, but would love to try these. They sound tasty.

We have tried some Applegate products and love them as well. Generally we eat a small amount of meat, e.g., several times a week but not daily. I would love to make sure that the meat we do eat is always humanely raised and high quality. I really like Mark Bittman's approach of eating vegan or vegetarian all day and then having meat for dinner if he chooses (http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/27/vegan-before-dinne…). Thanks!

Thanks for posting about these products. I have not heard of them before today. I would love to try some of them and I'm glad to find out they sell this brand at my local grocery store!

I just tried Applegate (Sliced Roast Beef) for the first time the other day. It was delicious, but like everyone else says it's a bit pricey. As far as "factory" meat goes - ever since I watched "Food, Inc." I can't pick up a package of meat without glimpses flashing before me of those chicken and cow farms exposed in the movie. If you haven't seen it, it will change the way you think! I try to change what I buy when time and money allows me to do so, but it's definitely a challenge!

I prefer not to purchase meat at the grocery store. Every year we eat more wild game and farm animals from friends that we butcher ourselves than commercially available meat products. I would love to try Applegate Farms product, though!

I love meat, but am looking for healthier meat products and I'm looking more at where the meat is coming from and the treatment of the animal.

I too am willing to pay more for "organic", " free range" or whatever it's named.

It's all about being sensible and knowing what's good for your body.

I am a BIG supporter of Applegate Farms. I love that they take such a sustainable and ethical stance with their business and that they truly care for everything they do, which creates amazing products.

We really try to buy from companies we believe in and local places.

I would love to win this. Now that I am pregnant I am CRAVING breakfast meats but trying to avoid them because of all the nitrates. This would be great for me.

I very rarely eat meat anymore since I eat almost all of my meals in a dining hall, but when I do I try to consciously know where it has come from and that it is a local, sustainable source if possible!

These do sound great!

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