So I picked up some fresh chicken sausage from the local food co-op.

In this case it was al fresco spinach & feta chicken sausage. al fresco is a fairly large brand and they produce all-natural chicken sausage.

Here’s al fresco’s mission statement:

It’s all about fresh flavor from fresh ingredients. Our mission is to provide delicious all natural products that are easy to prepare as part of a healthy lifestyle – live life with flavor

Well that sounds fair. Plus it was at my local food co-op, which I trust to vet (investigate to discover) all the products they stock.

Ingredients in spinach/feta flavor: skinless chicken meat, feta cheese, spinach, water, salt, dehydrated garlic & onion, rosemary, spices, natural flavor, extracts of spice.

After heating/browning these sausages, they were served in Rudi’s Organic Bakery wheat hot dog rolls with diced red onion and organic brown mustard. As a side dish, I grabbed a bag of Kettle Brand Jalapeno chips.

This made for a great meal. The natural flavor of the chicken sausage is outstanding, and the spinach/feta complements it very well.

Cost

• $6 for a four-pack of al fresco chicken sausage.
• $3.50 for six Rudi’s Organic Bakery wheat hot dog rolls.
• $1.00 worth of red onion.
• $0.50 worth of mustard.
• $2.00 for Kettle Brand jalapeno chips (on sale).

Breaks down to $13 for 2-3 meals.

I finally caved in and bought a $7 pack of frozen Italian sausage. It was expensive (about 3 times as much as Italian sausage costs when it’s on sale at Meijer), but it felt like the right thing to do. The gentleman who runs that particular booth is one of the coolest people I have met at any farmer’s market (though I don’t know his name).

To accompany the sausage, I picked up some organic hot dog rolls from Foods For Living and prepared roasted potatoes from a farm in Dewitt, Michigan.

Here’s a picture of this excellent meal; or you can hop over to my Flickr photo page for a larger version.

(1) Seasoned roasted potatoes (mixed varieties) from a farm in Dewitt, Michigan.

(2) Italian sausage from Almar Orchards in Flushing, Michigan topped with organic mustard from Meijer and diced red wing onions from the Wildflower Eco Farm in Bath, Michigan. Organic hot dog bun purchased from Foods For Living.

(3) Kettle-brand salt & ground pepper krinkle-cut chips (all-natural) purchased from Foods For Living in East Lansing, Michigan.

(4) Apple cider (organic) from Almar Orchards of Flushing, Michigan, purchased at the East Lansing Farmer’s Market.

(5) Two Hearted Ale from Bell’s Brewery of Kalamazoo, Michigan.