These Are a Few of My Favorite Things: Buddy's Natural Chicken Sausage

We eat a lot of protein in our house. A LOT of protein. And as much as I love to play in the kitchen, sometimes we just need to eat. In those emergency situations – e.g., breakfast was four hours ago and we just got home from a movie theater where we tried to ignore the smell of popcorn for two hours – there has to be minimal time and effort between "hungry" and "fed."

That's where Buddy's Natural Chicken Sausage comes in handy.

It's ready-to-eat right out of the package, so in a pinch, it can be snarfed as soon as the plastic pouch is ripped open. I don't recommend this, but I may have, from time to time, gnawed on a small piece cold while cooking the rest of the link for my snack or meal. It works great on the grill or sautéed on the stovetop – and because it's ready-to-eat, it becomes a meal in, like, two minutes. Just add chopped green peppers and onions, or a pile of cabbage or kale.

It contains no nitrates. Bingo! There is no junk. There are, like, four ingredients, and I recognize them all.

Buddy's family raises happy chickens – which means high-quality, good-tasting food. Sadly, Buddy himself passed in 2002, but his family is continuing his tradition. According to the website, the chickens are free to roam and live in "traditional chicken houses with ample space for each bird." Their feed contains no growth stimulants, artificial additives, or animal by-products, and they're never given hormones or antibiotics.

It's available in four delicious varieties: Italian, Cilantro, Green Onion, and Smoked. My favorites are the Italian and Green Onion.

One link packs a protein power punch of 24 grams. Here's the nutrition info, if you're interested in that kind of thing.

Texans, I get my Buddy's Chicken Sausage supply in the meat aisle at HEB; it's located near the chicken parts.

Non-Texans, I tried to find more info for you, but beyond basic marketing info on the Buddy's Natural Chicken site, I came up empty. Take this on as a mission and find the local equivalent near you, then post to comments to help your compadres.