Sausage Seasoning
Herbs Make Plain Food Special
At first, I was a little reluctant to plan an herb seasoning class. It felt quiet — maybe even a little boring — and I wondered if it would be hard to keep the kiddos’ attention. I was so wrong… well, halfway wrong. It isn’t a class that fills every single seat, but the kids who do come are completely delighted. They love smelling the herbs, tearing fresh leaves from stems, watching them dry, and then crushing and pulverizing them into powder with their own hands.
It turns out there’s something really satisfying about slowing down and using all your senses.
I hope you try this lesson at home with your kiddos and enjoy it just as much as we did. It’s easy to bring home, and there’s no single right way to do it. If you have herbs growing nearby, head outside together and smell them, touch the leaves, and notice how each one feels before picking a small amount. If you don’t have a garden, that’s perfectly okay. Fresh herbs from the store work just as well, and even already-dried herbs from your pantry still tell the same story.
Let your child crush them, smell them, and sprinkle them on something simple like buttered potatoes or eggs. The goal isn’t perfection — it’s curiosity. No matter how you do it, you’re helping your child see that flavor comes from plants, and that plain food can become something special with just a little attention.
Long Before Grocery Stores
There was a time when people faced a very practical problem:
How do we make food last?
The answer was salt.
The word sausage comes from an old Latin word, salsus, which simply means “salted.” Meat mixed with salt could be stored longer — especially when fresh food was scarce.
Over time, herbs were added based on what grew well in different places:
Sage where summers were dry and sunny
Thyme where winters were cold
Rosemary near the sea and sunny slopes
There was no single “correct” recipe. Sausage seasoning was shaped by place, season, and plants.
In other words, sausage was never really about pork.
It was about flavor and preservation.
👉 Read the story that brings this idea to life — through the eyes of a child discovering it for the first time.
[link here]
Why Herbs Matter So Much
If you’ve ever picked a leaf of rosemary or sage and held it up to your nose, you already know something interesting happens.
At first, the smell is gentle.
Now try this: tear the leaf or roll it between your fingers and smell it again.
Do you notice the scent getting stronger?
That strong smell comes from essential oils.
Plants make essential oils for their own survival — not for our kitchens. These oils help plants protect themselves and thrive in the environments where they grow.
Why Plants Have Oils
Essential oils help plants:
Protect themselves from insects
Prevent mold and bacteria
Handle heat, cold, and drought
Signal to pollinators
Most of these oils live in the leaves, which is why leaves smell strongest when they’re crushed or torn and the tiny oil pockets are opened.
When we dry herbs, something magical happens. The water leaves the plant — but the oils stay behind. That’s why dried herbs smell so powerful, and why just a small pinch can change the flavor of an entire dish.
From Plant Oils to Sausage Flavor
When we mix herbs like sage, thyme, and rosemary with salt and a touch of sweetness, we’re doing exactly what people have done for centuries:
Using plant oils to flavor food
Using salt to balance and preserve
Using what grows well where we live
That’s why sausage seasoning smells familiar even without meat.
It’s not the meat that creates the flavor.
It’s the plants.
A Closer Look at Herbs
When kids really look at herbs, they start to see how different each plant is.
Sage feels soft and fuzzy. Those tiny hairs help protect the plant from cold and sun — and they also help trap essential oils.
Rosemary feels tough and woody. Its needle-like leaves help prevent water loss, and the oils inside are strong and concentrated.
Thyme has very tiny leaves. Smaller leaves lose less moisture, packing a big flavor into a small space.
Plants don’t all grow the same way because they don’t face the same challenges.
Their leaves tell their survival story.
👉 Try this at home: Have your kiddos examine different herb leaves and tell you what looks different about each one. How do they feel? How do they smell? Why do you think they look the way they do? You can even have them draw a picture of each leaf to help them remember.
👉 [Link to leaf observation & drawing worksheet]
Our Sausage Seasoning Ingredients
Every ingredient in this sausage seasoning was chosen with intention. Long before modern kitchens, people paid attention to how food made them feel. The herbs they returned to again and again weren’t just flavorful — they were supportive, especially during colder months when bodies needed warmth and digestion needed help.
🌿 Sage
Role: Warmth, comfort, and digestion
Sage has long been used as a warming herb in winter cooking. Traditionally, it was paired with heavier foods because it helps meals feel more settling. Its soft, fuzzy leaves hold aromatic oils that create that familiar, cozy sausage flavor many people recognize right away.
🌿 Thyme
Role: Gentle immune support + balance
Thyme has been used for centuries during colder seasons. Its tiny leaves are packed with aromatic oils that were traditionally valued for supporting the body during winter and helping foods feel lighter and easier to digest.
🌿 Rosemary
Role: Circulation, focus, and freshness
Rosemary is a strong, invigorating herb. Traditionally, it’s been associated with supporting circulation and mental clarity. In cooking, it helps rich foods feel brighter and less heavy.
🌶 Paprika
Role: Warmth and appetite support
Paprika comes from dried, mild peppers. It adds warmth without heat and a rich color that makes food more inviting — something kids respond to immediately.
🧄 Garlic Powder
Role: Immune and digestive support
Garlic has been used across cultures for centuries. In this blend, it quietly grounds the flavor and supports balance without overpowering the herbs.
🧂 Salt
Role: Balance and preservation
Salt enhances flavor and brings all the ingredients together. Historically, it was essential for preserving food through winter and making meals satisfying.
🍯 A Touch of Sugar
Role: Harmony
The small amount of sugar isn’t about sweetness — it softens strong herbs and helps all the flavors work together, especially for kid-friendly tastes.
Ready to try it at home?
Here’s the sausage seasoning recipe we make with the kids.
This is a flexible recipe — adjust amounts to taste.
Making This With Fresh Herbs
You can absolutely make this seasoning using fresh herbs — it just takes one extra step: drying.
Step 1: Harvest or Gather
Pick fresh sage, thyme, and rosemary.
Have kids smell each herb before you do anything else.
👉 This is the best moment for noticing differences.
Step 2: Dry the Herbs
Drying removes water so the flavor stays strong and shelf-stable.
You can dry herbs in a few easy ways:
Air drying
Tie herbs in small bundles
Hang upside down in a dry spot
Let dry 1–2 weeks, until leaves crumble easily
Dehydrator
Set to 95–105°F
Dry 6–12 hours, until fully dry
Herbs are ready when:
Leaves crumble easily
Stems snap instead of bending
They feel dry, not cool
Step 3: Strip & Crush
Once dry:
Strip leaves from stems
Crush your fingers or with a mortar & pestle
Our kiddos used both mortar & pestle and spice grinder. They saw how the spice grinder achieves a more powdered texture.
👉 This is where the smell really comes alive.
Step 4: Measure & Mix
After drying, measure the dried herbs and follow the recipe as written.
Fresh herbs must be dried first — dried herbs are more concentrated and shelf-stable.
Step 5: Use & Enjoy
Use your seasoning:
On ground turkey, chicken, pork, or beef
Sprinkled on potatoes, eggs, beans, or vegetables
Mixed into butter or olive oil for quick flavor
A Gentle Reminder
There’s no single right way to do this.
Whether your herbs come from:
the garden
the store
or the pantry
you’re teaching the same lesson.
The Bigger Picture
None of these ingredients work alone. Together, they create a seasoning that feels:
warming
familiar
comforting
supportive
This is why people have returned to these herbs for generations — not because of rules or recipes, but because they worked.
It’s about helping kids understand that:
Flavor comes from plants
Cooking is something you build
Simple ingredients can do big things
And maybe most importantly:
Herbs make plain food special.
That idea has been passed down through kitchens, gardens, and winters for hundreds of years — and it still belongs in ours today. 🌿
If you end up making our seasoning recipe at home, we’d love to see it. You’re always welcome to tag us on Facebook or Instagram @k2acres
Supplies: Both the spice grinder we use and our favorite dehyrator are linked on our Amazon Farm Favorites Page & the herb drying rack pictured here will be a topic of a future blog. Stay tuned…..
