This spicy treat gives you a little bit of your breakfast back. Try it with eggs and banana pancakes and you’ll think it’s the old days when you ate with wild abandon.

Ingredients:
1-1/2 lbs. ground chuck beef
1 tsp ground anise seed
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground fennel seed
1/2 tsp ground mustard
3/4 tsp crushed red pepper
3/4 tsp ground coriander seed
1/2 Tbsp. dried oregano
3/4 tsp. salt
2 cloves garlic, finely minced (see this video for easy peeling)
1/2 white onion, finely minced
1 large egg, beaten

Directions:
1. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix very well. Get yourself some rubber gloves and dive right in.
2. Form thin patties or link shapes.
3. Fry on medium heat for 5-7 minutes per side.

Notes:
Try other meats or add some pork to this recipe if you like.
The egg makes for a more tender sausage, but can be eliminated if necessary.
Fry this up as crumbles instead of patties or links for use in other recipes like pizza or spaghetti sauce (I’d eliminate the egg for this purpose).
Make a bunch and freeze in serving portions for a quick fix.

What’s a not-so-freshly-breathed person to do? Look to the east! It just so happens that Indian culture has been hip to the breath-sweetening powers of anise seed for a very long time. Remember back to when you used to go to an Indian restaurant and perhaps you’ll recall the little dish with the seeds. It probably had anise and fennel and maybe candied fennel.

Some also claim that chewing cloves will work. This I’ve not tried. I think it would make me crave pumpkin pie.

The down side is since they are a seed, they are considered advanced and not to be used until you’ve been symptom free for three months.

Until then, you’ll just have to bring a toothbrush…

U P D A T E : Grace tells me that cardamom seeds work well too. Thanks Grace!