Crock-Pot Red Beans and Rice

I feel like life has been so busy lately! I would love to just be off for a week and have no plans! Eric and I did make a quick trip to the beach this past weekend. We piled the dogs in the car and headed south. Until last year, Eric and I have never traveled with dogs, but I ended up finding this dog beach in Pensacola that we thoroughly enjoyed. I didn’t realize until I started to do some research how many beaches don’t allow dogs. Murray was in heaven and old man was too—Chopper not Eric lol. I wish we could have spent a whole week there. For those that have never been to Pensacola, it is a super cute little town. When Eric and I go to the beach, we usually go to Destin, so we are glad to find a new little spot!

I have had an unusual busy week at work and have been not getting home until 8 pm every night. Last night, I didn’t get home until after 9pm, so I have been doing crock-pot recipes all week. I decided to do Red Beans and Rice yesterday (one of Eric’s favorites). I have actually never made this before. Eric raved about it. Since I couldn’t eat dinner with him, he sent me a picture for this blog post! I had found some All Natural, Gluten Free Andouille Chicken Sausage from Costco and decided to use that as the meat. It is so yummy! Last week, I made an Alfredo with it, and it has such great flavor!

I did not change anything about this recipe besides the usual of using onion powder instead of onions. I did serve over brown rice instead of white, but you can choose whichever rice you want.

Ingredients

1 pound uncooked (dry) red kidney beans

3/4 pound (12 ounces) Andouille Chicken sausage, sliced

5 garlic cloves, minced

3 celery stalks, dice

1 medium white onion, diced or 1 tablespoon of onion powder

1 bell pepper, diced

2 teaspoons Creole seasoning

1 teaspoon Frank’s Hot Sauce

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

2 bay leaves

7 cups chicken stock

Instructions

• Rinse the kidney beans thoroughly under water.
• Add the kidney beans, sausage, garlic, celery, onion/onion powder, bell pepper, Creole seasoning, hot sauce, dried thyme, bay leaves, and chicken stock to the bowl of a large slow cooker.  Stir to combine.
• Cook on high for 6-8 hours or until the kidney beans are soft and cooked through.
• Remove and discard the bay leaves.
• Serve immediately over rice.

Happy Eating!

Original Recipe- Crock-Pot Red Beans and Rice