red beans & rice

Red beans & Rice...Yum!!! It is one of mine & Clay's favorite meals! Clay cooked his version of it for me shortly after we got married & I've been hooked ever since! It's so simple, quick & inexpensive too!

You will need:
-Kidney beans - 5 cans is what I typically use but you can alter this to your preference (dark or light..whichever you prefer..I sometimes mix!)
-Hickory Farms Smoked Linked Sausage (1 pkg) -- if you want to make it cheaper just use half of the sausage
-Instant Rice
-Spices: Tony Sacheries Seasoning, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, Fresh Ground Pepper

So, in your crockpot you pour the drained beans and the sausage. Then you pour enough water over all of it to cover. Next, you use your spices...I don't have measurements for these.... I use a good bit of Tony's (like 2 long swooshes around our large crockpot), maybe 8 good dashes of garlic powder, about 4 dashes of onion powder, and enough pepper to make it look good! :) We tend to like our spices more on the heavy end.

I cook it all on high covered for about 5-6 hours...you don't have to worry about it burning or sticking so you can leave it in there longer...I once left it in there for 9 hrs when I was doing 7 cans of beans & 1 whole sausage package.

If you're not sure about the measurement of the spices, take the lid off of the top after about 1 1/2 hours and see if it smells to your liking. I can usually tell what I want to add more of at that point!

When you're ready to eat, fix your rice & then dish it up!!!

This will usually fix 8+ servings for our family! We love it..especially in the winter months! We practically lived off of this the first winter we were up here! Oh! And I think it's even better as "left-overs!" And make sure you fix some good sweet tea to go with it! :)

Enjoy!