Slow Cooker Red Beans & Rice

It's official! I have spring fever. It was 80 degrees here today! February 29th and it was 80 degrees. If I haven't mentioned it before, I love living in South Carolina. What's ironic is some of the women on my WW message boards are talking about all the snow they have. They can keep that! I know its supposed to cool down again this weekend, but I'm definitely going to enjoy the nice weather while I can. I'm so glad I have this Friday off work, too! Definitely a day for a run, if you ask me.

I know Mardi Gras was last week, so I'm a little late in making this meal. But it's better to be late than never, right? I guess I think of this more of a Southern meal than a Cajun meal. That's probably because I didn't add the cajun seasoning that they call for, but I don't even own cajun seasoning. Does Creole seasoning count? Is that the same thing? Can you tell that I'm not a big fan of spicy foods? Ha! Here's the recipe:

SLOW COOKER RED BEANS & RICE
adapted from Plain Chicken
Servings: 8
Points+ 6

1 pound dried small red beans
1 pound turkey smoked sausage
5 cups water
1 cup tomato sauce
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup finely chopped green pepper

Combine all ingredients in slow cooker and cook on low 8-10 hours. Serve over hot white rice.

TC really liked this. That's probably because its a meal he's used to eating. Southerners love this. It's also called red beans & sausage or red rice and sausage. You can make a pretty healthy version of any of the variations, too. What made me feel even better was that Addison said she liked it, too! Bonus!

So long for today...

Crockpot Chili

I moved to South Carolina from Pennsylvania 6 1/2 years ago. One of the reasons that I did was to escape the cold. Today, it didn't seem like I had succeeded in my escape. It didn't get out of the 40s here today! To a transplanted Yankee, that's cold! I was talking to my mother today about how it was a lot colder than what we have been used to. I told her I try to remind myself that at least it's warmer here than it is in Pennsylvania! On a cold day, whether its a cold Pennsylvania day or a cold South Carolina day, nothing is better for dinner than Chili!

Today was the perfect day for chili. I have a trick that I use for my chili. I sneak in some extra veggies and also bulk of the chili by adding finely chopped carrots. They blend in so well and take on the other flavors in the chili and no one knows they're there! Over the years, we've changed up how we eat our chili. Growing up, we always ate our chili over mashed potatoes. After I moved out on my own, I decided to try my chili over pasta. After I met my husband, he told me that he liked it over rice...but then again, Southerners like just about anything with rice! We also like to add different toppings, such as cheese (of course!), chopped onions or Doritoes! If you've never had cheesy chili with Doritoes, you don't know what you're missing. Of course, that combination isn't very WW friendly. My usual option for my chili is over pasta. That's how we had it tonight.

Here's my recipe:

CROCKPOT CHILI
Servings - 8 - 10
Points+: 5

1 lb. lean ground beef
1 medium green pepper, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 c. carrots, finely chopped
1 can tomato sauce
1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can dark red kidney beans, undrained
1 can light red kidney beans, undrained
1 can chili beans, undrained
1 t. cumin
3 t. chili powder
1/2 t. basil
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. black pepper

In large skillet, brown ground beef. Add pepper, onion, garlic and carrots and cook until veggies are tender. Add meat mixture puls remaining ingredients to crockpot. Cook on low 6 - 8 hours or high 4 - 6 hours.

I love that this is a crockpot recipe. I love to use my crockpot, especially on a cold day! There's just something about the great smells developing and spreading through the house...What's also great about this recipe is that it makes so much! We usually have enough for dinner, a leftover dinner and some to add to the freezer. Addison loves my chili, too. That's always a bonus.