Slow Cooker Beans & Rice With Sausage

Several months ago, Rodney and I became dept free. Afterwards, we came up with a plan and made a budget for our family that we could hang on the wall and see at all times.  Since we are big on investments for our future, we knew a lot of money would be going towards that, plus our fixer upper house.  With me being a stay at home mom, we knew additional sacrifices would need to come into play with our food budget.  Budgeting is not the easiest practice for me, but with said list we came up with, it has been a huge reminder that our food budget needs to stay within a certain amount each month. We decided between 70-80 dollars a week sounded good and so far, it has worked well.  I actually thought that was going to be impossible, but with careful menu planning, it has been easier then I thought.

When planning out weekly menus and avoiding eating out as much as possible, I found that our biggest and cheapest staples are potatoes, rice, beans, flour, and tortillas.  We tend to buy in bulk to save money and find that by doing so, our food budget stays right on point.

Rodney served his mission in Florida and was exposed to a lot of Cuban food. Cuban food which is similiar to Brazillian food, is centered around a lot of rice and beans.  I have no problem with rice as I ate a lot of it when I lived in Hawaii for a year.  We prefer jasmine white rice over brown rice anyday and find it's one of the most versatille foods to work with.

 I have so many recipes I want to share, but I will start with this one.

Served alongside steamed brocolli or a crisp salad, this meal is one of our favorites. Not only delicious in every aspect, but toddlers seem to like beans.  If you have a very picky toddler as I do, try introducing beans to them.

Slow Cooker Beans & Rice W/Sausage

• 1 cup diced yellow or white onion
• 1 medium green bell pepper, diced
• 4 (15-ounces each) cans kidney beans, undrained
• 1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons coarse or freshly cracked black pepper (see note above)
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 2-3 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1 1/2 pounds kielbasa or chicken sausage, sliced 
• Hot, cooked brown rice, white rice or quinoa for serving
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DIRECTIONS

1. Combine all the ingredients except the kielbasa/sausage in a medium slow cooker and give it a good stir. Cook on high for 4-5 hours or on low for 7-8 hours. Add the sausage and cook until warmed through (anywhere from 20 minutes to another hour).
2. Add additional salt to taste before serving. Serve over hot, cooked rice (white or brown) or quinoa.

recipe source Melskitchencafe.com