Lacrosse and Kielbasa

 

Well, Liam started lacrosse this week. Mondays and Wednesdays are promising to be absolutely insane, particularly as I will generally be working on Mondays. Picked up Liam at school, drove to the store for his helmet (that just came in that day), dashed home to pick up Ceana, then flew to the field for practice. That lasted an hour before heading home around 6:30, where he dropped his gear, ran upstairs to take a shower while I plated the crockpot meal that had been cooking most of the afternoon. It was a great meal to end a chilly and tiring first practice! I'll post the recipe for that in a minute...

Liam is loving his lacrosse, and it's fun for us to watch. It's REAL practice now, vs. a little bit of playing and learning the rules. Lots of running, lots of throwing, and he comes home exhausted and crashes into sleep. Even better - his performance in school the next day was great. He was too tired to act up ;-)  So, we've decided that on the days he doesn't have practice, he'll be doing some kind of running/exercising in the afternoon after school. This is in addition to practicing at home. He also needs some SERIOUS help with some of his legwork. Last night they were working scissor run - cross right foot in front of left, move left leg out, cross right foot in back of left, and so on. Well, Liam's coach couldn't stop laughing...told him it looked like he was dancing an Irish jig...Phil and I were rolling on the sidelines, watching his legs just flail around like he was having a seizure. The assistant coach finally pulled him aside to help him try and figure it out.

Ceana is having fun at practice too - it's been at a local school, so there is a big covered playground that she loves to play on. She also finds "friends" to play with - generally older girls (Liam's age?) that she runs around with.

So, as I mentioned, I had dinner ready Monday night when we got home from practice. It was chilly outside, and threatening to rain - and this meal was perfect. It's pretty simple, but tastes good. Even Liam loved it - he took it for lunch the next day! I have no photos, as I completely forgot before it was all devoured, but...picture a pot of beans with a soupy base, sliced red and yellow bell peppers, and sliced kielbasa - there you go! Dinner! ;-)  This recipe is taken from Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook by Beth Hensperger.

Beans and Sausage

Ingredients:
1 lb fresh  sausage, such as turkey Italian; or 1 lb smoked or fully cooked sausage, such as bratwurst, chicken apple sausage, or kielbasa
1/4 c. water (if using fresh sausage)
2 TB olive oil
2 small bell peppers, any color, seeded and cut into strips
1 med-size yellow onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 15-ounce can white beans (Great Northern or Cannellini), rinsed and drained
1 15-ounce can red beans, such as small red or kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 14.5-ounce diced tomatoes with their juice
1/4 c. dry red wine
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Instructions:
1. In an ungreased  skillet over medium heat, lightly brown the sausage. If the sausage is smoked or fully cooked, slice and set aside. If fresh, add the water, cover, and cook until completely cooked through, 8-10 minutes. Uncover and cook for a few minutes more. Let cool and slice.

2. Wipe out the skillet and warm the oil over medium heat. Add the peppers, onion, and garlic; cook, stirring, until just tender. Transfer to the slow cooker and add the sausage, beans, tomatoes and their juice, and wine. Cover and cook on HIGH for 3 to 4 hours, or LOW for 6 to 8 hours. Near the end of the cooking time, check the consistency and cook with the lid off to thicken, if desired. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

Notes:
1. While the dish was very good, I think a slightly spicier sausage would be better. We didn't go that route due to Liam's extreme issues with anything spicy. I think next time I would either use the spicier version, or add a bit more spice myself. We also chose to use kielbasa because we know Liam likes it.
2. I didn't have time to let the dish thicken, and it was quite good. In fact, the sauce was delicious soaked up in rolls. However, if I have the time to try it when I make it again, I think I will. I would like to have a thicker sauce.
3. The recipe didn't specify how thick to slice the sausage, so I sliced about 1/2-inch thick. I also didn't mix the ingredients in the pot, but simply layered them in the order they are added.

So, there you have it! A quick, easy, reasonably healthy meal. Can't get much better than that when you're in a hurry, especially a warm meal on a chilly night. Hope you enjoy, and as I know that there are a few people who are trying some of these recipes, feel free to let me know of anything you tried differently that you like - I'm always up for new stuff.