Sausage Rice

Brown in skillet: 1 lb sausage

Add it to the crockpot with:

2 apples, diced - no need to peel
1 yellow onion, chopped - yah right, I did onion powder
1 carrot, shredded or chopped
6 cups already cooked long-grain rice (3 cups raw)
1/2 cup raisins or Craisins (I used Craisins)
1 Tbsp dried parsley flakes (I was out)
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/3 cup chicken broth or water (I used water - I put it in the VitaMix Blender to help chop up my carrot)

Stir everything up, cover and cook on LOW 5-6 hours or HIGH 3-4 hours, it will be the consistency of fried rice.

*I KNOW that these ingredients sound so strange together, but this was absolutely YUMMY! I will tell you that it wasn't a hit with everyone in my family, but they will have to learn to love it. I'm going to be making it again...and again! By the way, can you believe that I was out of parsley? I better get it onto my grocery list.

Granola

Mix all the dry ingredients into a LARGE crockpot:

10 cups oats
1 tsp salt
1/4 to 1/2 cup brown sugar
1-2 Tbsp cinnamon
1-2 TBSP of wheat germ, rolled wheat or flax seeds (optional - I didn't)

1/2 to 1 cup each of your favorite granola ingredients to equal abt 3 cups:

--unsweetened coconut
--nuts (slivered almonds, chopped peanuts, cashews or pecans, etc.)
--seeds (pumpkin, sunflower, sesame, etc.)
--dried fruit (cranberries, raisins, apples, etc.)

In microwave bowl:

2 tsp vanilla
1 cup olive oil OR melted butter
1 cup pure maple syrup OR honey

Warm in the microwave, stir well, then pour over the dry mixture in the crockpot. Stir together, all of the dry ingredients should be wet. Prop a wooden spoon or chopstick in between the lid and the crockpot to create a vent OR just cook this with the lid off.

Cook on HIGH for 2-3 hours. Stir every 30 minutes, perhaps more often during the last hour to keep it from burning and getting bitter. When it's done, you can cool it out on parchment paper or you can be lazy like me and lift the ceramic pot out of the cooker and cool it in that, stirring a few more times while cooling. When cool, store in airtight containers or ziploc bags. Serve as cereal or on your favorite yogurt...or plain! Granola freezes well.

*So cool to get a large batch of granola without much effort! You will obviously want to make this when you will be home for three hours and can stir occasionally. My guess is that it's not as crunchy or clumpy as cooking in the oven, but we're OK with that in my house. It's yummy. For lots of tips, you can click here.