Reminders and Slow Cooker Sausage Bean "Stoup"

Ever have those days (okay, weeks even) where you can't remember a single thing? I've had many of those lately. The worst part is having to leave reminders to do something. For years we've had a system of leaving notes taped to the front door so we remember things on our way out. They've ranged from "lunch" to "crock pot". We've lately been using the same three over and over, so we've just kept the note and taped it to the backsplash when we didn't need it. The tape drives me nuts because it leaves a sticky residue on the door knob if you aren't careful. Enter the craft project!!

I'm pretty certain I had seen foam door knob hang tags, but I couldn't find them when I needed them, so I just bought regular foam paper and cut out hang tags. Then we decorated them with stickers. We learned the hard way that regular marker never dries on foam paper. You must use permanent markers.

The hang tags live in a kitchen drawer and when you need to remember something it gets hung on the door into the garage. In this case I taped a piece of paper to one to remind my husband to turn on the slow cooker before he left for work.

In the slow cooker was a recipe created by my friend, Karen. It's a great cold weather cross between a soup and a stew, or, stoup, as Rachael Ray calls them!


Slow Cooker Sausage Bean "Stoup"
I put this together the night before and put the insert in the refrigerator. My husband puts the insert in the slow cooker in the morning. The leftovers freeze quite well. It tastes better than it looks.

• 1 c dried mixed beans (like a 9 bean soup mix)
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 16 oz bag frozen chopped spinach
• 4 sausages of choice, precooked, sliced 1/4" thick (I've used everything from italian to chicken and apple. Also feel free to leave this out if you're vegan, it will still be delicious!)
• 1 qt stock of choice
• 1 c squash puree, optional (I've been know to used canned pumpkin, but anything will work)
• spices of choice (last time I used ground mustard, thyme, and parsley)
• salt and pepper

1. Put everything in the slow cooker and cook over low heat for 8 hours or more. (I usually cook it for 10 hours.)
2. Serve by itself or over quinoa or another grain.

This recipe has been shared on Diet, Dessert and Dogs' Wellness Weekend, Vegetarian Mamma's Gluten Free Fridays, and Allergy Free Alaska's Whole Food Fridays.