Quick & Easy “Slow” Cooker Baked Beans Recipe
One of my FAVORITE side dishes to any barbecue is baked beans. But, not the kind you get in a can (no pork and beans either). I really LOVE good, old fashioned, made from scratch baked beans.
However, sometimes, you just don’t have the time or the patience to make the completely from scratch version like my Molasses Baked Beans. I created this recipe for our July 4th Work Barbecue because I really wanted homemade beans, but, I didn’t think about it until the morning of the barbecue. I didn’t have time to soak my beans and well I am not THAT prepared to have pre-cooked ones I can pull from the freezer.
As much as I LOVE Bacon, I don’t LOVE it in beans because it just gets soggy. I thought it would be fun to use “Smoked Turkey Sausage” because the beans would not only be sweet, but, they would be smoky too.
The result was AMAZING and nobody could tell I used canned beans. This is a recipe I will for sure make again and again.
You should definitely give these a try for your next BBQ, I guarantee everyone will love them as much as we did.
Quick & Easy “Slow” Cooker Baked Beans Recipe
INGREDIENTS:
1 pound Lite Kielbasa or Smoked Turkey Sausage, quartered then chopped
1 medium red onion, chopped
1 cup Ketchup (or make your own)
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup Agave Nectar (I used X-Agave), honey or sugar
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons molasses
2 tablespoons deli mustard
1/4 c Chipotle Barbeque sauce, if you want a little kick, optional
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 cans (15-1/2 ounces each) pinto beans, drained and rinsed
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Add your Kielbasa sausage to a pan sprayed with nonstick spray over medium heat. Cook until lightly browned, 5-7 minutes, then, set aside.
2. Using the same pan, add your chopped onion and cook until slightly browned/caramelized.
3. While your sausage and onions cook, mix together ketchup through black pepper and set aside.
4. Spray your crock pot with nonstick spray or use a crock pot liner. Add your beans, sausage, onions and sauce mixture. Stir to combine and cook on high for 2 hours or low for 4 hours.
Serve straight from the crock pot and enjoy!
Makes about 20, 1/2 cup servings,
Nutritional Information per 1/2 cup serving using Calorie Count:
STEP-BY-STEP:
Brown your smoked sausage for 5-7 minutes or until browned.
Remove your sausage and use the same pan to brown your onions for 5-7 minutes.
Spray your crock pot with nonstick spray and add beans.
Then, browned sausage
and browned onions.
While your sausage & onions cook, whip up your secret sauce. You can use any ketchup or vinegar, but, these are my two favorites.
While you don’t technically “need” to add Barbecue sauce since you’ve just made one up from scratch, I wanted to give my beans a little “kick” with some Gayle’s Chipotle Barbecue sauce. Totally optional, but, I highly recommend it.
Pour your secret sauce over your bean mixture and stir to combine.
Cook in your crock pot on low for 4 hours or high for 2 hours. You can easily leave these on all day and let people snack on them through your barbecue.
Add this recipe to your recipe collection by clicking the SpringIt Button ~ it’s free and let’s you save your recipe with the grocery list too – LOVE It! 
Happy “Almost” 4th of July all!
Don’t Eat The Seeds!
Happy Friday all! Although it has been a rainy day, I have to say I am so PUMPED for the weekend to begin. We kicked off our weekend with “date night” tonight and tomorrow we are heading to the Seed Bank to pick out everything for our garden and we might even plant “stuff” too!!! Sunday is the BIG RUN….I am just a little excited for it all to start, but, I need to sit back and enjoy the ride 
I have been working RICE for my hips ~ Rest, Ice, Elevation and Compression. A LOT of stretching with my FOAM ROLLER on my super thick Boulder Yoga Mat (which is awesome if you have hard wood floors), plus ice and Motrin. Fingers crossed that it works and I am “SUPER FLY” and FAST on Sunday
I have been really craving baked goods all week and haven’t had time to bake. So, this morning, I finally gave in and picked up a Low-Fat Triple Berry Coffee Cake (7 pts) with a Grande FF Decaf Latte for breakfast (2.5 pts). It was a higher in point breakfast, but, worth every bite!
Mid morning I snacked on a bit of Kettle Cashew Butter and a banana (2 pts). I didn’t want them together so I just licked my spoon since I am classy like that 
I was really looking forward to using last night’s Mexican Pizza Leftovers to make a HUGE Lavish Burrito today.
I started off with 1/4 c ff salsa beans plus 1 1/2 oz taco ground turkey and SRIRACHA.
Then, I melted 1/2 oz of low fat CHEESE.
Plus TJ’s Corn Salsa, mini peppers, and AVOCADO!
Tomatoes, cilantro and fresh jalapeño slices. I actually learned that I LOVE fresh jalapeño slices, just don’t eat the seeds ~ HOT, HOT!!!
My last topping was some organic herbed greens.
NOM, NOM, NOM!!! This was so spicy, cheesy, good and not bad for 7 points.
I have to admit I was pretty excited to have some down time when I got home. For those of you who know me, I rarely sit still for long. But, today, I plopped down in front of the TV and indulged in the Food Network. I honestly think I could watch it for HOURS, other than it makes me really HUNGRY!
Mid afternoon snack ~ a few Salt & Pepper Pop Chips and a LF Colby Cheese (3 pts).
When The Husband got home, we headed out for date night. I have been craving a really good salad, so we hit up Fresh Choice! Let’s just say, I pretty much emptied their salad bar with everything I could on my salad. Estimated (3 pts since it’s mainly veggies and I had FF dressing on the side)
I LOVE that they are now serving up ORGANIC, LOCAL PRODUCE with their new FARM TO FORK INITIATIVE!!!
Chicken Fettuccine Noodle Soup (3 pts per cup)
1 slice of Veggie Pizza that was just ok ~ not sure it was worth the 3 points.
I HAD to have my standard corn bread & honey spread bite too…just a bite though (1 pt) – See how the pts can add up so quickly?! I broke into my WPA for today and it was totally worth it 
Dessert was a 3 point cone with sprinkles. FUN FACT ~ did you all know that the plain regular cones are ZERO POINTS (only 15 calories!). I LOVE them because it’s built in portion control that doesn’t FEEL like it’s a small amount.
After dinner we went to see the Green House and we LOVED it! Totally intense, but, I have to say it leaves you wanting to see more. I honestly don’t think I’ve seen a Matt Damon movie I don’t like!
Have a great Saturday all ~ Night!!!
Butter Bean, Sausage & Kale Soup
This Butter Bean, Sausage & Kale soup can be made in less than 30 minutes. It is loaded with flavor from the STAR ingredients ~ Spicy Turkey Sausage and Italian Tomatoes. This recipe was inspired based on all the delicious soup recipes I saw in my new Weight Watcher Classic Comforts Cookbook. I LOVE idea of taking flavored sausage, plus beans plus VEGGIES to create a soup that gets better with each bite.
Butter Bean, Sausage & Kale Soup
INGREDIENTS:
2 links, 7 oz total, Lean Spicy Turkey Italian Sausage, casings removed (I used Jennie-O)
1 red onion, chopped
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups water
1 15 1/2 oz white beans, drained and rinsed, (I USED BIG Butter Beans)
1 14 1/2 oz can diced, Italian tomatoes
1 can or small box Organic Chicken Broth
1/2 Kale bunch, roughly chopped
A few pinches of crushed red pepper flakes
Freshly Ground Pepper to taste
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Spray a large saucepan with nonstick spray and set over medium-high heat. Add the sausage, onion, carrot, and celery and cook, stirring frequently to break up the sausage until the sausage is no longer pink, 8 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook for 1 minute.
2. Add the water, beans, and broth; bring to a boil. Add the Kale, reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes.
Makes 4 LARGE servings, 4 Weight Watcher Points Each!!
Nutritional information per 1 HEAPING cup serving:
230 Calories,6 g Fat, 1 g Saturated Fat, 0 g Trans Fats, 46 mg Cholesterol, 820 mg Sodium, 24 g Carbohydrates, 7 g Fiber, 21 g Protein, 120 mg calcium
STEP-BY-STEPS:
Add your lean spicy turkey sausage plus veggies and cook over medium high heat.
Add your garlic and cook 1 additional minute.
Add your beans, tomatoes, water and chicken broth.
Add your kale, cover and cook until kale is cooked, about 10 minutes.
Tadah!!! Super fast, super easy! Add crushed red pepper flakes.
Sprinkle with freshly ground pepper and additional crushed red pepper flakes or hot sauce!
This soup freezes well too so why not double the recipe to have some now and then later for the nights you don’t feel like cooking.
Enjoy!
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