Red Beans and Rice

We had a surprise ice event earlier this week, and the weatherman is already predicting a few more snowstorms coming our way as early as next week.

February is definitely the time for snow in our area, although we've already had quite a few snows already this winter! Looks like our friend Punxsutawney Phil (if he can be encouraged to come out of his warm hidey hole, that is), is definitely going to be predicting MORE winter for us this year, I'm afraid.

But, I've got a really good recipe for you to try out during what is hopefully the last of these cold winter days. It is a simple stove top recipe for red beans and rice, and it's one that you might already have all of the ingredients for. (So, no need to run to the store if the weather is bad.)

Red Beans & Rice

1 bag dry kidney beans, sorted and rinsed

1/4 cup olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

2 Tbsp minced garlic

2 stalks celery, chopped

6 cups water

2 bay leaves

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp dried thyme

1/4 tsp dried sage

1 Tbsp dried parsley

1 tsp Cajun seasoning

1 tsp salt

white rice, cooked according to package directions

1. Soak beans in a large pot of water for 8 hours or overnight.
2. In a skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Cook onion, garlic, and celery in olive oil for 3-4 minutes.
3. Rinse beans and transfer them to a large pot with 6 cups of water. Stir cooked vegetables into beans. 
4. Season with bay leaves, cayenne pepper, thyme, sage, parsley, and Cajun seasoning. Bring to a boil, and then reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer for 2 1/2-3 1/2 hours. Remove bay leaves.
5. For last 1/2 hour of cooking, add salt to the pot and continue cooking. At this time, you can also  mash some of the beans against the side of the pot if you want a thicker sauce.
6. Prepare the rice during the last 1/2 hour of cooking according to package directions. 
7. Serve beans over prepared white rice.

Notes: 

This recipe is vegetarian, but if you'd like to serve it with meat, you can add 1 pound of andouille sausage to the beans (sliced) the last 1/2 hour of cooking. Or, you could also serve this recipe with ham.

As written, this recipe is not too spicy. Both my boys enjoyed it. If you like spicy food, you could either increase the amount of cayenne pepper, or add a dash of hot sauce to your serving.

Hope you enjoy!

Super Thick Stash Busting Crochet Afghan

This afghan was my second attempt at stash busting for 2017. You might remember my other big stash busting project - the Granny Square Scrap Afghan that I completed at the end of last January.

I was able to complete this super thick and cozy afghan in the span of one weekend (and then I proceeded to let it sit because I didn't want to weave in the ends). That's why I'm just now getting around to sharing it.

Look at how it came out!

Because it's so thick, this scrap afghan certainly is coming in handy for the unusually cold temperatures we've been having this winter.

This afghan was crocheted with a simple double crochet stitch using a BIG size S hook while holding 3 different strands of worsted weight yarn together, which is what makes it so cozy. The best part about this pattern is that you can make the afghan as big as you want depending on how much yarn you have to use up!

I just saved quite a few balls of yarn that were leftover from various projects that looked like they matched each other pretty well. Once I thought I had enough to make an afghan, that's when I started work on this project.

The BEST part is that this type of afghan is very forgiving - if you choose to use a variegated strand throughout, then that does a lot of color changing for you and helps to make an overall pretty finished product. And, I'll tell you a secret - it can also hide some not so pretty colors too!

You know how every now and then you'll end up with a few balls (sometimes even almost whole skeins of yarn) in your stash that you look at and you're just like "how in the world did I end up with this color?!?!" Maybe it's something you bought years and years ago and the color is no longer in fashion or maybe someone gave you a bag of free yarn and it was in the bag (and you're not going to turn down free yarn because that's crazy!)

So, if you mix in some of your "not the prettiest colors in the whole world" with some variegated yarns in coordinating colors and some solids in coordinating colors, then it kind of hides the ones that aren't so pretty and the prettier ones stand out.

Here's a closeup of some of the colors for this particular afghan:

Long time readers of the blog might recognize some of the colors from past projects I've posted:

• Red Heart Super Saver Grape Fizz (from Mermaid Tail Afghans)
• Red Heart Super Saver Turqua (from Mermaid Tail Afghans)
• Unlabeled Aqua Yarn (from Retro Cherry Baby Dress)
• Loops and Threads Impeccable Kelly Green (from Granny Square Baby Blanket)
• Red Heart Super Saver Dark Orchid
• Red Heart Super Saver Orchid

For the entire afghan, I held together 1 variegated strand, 1 dark strand, and 1 light strand. The effect it created was very mermaid-y and ocean-y.

I used this free crochet pattern from A Lively Hope and added big 8 inch tassels to the corners. The finished afghan is 48" x 65" and is the perfect size for snuggling for the foreseeable future (or at least until temperatures get somewhere above freezing).

Our pup Smitty seems to enjoy it!

So, if you're looking to use up some of your extra scrap yarn and you'd like to create a super fast afghan, I would definitely recommend this project.

Happy crocheting!

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