Adventures in Cooking: Crock Pot Red Beans and Rice

I keep trying to duplicate my mom's red beans and rice.

I've failed every time. I even have her RECIPE and I can't make it work. 

So in lieu of Mom's version, I try almost every other red beans and rice recipe out there. I love this one because it uses the crock pot, and it's a Cooking Light recipe.

Slow Cooker Red Beans and Rice

Ingredients

• 3 cups water (I added 15 ounces chicken stock)
• 1 cup dried red kidney beans
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 3/4 cup chopped celery
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 3/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 (14-ounce) package turkey, pork, and beef smoked sausage, thinly sliced (such as Healthy Choice)
• 1 bay leaf
• 5 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups hot cooked long-grain rice
• Hot sauce, to taste (this wasn't in the original recipe, but I had to add it!) 

Preparation

• Combine first 12 ingredients in an electric slow cooker. Cover with lid; cook on high heat for 5 hours. Discard bay leaf; stir in salt. Serve over rice; sprinkle servings evenly with green onions.