Some apologize with flowers; I say I'm sorry with Sausage and White Beans.

To all three of my readers, I apologize. In April, I transitioned from working at home to working 40+ hours a week in an office, writing on a computer all day long. With all of that computer-writing, the last thing I wanted to do when I got home was write even more on a computer.

But I missed writing about food, so I'm back. And all of this working has me cooking new, creative meals that I can throw together when I get home at 6:30 p.m.

One of the meals that I always come back to is Sausage with White Beans, a recipe I modified from my favorite food blog, Simply Recipes. I think I've spoken before about the fantastic chicken and turkey sausage at my beloved Farmer's Market; if I haven't, that Farmer's Market is worthy of its own blog post.

This one-pot meal was meant to be served during the winter, for it is hearty, hot and filling. However, one can easily turn on a fan and enjoy it as well. (Really, it's not that bad.)

First is my friend Barbara's brilliant suggestion for cooking dried white beans in a slow cooker. It's perfect - just pick out the bad beans, add into the slow cooker with water and three measly ingredients that you'll always have in your pantry, set and forget (forgive the Billy Mays-esque plug there - R.I.P., Mr. Mays.). No soaking or watching over a pot for an hour or two. Freeze the leftovers in freezer bags with a little of their cooking liquid, and you'll always have an array of beans onhand that's a more economical and less salty subsitution for canned beans. Plus, you can use that lovely, mushy garlic that results from the all-day cookery.

Now, on to the recipe(s):

Crock-Pot Beans
Ingredients:
- 1 1-lb. bag dried cannelini (or any other kind of) beans
- 3-4 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/2 tsp. salt or smoked sea salt
- Water

Directions:
Briefly pick through the beans and remove any broken beans or stones. Pour beans and next three ingredients in a medium-sized slow cooker, and add about 32 oz. of water (or three times as much water as you have beans). Cook on low for 6 hours or on high for 3 hours for more firm beans; cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 4 hours for softer beans.

Sausage and White Beans
Ingredients:
- 1 lb. bulk sausage, preferably hot turkey or chicken sausage
- 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- Red pepper flakes and salt to taste
- Dried sage (optional)
- 14 oz. chopped tomatoes in puree
- Reserved cooked garlic cloves (optional)
- 1/2 c. bean cooking liquid (if you don't have it, 1/4 c. water will work instead)
- 1/2 lb. cooked white beans, or two cans of white beans, drained and rinsed

Directions:
Heat a pan over medium heat and add olive oil. Saute garlic for 30 seconds, then add sausage, breaking up with the back of a wooden spoon. Spread the sausage out in the pan, and don't stir it often so it can brown. When sausage is browned, sprinkle salt, red pepper flakes and sage over. Add tomatoes in puree, and be careful, because the pan will bubble like mad. Stir the tomatoes and scrape the browned bits off the bottom of the pan. Add the cooked garlic cloves if using, mash and mix into the sauce. Turn off the heat and add the cooked white beans at the end, gently folding them into the mixture so they don't get smashed. You will want the beans whole. Serves 4.