1. Soak beans in 4 cups hot water and 1 Tb salt; cover and let stand for 6 hours to soften.
2. Then drain beans and add 3 1/2 cups fresh water and tomato sauce.
3. Cut sausage into pieces and saute with butter.
4. Add chopped onion, garlic, and green pepper until tender; add to beans.
5. Add remaining ingredients and simmer 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
6. Serve over hot rice. (To thicken last 15 minutes, mix 1 part flour to 3 parts cold water. Stir into mixture until desired thickness.)

Now the way I usually do it is in the crockpot with canned beans…here it is:

1. In place of the dry beans, use 3 cans of red beans. (Drain most of the liquid off the beans)
2. Also, you may substitue 1/2 tsp garlic salt for the garlic clove.
3. Place all ingredients (minus butter)directly into the crockpot – no need to saute veggies with sausage.
4. Add 3/4 c water.
5. Cook on low for 3-5 hours.
6. I serve it with brown rice in an attempt to be healthy.
7. Sometimes I buy the lowfat Polska Kielbasa too…of course it is not nearly as good!