Slow Cooker Red Beans and Rice

I totally stole this recipe from my friend Claire's blog. Originally, she notes that it came from Cooking Light magazine. I was salivating when I saw that she was making this, and I had to ditch my original dinner idea in favor of this one. Being from the South, I love me some Red Beans and Rice! This version is super easy since it employs the use of a slow cooker. There are a few minor changes that I have made, based on the ingredients that I had on hand today. For example I threw in a teaspoon of Cajun seasoning for additional spice and I used hot beef sausage. My house smells so good right now...I cannot wait to eat. Since this is my first time trying this recipe out, I will post the results on how it turned out later. For those of you who read Claire's blog this will be a duplicate. Thanks Claire for a great idea!

Slow Cooker Red Beans and Rice
3 cups water
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, or 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
1/4 cup chopped green onions

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.