Slow-Cooked Sausage Ragout

12-oz ground pork sausage

3 medium carrots, diced

2 stalks celery, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 28-oz cans diced tomatoes with their juice

1 medium onion, diced

2 T. balsamic vinegar

1 tsp. fennel seed, crushed

1 tsp. dried oregano

1/2 tsp. salt

Heat a skillet over medium heat and cook sausage until well browned. Place sausage in slow-cooker along with remaining ingredients. Cook on low for 7-8 hours. 

* I served the ragout over pan-fried polenta with Parmesan cheese, as in the picture. I froze the leftovers and reheated later to serve with pasta.

12 servings of ragout

134 calories

8.2g carbs

8.4g fat

7g protein

Tip of the Day: Shredding Chicken in a Crockpot

After cooking totally frozen chicken breasts in a bit of sauce on low for 8 hours, you now need to shred it.

Stop! Don't go get two forks or try to take the meat out!

Instead, use a potato masher to push down on each cooked breast in the crockpot and wiggle away. The chicken breaks apart and then you add a bit more sauce and voila! Shredded chicken.