Step 1

Place the chicken in the bottom of the slow cooker, then top with the sausage. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine the tomatoes, stock, tomato paste, and seasonings; add the diced vegetables to mixture. Pour the tomato mixture over the chicken and sausage in the slow cooker.

Step 2

Cover, and cook 7 to 8 hours on Low, or 3 to 4 hours on High.

Step 3

Once the slow cooker has finished, there are a couple of options with the rice:Ladle out as much of the liquid out as possible - but saving the liquid. Once I have all the liquid out that I can get with the ladle, with oven mitts, I carefully pull out the insert and drain the remaining liquid. I then cook the rice, according to the package instructions, using the reserved liquids from the slow cooker.TIP: I place the container to catch the liquids in the sink and use the edge of the sink to help support the insert. I use a strainer to catch any of the bigger pieces that happen to fall out of the slow cooker while it is tilted. Cook the one cup of rice separately. When the rice is done, fold the cooked rice into the slow cooker.You can use instant rice with 30-minutes remaining. Make sure that the rice is well mixed with the other ingredients before covering the slow cooker.

Step 4

{Optional Step} After the rice is added, with 30-minutes of cooking time remaining, this is the point you would add thawed shrimp to the slow cooker.

Step 5

Garnish with chopped green onions, serve with warm French bread; offer hot sauce and Creole Seasoning at the table. Enjoy!