Cajun Bean and Sausage Soup

Tried something new last night, and experimented on friends. Soak the beans overnight and through the next day until ready to start cooking (they will swell up).

I started cooking at 3pm to eat dinner at 6. This is a huge recipe and will feed 4 people twice over, plus leaving leftovers for the next day. I only added about 3/4 of the spice packet since I'm not a big fan of really spicy dishes, and my husband suggested it might have tasted even better with another can of tomatoes and a shallot.

Ingredients:

15-Bean Cajun soup Mix (with spice packet)
2 quarts water
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/8 cup lemon juice
1 (or 2) 14-oz. cans of stewed tomatoes
1-2 pounds sausage, Mild or Sweet

After the beans have soaked, drain the water then put them in a large pot with 2 quarts of water and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, then leave simmering for 2 1/2 hours. At the 2 hour mark, prepare the sausage (fry in a pan with 1/2 cup of water, covered for 10 minutes, then uncovered another 10 minutes) and fry along with the onion and garlic. At the 2 1/2 hour mark, add the sausage/onion mixture to the soup (cut up the sausages if you cooked them whole) along with the canned tomatoes, lemon juice, spice packet, and a few shakes of salt and pepper. Simmer another 1/2 hour, stirring occasionally, then serve.

I found this to be kind of hot for my tastes, and I think if I make it again I will try using an extra can of tomatoes and a shallot, as my husband and friends suggested. Our friends that came over brought their son, who is only two weeks older than our daughter, so our girl met another baby for the first time. What did she do? Pretended to cry, smacked him in the face and tried to steal his pacifier, while he looked at her completely bewildered.