Mama's Red Rice and Sausage

Here is a recipe that I learned from my mother. It is amazingly simple and very good. My mother liked to dice her own vegetables, but I hate it, therefore, I often just substitute pre-chopped fresh (never frozen--too watery) seasoning mixes that you can pick up in the supermarket. You can also make this without sausage for a nice side dish or you can add 1-2  pounds peeled shrimp with or without the sausage for a change of taste. It is also great with a pound of small diced ham and sausage.  This is sometimes called Savannah Rice. 
Here, however, is Mama's original recipe:


1 pound of smoked sausage, sliced into thin rounds
1 yellow onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
2 ribs of celery, diced
1/4 cup diced fresh parsley
2 14.6 ounce cans of tomato sauce
1 14.6 can of diced tomatoes (do not drain)
2 T. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. garlic powder (not salt)
2 tsp. sugar
2 bay leaves
3 T. olive oil
one box ( 14 ounces) of instant.minute rice

In a large sauce pot or dutch oven, heat olive oil, saute onions, peppers, celery, parsley until tender, add sausage, cook about 2-3 minutes until sausage begins to brown lightly. Add tomato sauce and diced tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, pepper, garlic powder, sugar, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer, put lid on pot and simmer for at least 25 minutes ( I have let it simmer of a couple of hours before). Stir occasionally. Remove lid, return sauce to a boil, boil 2 minutes, remove from heat, add rice, stir until all rice is coated in sauce, and let sit 10-15 minutes with no further stirring until rice is firm. Fluff with fork before serving. Delicious. (MOTHER NEVER ADDED SALT TO HERS BECAUSE THE TOMATOES AND SAUSAGE HAD SALT,BUT YOU MIGHT WANT TO ADD JUST A PINCH OR TWO).  Also, please note that when my mother added shrimp to hers, she didn't add the peeled shrimp until the last 10 minutes of the simmering time because she didn't like them to be overcooked and chewy!