Autumn Sausage Casserole

This is what we had last night. It was fabulous. Sam and I had the leftovers for lunch and we both agree that it tasted even better today. I am going to make a double batch next time. I love fall cooking, and cooking with apples and stuff. This is from the Taste of Home Seasons cookbook.

Autumn Sausage Casserole
1 pound bulk pork sausage
1 medium apple, peeled and chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 cup chopped celery
3 cups cooked long grain rice (I just used Uncle Ben's brown rice, but I'm sure any kind is okay since you just add it in at the end)
1/2 cup raisins
1/3 cup minced fresh parsley (I left that out...I have said this before but I'll say it again: I don't think parsley adds anything, nutrition-wise, and it just makes my kids think they won't like the dish because of the green)
1 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp pepper

In a large skillet, cook the sausage, apple, onion, and celery over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in remaining ingredients. Transfer to a greased 2-qt baking dish. Cover and bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until heated through.

The kids had a couple of friends over, so 5 kids ate this. Each kid picked out different things. Nathan didn't like the celery, Aspen didn't like the raisins. Emma and Annie ate most of it. Sam ate all of it. So did Steve and I. I hesitated making this one because it didn't seem like enough of a main dish. We just had it with corn, but next time I will make rolls to go with it, or have it with a salad or something. Such a good fall recipe. Yum yum yum.