Ground Beef with Black Beans

Ground Beef with Black Beans

1 1/2 to 2 pounds lean ground beef
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
3 ribs celery, chopped
2 carrots, shredded or finely diced
3 medium cloves garlic
1 can (16oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (16oz) corn, drained
1 can (16oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
1/4 cup chopped green pimiento-stuffed olives*
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 to 3 dashes hot pepper sauce
pepper, to taste

Brown the ground beef; drain well and transfer to slow cooker. Add remaining ingredients; mix to combine. Cover and cook on low for 7 to 9 hours (or high for 3 1/2 to 4 1/2). Serve with mashed potatoes or rice.

*I am going to omit the olives in this as I don't have an on hand.
**As I was mixing ingredients in the crockpot, it looked a little dry to me so I added about 1/4 c. water to it. before turning the setting on to cook.
***After it had been cooking for about 2 hours, I still thought it needed a little "something" for more sauce; not necessarily water or juice, but something to make somewhat of a sauce. Therefore I added to the mixture one can of tomato soup and a little shy of half the can of water to rinse remaining soup out.