Heat a skillet, and add the olive oil. Add the onions and cook for about 6–7 minutes over medium heat.

Add the celery and green bell peppers and cook for about 4–5 minutes. Turn down the heat a bit, and add the garlic and bay leaves and cook a minute or so more. Add the stock and cook for another 5 minutes.

Put a liner in your slow cooker, and add the sautéed vegetables, tomatoes, thyme, hot pepper flakes, and Old Bay. Set the slow cooker on simmer and cover it while you prepare the sausages.

After removing the casings, slice each sausage lengthwise in half, and then in half again, so you have four long strips. Slice the strips into ½-inch pieces.

Add the sausages to the empty skillet, and sauté for 2-3 minutes until just beginning to brown. Put the sausage pieces in the slow cooker.

Depending on their size, you may have to cut some of the seitan strips into slightly smaller pieces. I love their irregular shape, but you may want them smaller. Using the same skillet, sauté the seitan strips for just a minute or so and add to the slow cooker.

Return the skillet to the burner and add the white wine. Deglaze the pan over medium heat and scrape in all the little scraps of sausage and seitan. Add the contents of the skillet to the slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for about 5-6 hours.

Taste carefully and correct seasonings with sea salt and pepper. Add the gumbo filé powder if you're using it and let it cook on warm for a few minutes. Don't cook gumbo filé powder over direct heat or it will get stringy instead of thickening your sauce. Serve over brown rice.