Tip #7

It has been a few days since I blogged, and I apologize. Things occasionally become hectic and the next thing you know, my blog is being neglected. I'm going to try and make it a priority in the upcoming week to get back into the habit of blogging often, but please forgive me if I end up skipping a day here or there.

Without further delay,

Skinny kids fat world tip #7:

BEANS!

Beans are an easy, cheap addition to many different dishes and they often pack more nutrition than you might think. They can be purchased (very inexpensive) in cans and drained and added to dishes to add protein and fiber without always adding fat or excessive calories.

Tonight, I decided to take the easy way out for dinner and make spaghetti. Yes, I used a jar of sauce. I will discuss my philosophy on spaghetti sauce another day, but today I'm talking beans. So, here is the tip. When you make your spaghetti sauce, add one can of cannellini (white kidney) beans. I have the can in front of me and for every 1/2 cup serving, it offers 6% of your daily calcium, 10% of your daily iron, 25% of your daily fiber, 8g of protein, and NO FAT. Seriously!

If you make a jar of sauce, sub out turkey for beef or just cut the amount of hamburger by 1/2. Add a can of canellini beans, and serve with whole wheat pasta instead of regular. It takes absolutely no more time to make. A can of beans costs about a dollar, and if you cut the amount of beef you will actually be saving money. You are adding fiber and protein with the use of whole wheat pasta and beans. By cutting out some of the beef you are cutting out some of the fat. You are adding calcium and iron, and making it a little more filling because of the additional fiber content. This takes no extra time. The only extra work is opening a can of beans, and the only extra waste is an empty can.

I'm not thrilled by the amount of sodium in canned foods and I generally advocate for getting fresh or frozen when possible, but for the sake of time savings, canned beans are a great addition.

The tip for today is to find a way to incorporate beans into your meals more often, they bring a lot of nutrition with them without a lot of fat. I will do my best in the next week to get at least one recipe on here that includes beans. Maybe a nice black bean and corn side dish perhaps? We shall see....