Beans !!Glorious Beans!

In my last blog I wrote about how we only eat animal protein 3x a week. This is due to several facts, but the main one being that animal proteins take longer to digest then plant based.  I am currently on a journey to better health and am in the process of losing weight.With that fact in mind I need everything I eat to burn quickly so my body is a constant fat burning machine. If I was to eat animal protein more often ,it would slow my 'Burn" down and that is not something I am willing to do. Plant based proteins are used immediately which gives me the added bonus of ready to use vitamins and minerals.It is a win win situation for me.

Because this is the way we eat I get asked a lot of different questions about beans so let me answer  few.
1) Which is best..canned or dried?  In my opinion dried is the best. You have no chemicals added to them like extra salts. In a pinch canned beans are fine just be sure to rinse them very well before you use them.

2) How do you cook dried beans? I have a simple method for this one..It is called a crock pot.. I rinse my beans,throw them in the crock  pot with 2x as much water then beans, and cook them on low overnight. Then I drain and cool them. I bag them up in 2 cup portions and freeze them,thus eliminating the need to ever buy canned beans. They unthaw very well and are much cheaper then buying a bunch of canned ones.

3) What about the gas issue?  Lots of ventilation is the answer to that one. Your body will build up the enzymes it needs to digest beans but it will take a few weeks.

4) How do you know which beans are best?  I have a system that I use based on trial and error which tells me which beans work best for different meals.

White beans: Great for mild tasting herbs like thyme,basil,rosemary,sage.
Black beans: Excellent for strong spices like chili powder,cumin,and anything Mexican.
Red beans: Great for saucy dishes like chili.
Lentils: Need a strong flavor to accompany them. Good in salads or even a stew.
Chick peas: Great in hummus or even in salads. Have a great texture and flavor of there own.Don't need much spice.

Beans are so versatile and so good for you ,and an added bonus that they are easy on the budget. There are a lot of really good recipes out there if you just look a little bit. Make it a goal to try a new bean dish once a week. They are such a  forgiving food that they have easily become one of my favorite to experiment with. At the moment I am perfecting a white beans sauce that I use in place of Alfredo . It is still a work in progress but each attempt has turned out amazing. I will post the recipe with pics when I have perfected it so stay tuned..

My Take on Protein

I have some very strong opinions on what is good for your body and what is not. These opinions have not been formed in ignorance , but in years of reading many kinds of books and my own personal experiences. This post is going to be all about proteins. What kinds there are, why your body needs them ,and some of the more questionable forms. I really believe that we need to be armed with as much information as we can get our hands on so we can make informed decisions about our health. I for one am not comfortable leaving my health in some one else's hands. So lets talk protein.

Protein is something your body absolutely, positively needs to have to function properly. Protein is the main ingredient for growth, repair and maintenance of your body’s tissue and muscles. Protein is the only nutrient that is directly responsible for building lean, shapely muscle. Eating protein speeds up your metabolism which is a big plus when your trying to slim down and tone up. Protein is what feeds your muscles. In order to lose weight you need to be swapping out fat for muscle but you can’t do that with out protein. But getting protein is not as easy as eating a hamburger. All are not created equal and your body recognizes that and does not use them all the same way. So we are going to brake them down into 2 kinds.

Complete and in-complete.

A complete protein is exactly what it sounds like.It has all the amino acids your body needs, to brake it down and use it for muscle food. The most common source of a complete protein is animal products. Chicken, beef, pork, dairy products, eggs, and fish. The great thing about a complete protein is that your body can use it immediately. It causes a positive release of the hormone glucagon (the one that raises your blood sugar) and counteracts the hormone insulin (the one that lowers your sugar) which results in a stable sugar. And a stable sugar means no fat is being stored.

An incomplete protein means that there is a lack of amino acids and in order for your body to be able to use them you need to complete the protein by adding a whole grain carb to it. Some incomplete proteins are beans, nuts, and processed foods like lunch meat, bacon, and ham. An example would be if your having beans then add some brown rice to it. Very simple and easy to do. One other fact about proteins that is very important to know is that proteins don’t start to digest until they reach the stomach.

A lot to comprehend, trust me I understand. Let me throw a few more facts at you before your brain explodes. There are a lot of protein sources you can use but some of them are not a very healthy option. I always try to eat my food as unprocessed as possible. That means I don't want any chemicals added or strange things done to my food. Some examples of these 'franken-foods" are lunch meats and hot dogs. No real meat and loads of crazy chemicals in them. One meat that we do not buy or consume in my house is pork. A few of my top reasons are more in the form of questions..Have you ever seen how these animals are raised? How about how they are slaughtered, processed and packed? There are a lot of documentaries on that kind of thing out there and if half of what they say is true on this subject then I am very glad we don't eat it. I also don't buy sausage ,ham ,or bacon do to the fact that the chemicals they use to cure the meats make me deathly sick. If it has nitrates or MSG in it, I do not allow it in my house. We will talk more about that on another post.
I also limit my beef consumption to 1 time every few months. It is really hard for the body to digest red meats so moderation is the key. People often ask me how I get by without eating ground beef. The answer is very simple:ground turkey or ground chicken. They are a great substitute and tend to take on the flavor of any spice you add. One big turn off for me and ground beef is that it is the most re-called meat on the market. I would rather not take the chance of getting food poisoning.There are few things that are worse in life then emptying my stomach contents.

This is what we do in my house. We eat animal protein 3x a week,usually chicken or ground turkey,and the rest of the time we eat plant based sources like beans. Works great and is actually easier on the grocery budget as well. One other quick thing to add is that we do not eat soy based products either. Some forms I jut don't like and others are what I consider 'Fraken foods". I do not want the food that I am feeding my family to be genetically modified. As I mentioned earlier I like to eat as close to natural as possible and if you read the labels on some of the soy based foods you will see that they have chemicals in them. Don't just take my word for it.Look at your labels and read up on stuff. It is so important that we arm ourselves with truth.