HoMe MaDe GReeN BeaNS!

I can't believe I didn't know how to make home made green beans until I

was in my forties!  I grew up eating canned green beans and just continued

that into my marriage thinking it must be horribly hard to make FRESH green beans!

I mean, who takes the time to actually make them from scratch right?

If you've ever eaten fresh home made green beans you know there's a 

world of difference in the flavor!  You just can't beat home made green

beans with a side of fresh sliced tomatoes in the summer.

So take a deep breath,

go to the grocery store

and buy a big ol' bag of fresh picked green beans!

You're going to love them

and they're super easy!!

 You're going to need a bowl and a colander.

Break off the ends of each green bean

and throw them away.

Put the actual bean that you're going to cook into the colander.

 When you're all done, throw these ends away.

Then put the colander in the sink and use your sprayer

to thoroughly spray the beans you're going to cook to clean them.

There's really no measuring with green beans.  Keep one rule in mind when

you're buying them at the grocery.  You're going to be throwing away about 

a third of what's in your bag.  So buy as many as you need.

Besides the beans, all you need to add is

One Onion

A large can of Beef Broth (I recommend Organic!)

Half a stick of butter (optional)

Salt & Pepper (optional)

After you have washed your beans off in the colander throw them into

a large deep pot.  You want to add your beef broth HALF WAY up the beans.

You don't want to cover the beans, only pour enough broth in the

pan to go half way up to the beans.  Then throw in half of a diced

onion.  I like a little butter in my beans, so I put half of a stick cut into

about four pieces.  If you're going to use butter, use BUTTER.  It's healthier

than margarine.  You do not have to put any butter in.  If you want to be

really healthy about it, just leave the butter out.  Then salt and pepper

your beans and put the burner on medium heat.  You do not want to

boil the beans.  You just want to cook them until they are done to your

satisfaction.  I usually cook them about 2 hours.  

Make sure you stir them about every half hour or more so all the 

beans get cooked evenly.

That's it!  Fresh home made green beans.

What a great no-meat dinner!  A plate of green beans

with a side of tomatoes or maybe a sweet potato.

Healthy and filling and good!

Why you should eat your beans!

Did you know green beans provide your body with the mineral silicon?

Silicon is very important for bone health and for the healthy formation of connective tissue.

They also have antioxidant nutrients like vitamin C and beta-carotene.

There is even some preliminary research that is showing that green beans

have anti-inflammatory benefits and may even prevent type 2 diabetes.  They have a

very good fiber content which probably helps to prevent this common health problem.