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Two Simple Tricks to Get Your Kids to Eat Green Beans

April 25, 2019 by Laura 6 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Well now, isn’t this interesting? I’ve been feeding kids green beans since 1997. All my bio-boys love them because of the “bacon grease trick” my mom taught me years ago (more details below). But I just learned a new trick to add to my back pocket, which has finally helped our 5-year old Bonus Boy learn to love green beans too! Without further ado, how to get your kids to eat green beans…

How to Get Your Kids to Eat Green Beans

1. First, let’s talk about green beans and bacon.

Bacon makes everything better, of course. And you know me. I’m not afraid of fat if it is from a natural, real food source. Our family enjoys plenty of real butter and coconut oil, whole milk and red meat, real cream and yep – bacon.

All of these fats are recognized by our bodies, and are therefore easily digested and utilized for nourishment and energy. (Low on energy? Eat butter and bacon. You heard it here, folks. Now who’s your best friend??)

You can throw a slice or two of bacon into your green beans as they cook – or you can do what I believe is easier and faster! Drum roll please:

Save grease from cooked bacon to add to green beans anytime you need it!

Each time I cook bacon for my family, I let the bacon grease cool, then put it into a jar. I store this in the fridge, then add a scoop of bacon grease to a pot of green beans along with a little water (or chicken broth!) and Redmond Real Salt. Then I steam them to perfection. The bacon grease adds wonderful flavor to the beans, and of course, the fat makes the vegetable so much more appealing!

How do I cook my bacon?

oven-bacon-1

I’m so glad you asked. Here are my two favorite, most efficient methods of cooking bacon:

  1. Bake bacon in the oven. Then I freeze it to use as needed. This is so easy and helpful to have on hand for all your bacon needs! ;)
  2. Cut it into Bacon Bits. Once cooked, I put the bacon bits into a bag to freeze and pull out for salads, scrambled eggs, or BLT Wraps.

bacon bits 1

2. Now let’s talk about what kind of green beans seem to be the most appealing!

My family LOVES fresh green beans from our garden in the summertime. But alas, we live in Nebraska and can only enjoy these for a few months out of the year. If we grow enough, I blanch and freeze them to pull out and use during the cold months. But the past few years, we’ve been eating them as fast as they grow, leaving no reserves for the freezer!

Therefore, I typically buy frozen green beans in bulk from Azure Standard. Frozen green beans are much more flavorful and nutritious compared to canned beans. Still, even when cooked in bacon grease as described above, our Bonus Boy wasn’t very interested in this veggie side dish.

But, I’ve recently discovered a simple new trick! Instead of buying frozen “cut green beans” as I had been doing, I picked up a back of frozen “whole green beans” one day. I steamed them along with bacon grease and salt, and wouldn’t you know it? Bonus Boy ate them, and ate them, and ate them! We all did!

Who knew that simply switching from short and stubby beans to long and skinny beans would somehow make green beans taste so much better!

Now I stock up on frozen whole green beans and we all devour them!

So there you have it. Long green beans apparently taste better than short ones; and bacon grease makes beans taste amazing!

How do you and your family enjoy green beans?

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Why We Eat a High Fat Diet (Is it Right for Everyone?)

April 1, 2018 by Laura 9 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Through my years of blogging, I’ve shared many a recipe filled with ingredients like butter, coconut oil, red meat, and eggs. Like to eat a high fat diet much, Laura? Why yes. We do.

Back in the 90’s when my big hair added three inches to my height (how proud am I to show off my senior pictures to my kids?) I was adamant about eating all things fat-free. I have nothing good to say about how food tasted back in those days, and I can’t even talk about fat-free Miracle Whip. Why, Kraft, why?!!

{Pauses for a moment to collect herself and remove the mayo memory from her mind and mouth…}

I vividly remember being afraid of fat. I was afraid of what it would do to my heart, but much more afraid of what it would do to my hips. So who cares that food tasted terrible? At least I’d be skinny and avoid heart problems, right?

Since those days, I’ve done hours and hours and hours of research and reading on the subject of healthy eating and good fats. It’s probably worth a mention that I’d done absolutely no research in the 90’s before declaring fat to be unhealthy. I’d heard that it was and I believed it, the end.

I am so thankful to have learned now that most of us need to eat good fat in order to stay alert and healthy. It might go without saying that I’m also thankful my hair doesn’t require a weekly bottle of hair spray, but back to the fat…

Why we eat a high fat diet

  • Healthy fats provide fuel for our brain and heart.
  • Healthy fats are carriers for fat soluble vitamins like A, D, E, and K.
  • Healthy fats help our bodies absorb minerals.
  • Healthy fats are satisfying and keep us feeling full longer.
  • And that’s just the beginning. Read more about healthy fats here.

It seems that good fats are essential for great health!

Since I started eating a diet high in healthy fats, my lab numbers have become better and better! Hello butter and beef; goodbye bad cholesterol! It’s interesting, isn’t it, that during my days of eating low fat foods my blood tests always revealed borderline unhealthy cholesterol levels. Could it have had anything to do with the eight cookies and liter of Pepsi I consumed every single day along with my fat free mayo and dry chicken?

It’s also worth noting that through the past 20 years, whether or not I was eating a low fat or a high fat diet, when I ate a diet high in sugar I would always gain pounds. Always. It would appear that sugar is sugar no matter how much fat one eats, and while our bodies might need a little natural sugar to function well (bring on the fresh fruit!), excess sugar doesn’t benefit us at all.

Want some Low Sugar Treat Recipes? Look through all of these!

My Favorite Healthy Fats

I give three cheers for a high fat diet for my family. But not all fat is created equal, so a diet high in unhealthy, processed fats is one to be avoided. If fat is naturally occurring, I say bring it on. Here are the fats I consider to be natural and healthy:

  • Coconut Oil
  • Real Butter
  • Full Fat Dairy
  • Full Fat Meats
  • Nuts
  • Avocados
  • Palm Oil
  • Olive Oil

But what about saturated fats?

Indeed, most of the favorite healthy fats I mentioned above are in the “saturated fat” category. Again, I’ll point you to this article written by a doctor who takes nutrition very seriously as he explains it better than I can. Here’s a helpful quote from the article by Dr. Mercola:

…you must be vigilant against hydrogenated vegetable and seed oils, which are unsaturated fats that have been artificially manipulated into saturated fats. These are also known as trans fats, which interfere with your insulin receptors and put you at risk of chronic diseases like cancer, heart disease and diabetes.

So I most certainly avoid the fats that have been manufactured to become saturated. Margarine is high on my no-no list. I rank it right up there with fat free mayo, and I think we all know how I feel about that.

Next up…

Is a high fat diet right for everyone? Is any one diet right for everyone? 

To be continued…

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