Table Bean

Table Bean

Beans and Lentils: the Ideal Meat Replacement

As a child, I remember learning, "Beans, Beans, The Musical Fruit," while driving back from the Rose Bowl parade in our old red and white van. When my mother admonished my father for teaching my sister and I such songs that ended with people "tooting," my father said we wouldn't remember. Of course, some thirty years later, I remember.

In my parent's home, I grew up on steak and noodles; it was a favorite and eaten regularly. As an adult, I follow a vegetarian diet and avoid refined carbohydrates. It's likely I'll never eat my favorite childhood dinner again, and I'm perfectly okay with that.

I've actually replaced both of those old favorites with: Beans.

I love beans and lentils, and I'll share how to make one of simplest and best tasting bean dishes I've ever had. This dish is incredibly delicious and full of protein. In addition, once you know that it takes one thousand gallons of water to produce just one pound of beef, or worse, that many animals used for consumption these days have cancer and tumors, you'll understand that why using this dish often will benefit both your body and the environment.

One of the best things about bean dishes is that there are so many different kinds of beans, and they all taste different. The recipe I'll share will work with just about any type of bean or lentil, but my favorites are red lentils and black-eyed-peas. Red lentils are delicious and because they only take about fifteen minutes to prepare, they are a wonderful fast meal and a perfect pasta replacement. Black-eyed-peas take a bit longer, about forty minutes, but when you're eating them, you'll know exactly why you waited.

Best of all, you'll just need a few simple things to make this dish, all of which I keep on hand.

The first is coconut oil, which if you're not cooking with it regularly, you should be. Coconut oil is chock full of medium chain fatty acids - which offer more than remarkable health benefits. Coconut oil is known to kill cancer cells, be anti-bacteria, and contrary to popular knowledge, prevents heart troubles. On top of that short summary of the benefits of coconut oil, coconut oil is the only oil that can stand the heat of cooking without creating free radicals. Plus, it's delicious.

The second item you'll need is sea salt, which you should know is different than standard table salt. Unprocessed sea salt is full of minerals - which most people are deplete in - and is structurally different than standard table salt, which the body sees as toxic. So, if you haven't made the switch yet at your table, now's a perfectly good time to do so.

The third is fresh sage. Like many herbs, sage has antibacterial properties, protects against cancer, and is absolutely delicious. Now, you'll just need your beans or lentils and purified water and you're all set.

So, here's what to do with it all...

Add a teaspoon or two of coconut oil to your pot. Heat it up, and tear up and add 5-7 large fresh sage leaves per large serving of prepared beans or lentils you plan to make. Let the sage sauté on low heat for a minute, then add your purified water and beans or lentils. You'll need about three times as much water as dried beans or lentils. Just it bring to a boil, and when boiling turn the heat down to medium low, cover, and let cook until they've finished. If you're unsure how long to cook the type of beans or lentils you're using, do a quick Google search to find out.

When they're finished the beans or lentils will be soft. Now, add in a teaspoon of coconut oil per large serving and use sea salt to flavor. You'll be amazed at how easy and delicious this is. And six to seven cups of beans or lentils each week meet the protein requirements of humans - so they're an easy hearty replacement if you want to move away from eating meat. Indulge and enjoy!

About the Author

Kim Evans is an author and educator on Cleaning Up! the body. Her book, Cleaning Up! The Ultimate Body Cleanse, offers a total body cleanse, including colon cleansing, candida cleansing, and a cleansing diet. It's deep cleansing and it'll remove more toxicity than you think is possible!

What would a room look like for kids with depression and anxiety?

I have to do an assignment for school and we need to create a room about 18 by 12 that includes activities for stressed out kids. Things that will take their minds off of depression, like table tennis, movies, bean bags, little kitchens, pools, etc. I just want some ideas of what the room should have as well as wall colours, posters, resources for help, etc. THANKS
OHHH and the age group is about 14 - 15 year olds

Your assignment sounds basically like 'design your happy place'. That's so individual you gotta do it on your own.

Table Talk- Mexican Bean Soup