Kidney Beans

Super nutrients. Soluble fiber, folate, potassium, magnesium.
Serving size. 1/2 cup; 112 calories.
Benefits. Eating beans four times a week--in baked beans, bean dip, chili, or a salad sprinkled with chickpeas or black beans--could cut your risk of coronary heart disease by 20 to 30 percent. Make some of them kidney beans; they're rich in LDL-lowering soluble fiber (2 grams in a 1/2-cup serving) and homocysteine-controlling folate, as well as blood pressure-easing potassium and magnesium.


Bonus: Thanks to healthy doses of fiber and protein, beans give you steady energy, not a sudden rise (and fall) of blood sugar that ups your risk of metabolic syndrome and weight gain.

Good ideas:

Rinse canned kidney beans before using to remove sodium. Toss them into chili, casseroles, and soups.
For a quick tamale pie, serve warm kidney beans over a piece of cornbread and top with grated cheese.
Make a better three-bean salad: Combine kidney, black, and white beans, then mix in chopped tomatoes and scallions. Dress with olive oil, lemon juice, and black pepper.
In a food processor or blender, combine cooked kidney beans with garlic, cumin, and chili peppers for a delicious spread that can be used as a dip for crudités or a sandwich filling.

Almonds

Super nutrients. Monounsaturated fat, magnesium, calcium, potassium, fiber.
Serving size. 1 ounce (about 24 almonds); 160 calories.
Benefits. A single serving of these crunchy, protein-packed nuggets provides a whopping 9 grams of monounsaturated fat to help slash LDLs ("bad" cholesterol) and boost HDLs ("good" cholesterol). Simply choosing almonds instead of a doughnut, chips, or pretzels for two snacks a day could cut LDLs nearly by 10 percent. Almonds also pack 6 percent of your daily calcium quota and 20 percent of the magnesium you need--two minerals proven to help lower blood pressure. Bonus: You get 35 percent of the Daily Value (DV) for vitamin E, an artery-protecting antioxidant, as well as 3 grams of fiber. Just be sure to stop with one handful at snack time--advice that holds true for all nuts because they're calorie-dense.


Good ideas:

One serving of almonds fits neatly into an empty Altoids mints tin. Fill the tin each morning and slip it into your purse or briefcase.
Toss some almonds into salads, stir-fries, fruit salad, or hot or cold cereal.
Keep slivered and sliced almonds on hand (store them in the freezer for freshness) to add to vegetable dishes, muffins, and cookies.

Dad's Crunchy Granola

4 cups rolled oats
1 ½ coconut
1 cup raisins
1 cup light vegetable oil
1 ½ cups wheat germ
1 cup mixed nuts (unsalted)
¾ cup honey

Mix in a large bowl. Stretch out on a cookie sheet (I use two and cover them with the no stick reynold’s wrap). Bake at 300 degrees for 15 mins. Turn over and bake another 10 -15 minutes – flip over (keep an eye on it because it can turn dark quickly and you don’t want to get a burnt taste) Cool on foil to get crunchy. Keep in air tight container.


P.S. I add flax seeds after it is cooked just because they are good for you. Tried adding it before it was cooked and it ended up burning. Also, I have made this and replaced half of the oil with liquid lecithin which is very good for you. I will write more about lecithin and its healing properties later.