Canned Vegetables: The Healthy Way to Eat Them

Green beans, black eyed peas, pinto beans, cabbage, raw spinach, steamed broccoli and corn are some of my favorite vegetables. :)

As some of you may or may not know, when you buy canned vegetables they are usually packed in water and salt. What's the ugly word in that sentence? You guessed it, salt. Sometimes it's hard or not conducive to our schedules to be able to boil vegetables and cook them from scratch. So, eating vegetables from the can is ok if you do the following:

1. Buy the ones that say low sodium on the can

2. Buy regular canned vegetables, but drain the liquid off and rinse the vegetables with cold water at least 3 times.

3. After the liquid is drained, fill the can back up to the top with cold water and pour the vegetables in your small cooking pot/saucepan.

4. For a hint of flavor if you want a little more to add to it, just add one teaspoon of margarine or organic butter to it. If all you have is regular butter, I don't use it myself, but if you want to, just add 1/2 teaspoon or 1 teaspoon full and mix it in as it cooks.

5. 10 minutes and your veggies are done! Put them away in a tupperware dish and heat up for lunch tomorrow or dinner the next day.

* Healthy Note: Always eat at least 2 servings of green veggies and 1 serving of white or yellow veggies and legumes. Green veggies such as: lettuce, spinach collard greens, kale and other green leafy vegetables should be eaten in larger portions. White and Yellow Veggies and Legumes (Beans and Peas) should be eaten in smaller portions. Why??? Because those veggies and legumes are higher in carbohydrates and turn into sugar much more quickly. So eat 1 serving of them each meal, but eat ALL of the salad and other greens you like! :)