Order whole beans for a healthier heart

Eating Mexican tonight!

Whole beans... did I say whole beans. This is one of the healthiest sides you can eat. Packed with flavor, packed with fiber and packed with protein! It's the other stuff that goes into the burrito that you have to be careful about.

First and foremost stay away from refried beans! If you ever saw refried beans made you might gasp. I know I did. And it still is a memory stuck in my brain. I was probably about 15 when I was over a friend's house (okay that was a while ago, but I still remember it like yesterday) and her mom was making refriend beans.

The top half of the pan was floating with about a good 1 to 1 1/2 inches of grease/oil. And the beans were buried under it and as the beans heated up, the oil slowly absorbed into the beans so you no longer saw the oil just the beans. If I had not seen it made, I would have never known how much fat was secretively hiding in each bite.

But, you say, I love refried beans. Well, here is a tip then. There are fat free refried beans, canned versions you can find.

If you make fresh beans, instead of adding the oil to fry it up, use the juice of the beans and smash it up. It will look like refried without all the extra fat.