Warm Black Beans on a Cold Winter's Night!

These cold winter nights are the perfect time to enjoy cooking anything to warm up our chilly bodies! Enjoy the time indoors whipping up something good to eat - and good for you! Healthy eating costs less and tastes better! Try this easy beans and sweet potatoes recipe for a nutritious addition to your next meal.

Easy to make - this healthy side offers almost one third of your daily requirement of fiber and Vitamin C and a full day's supply of Vitamin A!

Here's all you'll need:

2 or 3 sweet potatoes
2 Tablespoons extra virgin Olive oil
1 small chopped onion
1 Tablespoon minced garlic or 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup water
2 16 ounce cans black beans ( rinsed well and drained )
1/2 teaspoon oregano

Easy to make:

Rinse and scrub the sweet potaotes.

Cut the sweet potatoes into 1/4 or 1/2 inch cubes. ( Or 1/4 inch slices )

Peel and chop the onion.

Heat the oil in a large pan.

Add the onion, garlic powder, and sweet potatoes.

Cook for 6 minutes on medium heat.

Add vinegar and water. Cook on low-medium heat until the sweet potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes.

Add the black beans and oregano. Cook until the beans are heated through.

Enjoy this tasty and nutritious dish with your next meal. It's sure to warm you up on cold Winter's night! Make a double batch and store the leftovers in the freezer for later! Stay warm and keep eating healthy!

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Getting enough fiber

Eating a healthy diet of fruits and vegetables each day will kick-start your path to a healthy, trimmer body! Add in some daily exercise and you can join the millions of happy, healthy people who have successfully lost weight - and kept it off! Fiber is a key ingredient in any healthy eating plan!

Because insoluble fiber passes through our body practically intact, it leaves few calories. And since the digestive tract can handle only so much bulk at a time, fiber-rich foods are more filling than other foods - so we tend to eat less. Insoluble fiber can also inhibits the absorption of calorie-dense dietary fat. So, reaching for an apple instead of a bag of chips is a smart choice for someone trying to lose weight.

Clinical studies show that a heart-healthy diet (low in saturated fat and cholesterol, and high in fruits, vegetables and grain products that contain soluble fiber) can lower blood cholesterol. In these studies, cholesterol levels dropped up to 2 percent for every gram of soluble fiber eaten per day!

As it passes through our body, soluble fiber binds to dietary cholesterol, helping the body to eliminate it. This reduces blood cholesterol levels, which, in turn, reduces cholesterol deposits on arterial walls that eventually choke off the vessel. There also is some evidence that soluble fiber can slow down the production of cholesterol, and alter low-density lipoprotein (LDL) particles to make them larger and less dense. Scientists suspect that small, dense LDL particles are a danger to our health. Fiber reduces the danger!

Recent findings from two long-term studies of men suggest that high fiber intake can significantly lower the risk of heart attack. Men who ate around 35 grams of fiber-rich foods suffered one-third fewer heart attacks than those who had the lowest fiber intake.

Several scientific studies have found that diets low in saturated fat and cholesterol and high in fiber are associated with a reduced risk of certain cancers, diabetes, digestive disorders, and heart disease.

If you are like me and wanting to shed a few pounds - the quickest way to lose weight is eating healthy and getting plenty of exercise! Add more healthy fruits and vegetables to your daily diet - you'll benefit from the added fiber and a healthy array of vitamins and antioxidants! Keep eating healthy and get plenty of exercise!