One of my favorite, super healthy meals is "greens and beans." I saute a bit of onion and some greens in olive oil, (fresh or frozen greens), then add a can of canellini, red kidney or garbanzo beans and one or two cans of stewed tomaotes, and about a tsp. of italian seasoning and a small amount of garlic, s&p. Serve over rice or pasta or for a special treat, polenta. This takes maybe 10 min. to make, and is the basis of a great vegan meal. You can add other vegetables, I like it with zuchinni added. For a dinner party, add roasted eggplant and red pepper spread on bruschetta, or tofu pate, a good green salad, and any other vegetable dish you like. I am very partial to roasted vegetables like parsnips, butternut squash, carrots, red onion (or white), celery, cauliflower, asparagus. I have tried most things roasted and the only thing I don't like is zuchinni. I also love those tofu pudding mixes Mori Nu puts out, you can get them in the health food section of a lot of groceries, or a specialty store. Another great vegan meal--falafel or hummus in pita bread, cucumber or chopped salad, (you could make the vinegar and oil kind or experiment with soy yogurt), tabouleh and canteloupe for dessert. Fill canteloupe with tofutti, if that is vegan. (See, there's an example of something I'm not sure about). Feta cheese and lamb kabobs and bakalva on the side for the non-vegans. If you buy the falafel mix, falafel are a snap to make. So is hummus, especially if you have a food processor! Things to have on hand--nutritional yeast, which can be used as a cheese sprinkle substitute on pasta and popcorn. Tofu, the premarinated kind, which you can get in specialty groceries and some regular ones if they are serving a progressive crowd. Soy milk, in the small containers so it doesn't spoil on you! Seasoned roasted nuts for snacking, try some fun varieties like soy nuts and pumpkin seeds and those sesame sticks! Tofutti and fruit pops in the freezer. Fake sausage links and burgers and hot dogs. My version of tofu pate Extra firm tofu Pesto sans cheese--the basil or parsley kind Kalamatta olives Capers Fake parmesean cheese (optional) Mix proportions to taste in a food processor to make into a spread. If using a whole block of tofu, about 1/4 cup of olives, 2 TBLSP capers, 2-4 TBLSP pesto and 2 TBLSP of the fake cheese. If you don't have pesto, use a handful of fresh basil, pine nuts or walnuts, a half a clove of roasted garlic, and about 1/4 cup of olive oil. This is great on brushetta, crackers or even with pasta. One of my favorite potato salads is with red new potatoes, celery, red onion or scallions, steamed or roasted green or yellow wax beans. Dress with red wine vinegar and olive oil and oregano or marjoram or dill, s&p to taste. Can add olives or capers for extra zing, depending on what else you're serving. Also great made with beets. Top with toasted nuts before serving. Waldorf salad made with "Nayonaise" which is a tofu based mayo you can get in the health food section.

These containers are food grade containers. They seal securely. I also have a kitchen thermometer. It works great and I could not change back to cooking daily. There has been a lot of shows on the telly about the foods in shops. We have had the horse meat scandal as well as other documentaries of having food tested and finding horrible things in fast food, prepared meals in shops and processed foods is terrifying. But making up fast foods like burritos, fajitas etc...I know what we are eating. I refuse to eat processed foods and will not feed them to my kids. My children are all grown up now but I still want them to eat healthy and know what they are eating and hopefully they will take this on and continue in their homes. Thanks for the reply. I appreciate all views as it does give me things to think over.

These are some easy snacks: Egg n Bacon Crescent Sandwiches Preheat oven to 375F. 8 slices bacon, fried and crumbled 3 oz. or 3/4c grated Swiss or cheddar cheese 1/4c finely chopped celery 4 hard cooked eggs, chopped 3 TB mayonnaise 1 TB mustard 1 8oz. can Pillsbury Crescent rolls mayonnaise to brush on top sesame seeds Mix bacon thru mustard in a bowl. Separate dough into 4 rectangles, pressing perforations together. Cut each rectangle in half. Spoon about 1/4c egg mixture into center of dough square. Pull 4 corners up of dough square to cover top of filling, pinching edges to seal. Place seam side down on ungreased baking sheet. Flatten each slightly. Brush with a little more mayonnaise and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake at 375 for 12-18 minutes. Tamale Pocket Sandwiches 1 lb. ground beef 8 oz. can tomato sauce 1/2 med. onion, finely chopped 7 oz. can Mexi-corn 2 t. chili powder 2 cans Hungry Jack biscuits salt and pepper to taste sliced American cheese 1/4t. garlic powder Brown beef, drain. Add rest through corn, simmer 10-15 minutes or until thick. Separate biscuits, roll or press all 20 biscuits to a 5-inch circle. Spoon about 1/4c meet mixture onto 10 dough circles. Top each with half a slice of cheese. Put other dough circle on top, press edges with fork to seal. Bake at 400 for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. Will freeze fine. Barbecue Cups makes about 20 - preheat oven to 400 3/4lb. lean ground beef 1 TB plus chopped onion 2 TB brown sugar 1/2c BBQ sauce canned biscuits  2 10 pks. grated cheddar cheese Brown beef, drain fat. Add onion and saute lightly. Add sugar and sauce, simmer a few minutes. Press biscuits to make a larger circle. Put into muffin tin cups. Add meat mixture, top with grated cheddar cheese. Bake at 400 for 10-12 minutes. For pizza cups, add pizza sauce to browned beef, omit sugar, top with grated mozzarella cheese. Sausage Ân Cheese Turnovers makes 10 - preheat oven to 350 10oz can Hungry Jack biscuits 1/2lb bulk sausage, brown, drain 1/4t Italian herbs 4 oz can mushroom pieces, drained, pat dry 4 oz (1 c) grated mozzarella cheese 1 egg, beaten 3 TB grated Parmesan cheese Heat oven to 350. Grease baking sheet. Separate dough into 10 biscuits. Roll each to a 5-inch circle. Combine sausage, herbs, mushrooms, and mozz in a bowl. Spoon 3 TB meat mixture onto center of flattened biscuits. Fold over, press edges to seal. Brush tops with beaten egg. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Put on sheet. Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes. Serve warm or at room temp. Bacon Quiche Cups makes 10 - preheat oven to 375 8 oz. pkg. of cream cheese 2 TB milk 2 eggs 1/2c shredded Swiss cheese 2 TB green onions, chopped 10 oz. can Hungry Jack biscuits 5 slices bacon, crisp cooked crumbled Heat oven to 375. Grease 10 muffin tin cups. Form biscuits in the cups. Put half the bacon in the biscuit cups. In a small bowl, beat cream cheese, milk and eggs until smooth. Stir in Swiss cheese and onions. Spoon 2 TB mixture into each biscuit cup over the bacon. Bake at 375 for 20-25 min. or until filling is set and biscuit edges are golden. Top with rest of bacon, pressing into filling. Remove cups from pan. Reheat wrapped in foil at 350 for 10-15 min. or until warm. Bierocks and calzones are two other "hot pocket" type snacks than can be frozen. Bierocks (I add a slice of mild American cheese when filling them.) 15 Bierocks FILLING INGREDIENTS 4 cups cabbage, cut fine 1/2 cup onion, cut fine 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 lb hamburger salt and pepper cayenne pepper (optional) DOUGH INGREDIENTS 4 1/3 cups all-purpose flour 1 package active dry yeast 1 cup milk 1/3 cup sugar 1/3 cup butter 1 teaspoon salt 2 eggs FILLING: In a large frying pan, cook the cabbage and onion together until the cabbage is completely softened and golden. This process can be hastened by adding a half-cup of water (or so) and covering the pan, but eventually cook all the liquid off before proceeding. Season with salt, pepper, and cayenne, if desired. In a separate pan, brown the hamburger. Season with salt, pepper, and cayenne, if desired. Mix the cabbage/onion with the hamburger thoroughly. You may complete this part of the recipe in advance,refrigerating until needed, or just before you are ready to assemble the rolls. DOUGH: In a large mixing bowl combine 2 cups of the flour and the yeast. In a saucepan heat milk, sugar, butter and salt just till warm (115-120 degrees F) and butter is almost melted; stir constantly. Ad to flour mixture; add eggs. Beat at low speed for 1/2 minute, then three minutes at high speed. Stir in as much remaining flour as you can mix in with a spoon. Turn out onto a floured surface. Knead in enough remaining flour to make a moderately stiff dough that is smooth and elastic (6 to 8 minutes total). Shape into a ball, and place in a greased bowl; turn once. Cover and let rise in a warm place till double (about 1 hour). Punch down and cover; let rest 10 minutes. ASSEMBLY: Roll out the dough into a large rectangle, and a thickness of about 1/4 inch. Cut into squares of 3 inches by 3 or 4 inches by 4. By the spoonful, place some filling mixture into the center of each square, apportioning all of the mixture among the squares. For each, bring the two opposite corner ends of the dough square up to meet one another, then do the same with remaining ends and pinch them (all 4) together with your fingers. You will see that you now have open slits along the diagnals; pinch these together as well, making a seam of each. Water on your fingertips will facilitate them staying"glued" together. The end product should be a square with a seam running from each corner to the center where all four are joined. Set the squares on a baking sheet (if you had trouble keeping the seams closed, you can flip them over so that the seams are against the baking sheet, thereby keeping all the filling in place and making a nicer presentation). Let raise 30 minutes. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 375 °F for 30 minutes or until golden brown. ** you can use packaged "hot roll mix" for the dough or frozen bread dough. This looks good and easy too! Pepperoni Bread Submitted by: Martha Katz Rated: 5 out of 5 by 308 members Prep Time: 15 Minutes Cook Time: 40 Minutes Ready In: 2 Hours 55 Minutes Yields: 10 servings INGREDIENTS: 1 (1 pound) loaf frozen bread dough, thawed 1 egg, beaten 4 ounces sliced pepperoni 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese 1 1/2 teaspoons Italian herb seasoning DIRECTIONS: 1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease a baking sheet. 2. Roll frozen bread dough out into a rectangle. Brush dough with beaten egg. Arrange pepperoni, mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese over the dough. Sprinkle on the Italian seasoning. Roll up dough like a jelly roll and pinch seam to seal; place, seam side down, on prepared baking sheet. 3. Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes, or until golden.

black beans are very good and rich but if you're looking for that original taste and look go for Peruvian beans they are way better than pintos, less gassy and have a richer flavor. All you need is a head of garlic, one full onion some salt, and you can even put a couple serranos when cooking them with boiling water and your good to go.