After reading some of your posts I discovered that I can eat beans in Phase I too! But I can't find any canned beans besides refried and baked. I see tons of beans in a bag though. Can I do anything with those? I'm desperate for a good afternoon snack at work and I think beans would be great! Also, this Progressive Lentil Soup. That is safe? Even though there are tons of carbs in it? Thanks for all your help! It's that TOTM for me right now so this is XTRA hard for me. I may have to stay on Phase I another week

Beans are healthy carbs so the soup is probably fine. I buy canned black beans all the time. Just make sure they are just beans and spices. I also buy canned refried black beans that are just mashed up beans. You just have to read the labels since some have lard. What region do you live in? We probably have someone here from around there who can offer suggestions on stores.

I haven't even looked at canned beans, but I can tell you that you can cook the beans that you find in bags and make yummy soups!

I don't know the exact recipe but my mother made me a yummy black bean soup (cuban style). She made very little substitutions to make it SB safe (like switching a small amount of sugar with splenda). I'll try to see if she can tell me how she made it.

I live in Northern Cali. I might try going to Trader Joes and see if they have any canned beans. Or maybe they're just in a different aisle than the bagged beans. But I'll be happy to use the ones in bags if I knew what to do with them.

M1sstnt, Trader Joe's will definitely have beans in cans. In fact, all stores have them, but you will often find them next to canned veggies and canned fruit, or sometimes by the chili beans. Check the ingredients to ensure there is no sugar or cane sugar. The carbs have no relevance, as this is not a low carb diet. We are eating good carbs, no matter the amount. Check the lentil soup ingredients. If there are carrots, you need to wait until Phase 2, but if not, it is safe in Phase 1.

You can use dried beans, but you need to soak them or boil them for a very long time (several hours), so canned is much easier to deal with.

If you get Vegetarian refried beans, you should not have a problem with lard. Just check, check, check the ingredients, and you'll be fine. :

Ok I'll check a different aisle next time then! Thanks!

Definately check different areas of the store. In the majority of stores I shop at the baked and refried beans are in a totally different part of the store. Like beachgal said, usually in the canned veggie area.

Always check the ingrediants, Food Lion brand beans have sugar added. I didn't notice until after I started eating them and realized they tasted sweeter, even after I rinsed them off.

My store has 2 sections with canned beans - there are some by the dried beans and then there are a ton more in the section with Spanish/Mexican food. I usually get Goya brand.

This reminds me of a song that Brak (a cartoon character from Space Ghost) sings:

"Lima, lentil, soy and pinto,
Navy, northern, AND GARBANZO,
Kidneys and frijoles negros,
I love beans.

I love beans. Woo woo woo!
I love beans, how bout you?
Beans are an excellent source of protein!
I looooveee beans, dig-a-doo!"

Sorry. Something from my childhood that runs through my head when I see the word "beans."

Enjoy your day.

Weezle you crack me up lol.....I have a question about beans.....ok the black beans the only ingrediants I've seen with them is water and salt....is that bad?

That should be good. I always rinse my black beans and that will take away most of the salt. Then I add whatever spices I want. I love my black beans! And my DH loves his Beano!

I get my refried beans at a store called Lassens in So. Cal. The brand I get is called Bearitos. They make both refried pinto and black beans. The ingredients are water, organic pinto (or black) beans and sea salt. They are really good and taste like I'm eating something I'm not supposed to. DH also likes them a lot.

Since we're singing childhood songs about beans..........

Beans beans the musical fruit
The more you eat the more you toot
The more you toot the better you feel
So eat beans at every meal!

I found the beans! I am such a ding dong! I can't believe I missed that whole aisle of beans! So I bought Black beans, Pinto beans and Garbanzo beans. Now, what do I do with them? I don't have a lot of time to make elaborate meals. I just want to open them up and put some seasoning on them or chop up a few things to go with them. But what goes well with them?

Open them, rinse them off, throw them in the microwave with some salsa and lf cheese. Yum, Yum.