Hey Kids! Are you feeling the cold?
Why not try a delicious and warming comfort food like baked beans on toast?
Beans are packed with lots of
healthy nutrients, and provide many
benefits such as helping to prevent
heart disease. Read all about the
wonderful world of beans, and then
have a go at the wordsearch.
Beans keep you full for longer. Beans
contain fibre, complex carbohydrates
and proteins, substances that signal to
your body that you are full.
The healthiest beans to eat are
chickpeas, lentils, peas, black beans,
kidney beans, and soybeans.
Beans make people gassy because
our bodies do not have the correct
enzyme to process them completely.
Which means our intestines ferment
them, leading to gas.
Humans have been eating beans for
thousands of years, so long that beans
might be one of the first cultivated
plants.
Many different plants produce
beans, but they are all members of
the same scientific family. The family
includes peas, peanuts, and lentils as
well as beans. These plants grow in
most parts of the world. Most types
grow either as a bush or as a climbing
plant.
Beans come in many colours—white,
green, yellow, tan, pink, red, brown,
purple, and black. They also have
different shapes. Some are nearly
round or oval. Others are flat or
kidney-shaped.
One of the most useful beans is
the soybean. Many chemical products,
including paint, are made from soybean
oil. Soybeans are fed to farm animals.
They are also a rich source of protein
for people around the world. They are
used to make soy milk, soy sauce, and
tofu.
In ancient Greece minor officials
were elected by putting one white and
many black beans in a pot. Whoever
picked the white bean got the job.
Baked Beans were originally sold in
the UK by Fortnum and Mason in 1901
as a luxury item. A large can would cost
9d (the equivalent to AU $6.30 by
today’s prices).
The small white beans used to make
canned baked beans are a type of
haricot bean called ‘Navy’ beans. The
other main ingredient is tomato puree,
along with herbs and spices.
They were originally called BAKED
beans because the can is first filled
with blanched beans, then the sauce,
then the can is sealed with a lid, and
THEN the cooking begins. The beans
are cooked inside
the sealed can.
Yes that’s right –
INSIDE THE CAN
– and not before
they go into the
can.
SPC Baked
Beans are made in
Shepparton. Next
time you are feeling
hungry, why not try
this locally made
meal with toast and
butter – yum!
