Ok, in the interest of full disclosure, the 1st part of the title isn't true about green beans - at least not in my case, they don't give me gas. But the good news is, they do make me "regular."

Garden season has sprung in Texas and my dad's green beans are coming up like weeds. As usual, he planted waaaaaaay too many green bean plants and is complaining about having to get out there and pick them. And when I say waaaay too many, I mean just that. He has 3 rows of green bean plants - each row about 40 feet long. That's a lot for just my mom and dad.

I know that he secretly loves the fact that he has too many. He enjoys giving away the extras. But is always complaining that no one wants to come and pick. I try to tell him, "Grow something that people

want and they'll come. No one wants to come dig turnips!"

Now a normal person would just pick what they could use and let the rest rot on the vine. Not my dad. He grew up at the end of the Depression and can't let anything go to waste - even if he never uses it.

So they will pick and can fruit and vegetables until the garden dies. Then, a year later, he's throwing out the old canned and frozen stuff to make room for new.

Mom, dad, and me picked about 5 gallons of green beans off one row, and that was AFTER they had already picked the row two times previously! So, they gotta lotta beans left to pick on the other rows.

Now I have a freezer stocked with fresh green beans.

Cooking them is simple: put in water, bring to a boil, add garlic, salt, and onion to taste.

Boil for about 15 minutes.

Poke with fork to test tenderness.

Grab one with tongs for taste test.

Blow on green bean to cool it off.

Taste.

Hold ice cube on burned tongue.

Eat meal with green beans - not being able to taste anything because of burned tongue.

I've eaten a cup or two every evening for the past 4 days and I've gone to the bathroom once a day since I started eating green beans. My normal schedule is once every 4 days, until now. So I'm crediting the fiber in the green beans.

A cup of green beans has about 40 calories - 2 grams of fiber - 2 grams of carbs.

All varieties of green beans are low in calories and contain healthy nutrients: dietary fiber, calcium and iron.

One cup has 200 milligrams of potassium, plus beta carotene and vitamin A.

Next month: One potato...two tomatoes

Keep Pimpin that Sleeve!