I was talking with my friend Cari the other day about lentils and their health benefits. A couple of days later, my uncle John and I went to a little shop and I found a little gift set thingy full of lentils and chickpeas.

These simple foods are healthy, local, and low cal. They are also CHEAP! On Day 1 of my little adventure, I am making lentils and peas a staple in my diet. I already experimented with a simple recipe that even Amy liked. Amy, who hates healthy foods, really liked it! It made me so happy! I am going to try to put a second page on here for my recipes with notes. We will see if I am suavy enough.

More about lentils:

Did you know that 80% of them are grown right here on the Palouse? The rest are grown in N. Dakota, Montana, and Oregon. They grow awesome in our beautiful soil; rich volcanic soil and summy days with cool nights keep them growing strong.

They are so good for you. They are high in protein, dietary fiber, iron, and folate. Yay! They will help me pooh. I think I just admitted to poohing problems on the internet.

They can be stored indefinately when kept cool and dry. Great food storage!

Even though they are veggies, they actually fall in the Meat category on the food pyramid.

Lentils were found in Egyptian tombs built over 4 thousand yrs ago!

They don't need soaking like beans. This makes them easy to cook up without planning your meal ahead of time!

To check out more about lentils:

USA Dry Pea & Lentil Council http://pea-lentil.com
for nutrition info http://www.pea-lentil.com/nutrition.htm