Don’t panic, it’s not Thanksgiving or Christmas! I know, you hear green bean casserole and immediately see your waistline and credit card bill expand. Not this time, just breath, we are many months away from the holidays. phew! But, who says you can’t enjoy that family classic all year long? (without the weight gain) If you’re anything like my family, your seasonal green bean casserole goes something like this: canned green beans, Campbell’s cream of mushroom soup, and French’s French Fried Onions to top. Yum, right? Sure… it tastes good. But, unfortunately theres a lot wrong here. I hate to break it to ya, Campbell’s soup, full of milk, wheat, soy and gluten… oh yes, and it gets worst, canola oil, corn syrup, corn starch and many artificial sugars and preservatives. Yikes! French’s French Fried Onions start off sounding good with main ingredients being onions and palm oil. Good, we like… Then, BAM! they gotta hit us with the enriches flours, wheat and soy. Bummer.
I have a love/hate relationship with learning about certain recipes. It’s such a let down when a holiday classic, with all its smells and memories, turns into an inedible, harmful dish. SIDENOTE: Did you know that exposure to gluten can take up to three plus days for your gut to heal? And, this is just for “healthy individuals”, those that don’t have an autoimmune condition triggered by gluten exposure. Just like the extent of damage that gluten causes, it varies from individual to individual. But get this! The healing process gets slower as you age! Ugh, yuck! *Learn more about the effects of gluten in the gut here. 
So, I’d say, what better reason than to create new family-food-traditions. Traditions that are not damaging to our health but taste amazing, come from real sources and even better, are GOOD FOR US. Yay!
Simply Enjoy!
- 2 pounds of fresh green beans, ends trimmed
- 1/2 pound of crimini mushrooms, sliced
- 1/2 large onion, chopped
- 1/3 cup white wine vinegar
- 1 cup full fat coconut milk
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil, divided
- 1/4 cup tapioca flour, sifted
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 6 strips of bacon
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Place bacon strips on the center oven rack with a covered cookie sheet below it. Cook for 20-30 minutes or until the strips are cooked to your liking.
- While bacon is cooking, sauté your onions and mushrooms in 2 tablespoons coconut oil on medium heat. After 15 minutes, when the onions and mushroom begin to brown, pour in white wine vinegar and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Next, add coconut milk and all spices. Bring to a boil for a minute and then reduce to medium-low heat.
- Take tapioca flour and gently sift over mushroom mixture, stirring as the sauce begins to thicken. (If you would like to thicken your mixture more, sift in one additional tablespoon of tapioca flour at a time.) Reduce sauce to low heat.
- Place green beans in a casserole dish and mix with the remaining tablespoon of coconut oil.
- Next, pour mushroom sauce over green beans and mix until green beans are well coated.
- If you haven't already, remove bacon and lard drippings from oven. Place casserole dish on the center rack and cook for 40 minutes.
- When the beans are tender and the sauce is bubbling, your casserole is done!
- Save the lard drippings from the bacon and use for other purposes.
Enjoying the article’s.