Does The Bacon Calories Really Count?

My very southern grandmother Granettes taught me how to make tough green beans good by cooking them long and with bacon. The first time I bought pole beans from the farmers market and cooked it that way for Carter she thought she had died and gone to bacon heaven. I finally discovered a vegetable that carter would eat more of than meat. The big question is when you cook with bacon that just flavors the water, but don’t eat it does it impart any actual calories into the green beans? I am just going to hope so!
1 lb of pole beans or broad beans

3 slices of bacon

1 packet of Splenda 

Trim the end off the beans and cut them in half. Put the raw bacon I. A big stock pot and cook on medium heat for three minutes, just to start to render off some of the fat. The bacon will not get cooked to crispy.
Add the beans and cover with water, add a sprinkle of salt. cover the pot with a lid. Put on a medium high heat and cook for at least forty-five minutes. Check while cooking to make sure you still have water in the pot. Add more water if needed as cooking.
You want the beans to be very soft, but not total mush. Sprinkle with the Splenda and taste for salt. Remove the bacon before serving.