Okra!

I love okra. Or so I thought I did. I didn't realize until yesterday that I only love fried okra, not plain okra. Yesterday I was off work (hence the lack of posts..I'm a fantastic employee, I swear) and I went grocery shopping. I absolutely LOVE grocery shopping. I think it is so much fun. Ok, not fun like "woo-hoo I'm on a rollercoaster" fun, but I do enjoy it. I found this pasta recipe (I will post it in a minute) that I wanted to try badly but it called for tomatoes (which just in case you've been living in a cave for about two weeks, you're not supposed to eat tomatoes from certain areas that aren't on the safe list. To see what is on the safe list, click here. Just a note, it has the states where they are grown listed as safe, just because tomatoes grown in Indiana are on the list, that doesn't mean the ones you're eating are from Indiana. At Cosmos, where we eat breakfast, they get theirs from Florida. Just to be safe, I'm avoiding all raw tomatoes. I don't want to get that shit.) so I was looking in the canned food aisle, which I normally don't do. I found these awesome little individual servings of veggies that you just heat up in the microwave. I already knew about the single servings of corn because thats what I got for my blackbean and corn salad, but they have tons of veggies in those things. Look for them at Wal-Mart in the canned foods aisle, GreatValue brand. So convenient.


I've gotten off track. Anyway, I was in the canned veggies aisle and I was just looking at everything and I found this can of okra and tomatoes mixed together. I was thinking to myself "I like okra and I like tomatoes, I bet this will be good." Earlier yesterday after I got home from the Y, I was looking at the Kraft foods magazine that they send out every so often (sign up for it here. It's free, and it rocks.) and I saw a recipe for a baked macaroni that used a box of Kraft Mac & Cheese, tiny little peas, and Oscar Meyer ham pieces, and I thought it looked pretty good. So while I was at Wal-Mart I thought "hmm..I sure would like to eat some macaroni and cheese right now...perhaps I could justify it by adding the okra and tomatoes." And thats what I did.



This is what the okra looked like when I opened the can. Minus the chicken wing, obviously. Not too yummy looking. But I'm tough so I ate it anyway.








I was super stoked when I found this. Whole Grain Kraft Mac & Cheese! How awesome is that. It doesn't mean it's good for you, but it's much better than before. So I made the Mac, mixed in my okra and tomatoes, and had myself a healthy little lunch. The pasta is much more filling than the regular kind. I suggest you try it, it tastes the same too. Normally when my mom and I eat macaroni we split the box (not evenly either, she eats like a bird, I swear). Well she ate her little portion and I went back for the rest and as I was dishing it out I thought to myself "No, I think I'm full." and I was so proud of myself for realizing that I was full and not overstuffing myself on my favorite food. It's a good feeling.