Today I want to talk about being frugal at the produce store for your fruits and vegetables. This is a good way to keep these items in your diet as they can be on the costly side. But when you know how to shop for these it is so nice to always have around.
On the way to the beach last week, I stopped off at a Produce store and they had two shopping carts full of fruits and vegetables in gallon sized bags for $1 each. As I was not on my way home I chose two bags of okra that I could keep in the refridgerator in my hotel room until I got back home so the okra went along on the trip with me. And I kept it cold coming back home. This is the frugal way to have your fruits and vegetables! You do have to use the fruit right away though!
To prep the okra all you have to do is wash well in sink and then cut off the ends. Forgive me if it’s a little freckled(spotty) looking. It was on markdown but still very cookable. I use lard in my cast iron frying pan as I know whats in lard but am not to sure about other oils except for olive oil. I also only use real butter nothing else will do. Sorry if you disagree with me.
So the lard is getting hot, and in a medium bowl I have cornmeal to use for batter. I have to start on #7 heat on my stove dial and then when some okra is batterred and frying, I turn it down to #5 heat setting.Don’t overfill the pan with okra as you want it to cook and be lightly browned for 8 minutes each pan that you do. As you put in each new batch turn to #7 and then after a couple of minutes turn to #5 to finish cooking. Just roll each piece over at half time.
There is nothing worse than burned grease smell and taste so keep working with your settings. This $2 was very well spent and was such a frugal deal. I also put up my tomatoes and other fruits this way too, which I will cover in other publishings. Hugs and Love to you all! #Vegetables
As for the seasoning while cooking the okra as it was done and moved over into a bowl I just very lightly sprinkled accent and salt over each batch that went into the bowl. Very lightly or you will get it too salty!