Friday Four: Gumbo,Lady Fingers, KANGKONG Okro (okra) ,Oh My!

KNOCK Knock, who’s there Okra. Okra who? Okra Winfrey! That joke is about as awful as the one I’ve heard all of my life with the name Kelle.

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We love okras and they obviously love us! We have been eating okras at least twice a week for the last 5 weeks!  I know my family is tired of them.We now I have two problems, as I see it. We have too much okra and we allowed many of them to grow way to big.

Because I hate wasting food, I had to figure out how to reuse the over grown ones and how to recycle the over abundance lot.

I discovered that I could either the pods for floral arrangement, okra stamps,okra wall art or reserve them for seedlings.

Because Okra contains:

Fiber, Vitamin C, Vitamin A, Vitamin B6, Vitamin K, Niacin, Thiamin, Vitamin B6, Magnesium, Manganese, Beta Carotene, Lutein, Zeaxanthin, Zinc, Copper, Calcium, Folate, Potassium, Riboflavin, Folic Acid, Iron and many other nutrients.  Protein and oil found in the seeds of okra is enriched with amino acids with the likes of tryptophan, cystine and other sulfur amino acids.

Did you know that you can juice okras? Use it as an excellent- cost effective hair conditioner.

I could’ve grown it like this:However due to my large family, I grew an okra garden like this! 

Q: Where did the okra go to have a few drinks?
A: The Salad Bar!

Now the homeschooler speaks…..

Okra as we know it is called Abelmoschus esculentus.
It is related to the hibiscus and a member of the mallow family, is native to tropical Africa – cultivated by the Egyptians in the 12 century AD.then slowly traveled south into the central lands of Africa; north and west to Mediterranean lands and ultimately to the Balkans; and east to the subcontinent of India.

It arrived in the United States in the 18th century with the slave trade, on a ship filled with Bantu tribes people. Quickly it became a cornerstone in southern cooking.

It still grows wild in Ethiopia and Sudan, just as it did in prehistoric times. Its plants,were carried to India and Egypt where they are still used in cooking oil and as a coffee substitute. Now, I bet you didn’t know that did you?

Facts quote:

Okra pods are also called as bamiya, lady’s finger, ochro, etc. The pods are nutritious and rich in fiber, mucilage and vitamins.

1. Here’s a few awesome okra recipes,you just gotta try! Click Here!
2. Need more ways to use okras? Here ya go! This collection takes them out of the pan and into the body spray bottle.–> Click Here <—-
3. I can’t think of a better way to share these super stems than a recipe swap with friends!
4. Now, if you simply cant eat, share or reuse them all timely…. freeze them. Here’s how to do that! —> Click Here ‘and here!

Only thing left to say is…would you like some of my okras?!

Have a great weekend! Jabela!