Noelle likes Good Food

To anyone that doesn't like okra because it is slimy, this is the recipe for you! My okra plants are just about finished producing, but they gave us many harvests this summer. As an easy to grow and versatile vegetable, I know that I will always have okra in my garden.  My husband loves okra. Particularly fried okra. He even requested a fried okra 'cake' for his 13th birthday. Since it is his favorite, I occasionally make it fried. But since frying is time consuming and messy I also looked for other ways to prepare it. My recent favorite, that Chris also enjoys, has been to cook it in a skillet with garlic. It is quick, tender, and incredibly flavorful!  I started with a great harvest of okra. I cut off the tops, sliced into 1/2-1 inch pieces and put it in a pre-heated skillet with some water. I added water a little at a time as it cooked and waited until the okra was soft and the water completely evaporated. Then I turned up the heat and added oil to ...

This past week I found a website that has inspired a shift in my thought process about learning and how I spend my time. It all started 2 days ago when I was talking with a good friend about how we both need to get back into exercising regularly and eating well. Sometimes it can feel impossible to get into a routine when we are exhausted from a long day of work and we just want to 'relax'. I remembered reading an excellent article series several weeks prior about Habitual Mastery and how to create an environment of success for starting new habits. Before we got off the phone, I promised to send her the article when I got home. When I went back to visit his site I found such a wealth of information about how to get more out of life by embracing lifelong learning and increasing day-to-day productivity. His work resonated with me profoundly. From a young age my parents instilled in me a love of learning and through my college career I have enjoyed and learned from EVERY singl...

Salsa Verde is one of my favorite condiments. Ever since my sister and brother-in-law showed me how to make it last year, I crave it all the time! Therefore, I decided to grow tomatillos in my garden this year to give me a fresh supply of them for making salsa verde.  Over several weeks I accumulated enough to make a large batch. You can tell some of them are older than others by the faded wrappers. I kept them in the fridge for 3 weeks and they were fine.  I heated up a skillet over medium high heat, unwrapped the tomatillos, and slowly roasted them. I used a tongs to turn them so they charred on all sides.  You can tell that the top part of this tomatillo is done because it has turned a different color. Here is a tomatillo that has finished cooking. A good way to tell if it is done is if it splits open to release all the yummy juices. This is charred tomatillo perfection! :) As they are done cooking, transfer them to a heat proof b...

 Hey everyone! I know it has been a little while since I updated. I have been running like crazy since school started. It has been a full 6 weeks, with school and work along with a baby shower, traveling for a death in the family, making a wedding cake, and so much more.  My life is full of blessings and I am thankful to wake up and experience each new day.  I finally had a chance to work out in the garden over the last couple of days without getting mauled by mosquitos. It has been lovely. I started these seeds about 4 weeks ago. They started off with root rot, but they finally dried out and they seem to be doing really well now. Now that they have their first set of 'true' leaves I can put them in the garden. I actually planted half yesterday evening and finished putting in the rest after I got home from work today. I planted Kale... Mustard Greens... Arugula... and Cabbage :).  Hopefully they will mature before the first...

It is that time of year again. Summer is drawing to a close, and another school year is beginning. I thought I would sit down and write an update about what is going on in the school department for me. For starters, it is going really well! This spring I graduated from community college with an Associates in Science! I have successfully transferred and will be starting classes at the University of Georgia this fall. I have two years left and will graduate in Spring 2015. Classes start next Tuesday! I am a little nervous about my class load. I am taking 16 credit hours with only Tuesday/Thursday classes which means I will leave my house at 6:40AM, my first class starts at 8AM then I will have 6 classes back to back with only 15 minutes in between until 4:45PM. I know those days will feel like marathons, but I am excited to start this new challenge. It is completely worth it to have only 2 days of classes each week, which means I can keep working on the days I am not at school....

Normally my husband does not have a lot of input when it comes to menu planning. He is not picky and will eat most everything that I make. Because of that, when he does ask for something specific I do my best to make it happen. It just so happens that he recently asked for sloppy joes, so I made it for dinner the next day. Fortunately, I had everything I needed in the pantry so I didn't even have to go to the store!  Dinner consisted of sloppy joes on homemade sourdough english muffins, sautéed zucchini, and green beans topped with nutritional yeast. It was a great meal that both of us really enjoyed! Homemade Sloppy Joes 1 lb. ground beef, browned 1 T olive oil 1 large onion, finely chopped 1 jalapeño, finely chopped 1 tsp dried garlic powder (or about 3 cloves fresh garlic) 14.5 oz can of crushed tomatoes 1 T tomato paste 2 T brown sugar (I have also used honey) 1 T Apple Cider Vinegar 2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce Cook ground beef and set aside. Hea...

The freezers are full and I am done! I did the grocery shopping on Wednesday last week and finally finished today ( Tuesday ). I thought it was a good idea to spread out the cooking with having work/church/etc. But I have to admit that I got really sick of being in the kitchen. I am glad this ordeal is over. Though it was totally worth it, and I know we will enjoy the results in the busy nights that are coming.  Here are the pictures!  Chili is Chris' favorite food, so I made sure to make plenty of it! I got 7 bags each with 8 cups of chili.  I cooked the rice with chicken broth. For the beans I cooked them with beef broth, sliced jalapenos, garlic and onions. I kept some of the beans by themselves, and the rest I added to a bowl with fresh corn, mushrooms, onions and peppers as filling for enchiladas or quesadillas.  It is hard to make a picture of beans to look good. haha Though it did taste really good and will make some delici...