Running’s Back and the Okra Shake

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Nick and I went running tonight.

Wait a minute – let me type that again, just to make sure it actually happened.

Nick and I went running tonight.

Yup! True!

The weather was perfect and we just wanted to get out there and go.

I’ve been feeling so bad lately about not running, but this summer has been crazy: horrible weather (either raining all the time or insanely hot), spending time with Maggie, weekend trips with family, week long trip to Honduras.

It’s been tough to get into a consistent schedule and I’ve been letting that get me down lately.

Well, no more.

It’s not like we haven’t been doing anything – we’ve gone hiking and we take Maggie out for walks/hikes, too. But we ran so much last summer/fall, and I’m ready to get back to it.

So we went. And it was rough today. I had a side stitch, my legs were tight and felt so heavy I could barely pick them up. Near the end, I thought my heart was going to pump right out of my chest.

But it was great to get outside and just run – no Garmin, no goal for mileage or time. Just running and sweating and enjoying some quiet time outside. I’m in such a great mood! So glad we got to go.

After getting back and showering, we got started on dinner.

I found the perfect way to coat okra for baking!

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Wash and slice okra.

In large container (with a lid), combine cornmeal with your seasonings of choice – tonight, I used salt, pepper, Creole seasoning, and garlic powder.

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Add okra to container and put the lid on.

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Then grab that container and shake!

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So much easier than dipping the pieces in a few at a time!

I cooked them on a baking sheet at 425 for about 20 minutes, and we had them with some roasted potato chunks and grilled bbq free-range/organic chicken.

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Nick grilled the chicken with this bbq sauce I forgot I had – I only remembered because I saw Emily use it the other day. It’s from the Foodbuzz Festival last year and was awesome! I’m glad I saved it for a nice grilling night.

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Almost time for Burn Notice – gotta settle in :)

 

10 comments

  1. Kind of like Shake ‘n Bake! My mom used to make Shake ‘n Bake for us all the time when we were young. Glad your getting back into the running–sounds like it’s great release for you.

  2. I love baked okra!! Gives them a crispy outside while being all gooey on the inside. :P My mom would get grossed out by this- she hates the stuff! How weird ;) haha

    And glad you had a great run! I can’t remember the last time I’ve worked out/run without a heart rate monitor. Besides yoga and what not…but I don’t doubt there’d be a sense of freedom going without it. :)

  3. That sauce was godoood wasn’t it? I’m totally stealing your okra shaker idea!

  4. We had boiled okra for the first time tonight. One word: snot! Yuck!! I need to stick to baking it from now on… love your shaking method!!

  5. You had me worried at Okra Shake. I was thinking you were going to pull an Okra Green Monster! Thank god :)

  6. haha, i read okra shake and immediately thought you were drinking it! and now that i’ve seen this…i regret not buying the fresh okra that was at the farmer’s market tonight, and the last one. boo!

  7. haha okra shake and bake! thankfully this wasent a blend and drink mixture right :) phew.
    oh i mso happy u two went for a nice run!! <3

  8. When I first read your post title I thought you were going to talk about making some sort of drink out of okra, lol. I think your baked okra was probably a better idea than that.

  9. oh man. i am with the others and thought you were making a smoothie out of okra! ha! i have actually never tried nor SEEN okra. i dont think it is available in utah!

  10. congrats on your run! it can be hard to find that motivation once it’s not in your routine, but i find it only takes one run and you’re right back into it!

    (p.s. is it weird i don’t know what okra is? :) )

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