New DIY contest week25 begins// DIY//LETS SEE WHAT YOU CAN CREATE / Budget okra soup

Hello steemians of steemkids community, it is my humble pleasure to interact with you today via my blog.
Yesterday I was thinking of what to cook at home and I couldn't think of anything because I did not have enough money. Then I thought of that food I could prepare on budget and it would still be nutritious and delicious. That's how I came to prepare okra soup.
It also dawned on me to share this culinary art with you and steemkids is the community I chose as my post is in line with a contest by @mesola which I will be titling under.

I started this preparation in the evening, I had a low battery and as such my phone died while cooking was going on so my pictures will be limited but nonetheless will capture the essentials.

Now okra is a fruit of the okra tree which is used to make soup in Nigeria, salad and dessert in other countries(Which I do not understand why tho).

I went to the shops on my street to purchase the ingredients below
I will list their prices for your perusal

_Ingredients

• Okra ₦800
• Meat ₦1000
• Cowskin(kpomo) ₦600
• Fish ₦750
• Perewrinkle ₦200
• Fresh pepper ₦300
• onions
• salt
• seasoning cubes
• palm oil
• Garri
• crayfish
• ozuza leaf
Total expenditure ₦3650 which is appr 10 steem
N/B: Note that items without a price quotation are those ingredients that I already had at home. As I was taught by my Mom, I always try to buy things in bulk and keep at home.

So the first thing I did was to put all my proteins in the pot, add salt, onions, seasoning and pepper then put it on fire. I started preparing the meal by past 5 pm.

_{steaming the proteins}

Afterwards I went and sliced the okra into very tiny pieces, I honestly do not like seeing the okra. If I had a blender I would blend it but in the absence of blender I used mortar and pestle to pound it into a smoother texture. You don't have to do that if you like chewing the okra though😂.
When I was done slicing, I went to check on the proteins and there were render enough, I made sure I used the amount of water for the soup in steaming the meat.

I turned the okra into the proteins and stirred it, in order for the okra to draw well well(to be very slimy) I did not cover the pot rather I left it open. As it started boiling I added oil and hot leaf or ozuza with crayfish. At this point my phone went off🥲.

I tasted the soup and added some salt which was lacking, rain was starting to drizzle so I added some more pepper so I can feel warm after eating.

In no time the soup was done, I took my neighbours phone whose camera ain't so good and snapped the food in the pot.

_{The end product}

With the soup well cooked the next thing was for me to make garri that I will use to eat the soup, although I recommend using foofoo to eat okra soup. The two of them are like Romeo and Juliet, fantastica. I made the garri and dished my food to eat, it was delicious and I hope you try it.

Nutritional benefits

For the health benefits of okra I had to read up about it in the web because when my Mom used to prepare I never asked what were the benefits, I just ate it and it was delicious to my taste buds and satisfying to my stomach.

The website tells me that okra is good in lectin which is good for inhibiting cancel cell growth. Amazing 😍
Also die to its fiver content it can prevent constipation and helps on digestion.
Do you know I read that okra is good for the foetus if taken by pregnant women? My wife is going to eat a lot of it then when I marry. This is because it is a good source of folate which prevents neural tube defects in foetus.

So guys the next time you're hungry and need to prepare a quick meal with immense benefit then okra is your answer.

Thank you for reading. Share me your suggestions of any via comments.
I'll love to respectfully invite @suboohi @stef1 and @bossj23 to participate in this contest.