Ramadan Survival Skills

Ramadan is about self-control and patience but what are some of the basic survival skills that will help you last through the month?

• Speed Eating. This is a must for all of us who wake up with a minimum time available before the start of Fajr (sunrise). You are eyeing the clock and chewing as fast as you possibly can to get breakfast finished before the fast starts. You drink water to stay hydrated but also to wash down the food. There is no talking as it slows down the eating.  CHEW. TICK. CHEW. TOCK- time’s up
• Camel Drinking. The water you drink at the beginning of the day is all you’re going to get for the next 14-15 hours so naturally you think that morning is the time to get in as many glasses as you can. So you drink and drink and drink. Soon you realize that even if your stomach hurts with drinking so much water it won’t last all day because the human body has other exit plans. Since you do not actually have convenient camel-water-storage humps your options are limited by nature. And running to the bathroom again and again during the first 3-4 hours of starting to fast is actually rather inconvenient.
• Cat Naps and Tiger Naps. One of the hardest aspects of Ramadan is adjusting to the change in schedule. The ability to sleep in discrete chunks of 3-4 hours (Tiger Naps) is essential because that is all you’re going to get. So how do you get enough sleep? For those of us who have flexible schedules the answer is simple. After eating and praying and reading the Quran you simply take another Tiger Nap, wake up late and then get ready for work. Alternatively some people start their work day uber-early, end it uber-early and take a long afternoon Tiger Nap. For the rest of us normal people who do not have that flexibility, we’re simply reduced to cat naps, especially in the afternoon. It’s lunch time, you’re not eating because you’re fasting- and suddenly you realize you lost 20 min of your life. Where did it go? (Hint: the answer includes a synonym for feline and the word nap). If that wasn’t bad enough, somewhere around 3pm you realize that you’re not actually understanding that paragraph you just read twice already. Take a quick cat nap, it’ll save your sanity and prevent headaches- unless of course you snore and are within hearing range of your co-workers.

Any other practical Ramadan survival skills you can think of?

Temporary Squirrel Truce

As tempting as it was to get the wonderful bird feeder in the Costco catalog that had a remotely-operated-electric-coil-to-zap-pesky-squirrels-trying-to-eat-bird-seed, we refrained! This summer belongs to the squirrels. The sunflowers are the perfect perch for the greedy rodents. Eat up you pesky squirrels, next year might bring something different…ZAP

 

Ramadan Resolutions

Ramadan- it’s that wonderful time of the year again! As a month of patience, blessing, contemplation, self-control and self-improvement it’s the appropriate time to make resolutions for the next 12 months to follow. Some people start at the beginning of the calendar year but frankly that’s a rather cold and dreary time (literally and spiritually!).

Last year my self-improvement resolutions were around reading more. More books, more Quran, more news, more everything. I definitely succeeded on the books and news front (even bought a kindle which REALLY helped) but not as much on the Quran front as was planned. The free kindle ebooks have a HUGE brain-candy selection…

This year the plan is for more Quran (specifically) and more writing (at least one post per month for each of the three blogs I maintain)- INSHA’ALLAH!!

What’s your Ramadan Resolution?

Childhood Memories: Fruit Trifle

My first memories of eating trifle are sitting on the steps of my grandmother’s house in London, and eating from little plastic Marks & Spencer tubs. The other tradition was at the hotel where my great-uncle was a manager. After dinner we’d run around the lawns like little hooligans, waiting for the adults to finish eating so dessert would be served. It was always fruit trifle and it was the favorite part of the meal: layers of sponge cake soaked in jello (jelly), fruit, custard and cream. But of course, nothing compares to the version made by my mother on special occasions!!

Easy Moist Chicken Roast

 

People are sometimes a little hesitant to roast a whole chicken/duck/turkey etc but it’s really easy.

Take a whole chicken, skin on and clean it inside out. Liberally sprinkle inside cavity with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add 2 tablespoon of butter, 5 cloves garlic and half an onion (chopped coarsely if it makes it easier to fit in).

Next, rub kosher salt, fresh black pepper and garlic powder UNDER the skin of the bird. Add 3 tablespoon butter under the skin as well (distribute it over all the chicken). I even added onion slices and garlic cloves under the skin for added flavor even though it ends up looking lumpy.

Bake, breast side down in roasting pan, at 350F in pre-heated oven for 45min. Then turn over, baste with juices and bake for another 30-45min until juices in the thickest part (of leg) run clear. Remove from oven, let it rest for 20min and EAT! Serve with jalapeno garlic mashed potatoes.

Bon appetit!

Mystery Bumpy Squash

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Any idea what type of squash this is? We have harvested many like this one except it does not look like anything I though I was actually planting!

Planting Season

“Farming” season has officially started. We’ve planted the following:

• 16 tomatoes
• 12 peas
• 8 bell pepper plants
• 7 cucumbers
• 6 brussel sprouts
• 6 swiss chard
• 4 acorn squash
• 4 cantaloupes
• 3 patty-pan squash
• 3 crook neck squash
• 2 zucchini
• 2 watermelon
• 1 eggplant
• 1 banana pepper
• lots of beetroot
• herbs: basil, coriander, mint

We might have to become vegetarians by the end of the summer just to use up everything that grows

The Next 100lbs

The challenge has become more competitive as hubby has also joined in- he will recycle/discard/give 500lbs of stuff independently of my efforts

Our tally so far:

	Me	Hubby
Recycle	70	114
Give away	23	0
Trash	10	0
Total	103	114

The First 3lbs

I save many of my travel documents (don’t ask me why!). These 3 lbs of old paper records are going to be recycled.

 

Some of the boarding cards that I have kept for the past few years only (many have already been trashed or submitted for reimbursements).  These have all gone to the recycling pile. These are about 10 different airlines and 72 legs. Don’t ask how many aren’t here!

500 lb De-clutter Challenge

Humans tend to accumulate a LOT of stuff- some important but most of it is not worth keeping. A recent newspaper article highlighted the story of a lady who decided to get rid of 500 lbs of junk from around her house/ life- and we’re taking up the challenge too!

• If I want to keep a memory I will take a photo of the object and then let it go
• If I think I MIGHT need it later but I have not actually used it in 5 years I will let it go
• If it does not fit anymore I will let it go
• All receipts/documents/records older than 2 years old will be discarded
• If I lose any weight it will count towards the 500lbs!

Will you join?