Breakfast

Bismillah (in the name of God)

  

  I try my best to offer healthy delicious breakfast to my family. I make oatmeal porridge, smoothies and boiled eggs, homemade granola with yogourt, and chocolate/banana/ soaked oats pancakes for breakfast lately. The pancakes are what i specifically want to share about today. The night before i leave 2 cups of oats and 2 tablespoons of spelt soaking in water and apple cider vinegar, and i take this extra step to reduce phytic acid (an anti nutrient found in many grains, nuts, seeds, etc.) It really only takes a minute or two to get this ready the night before breakfast is to be made. 

   In the morning, I wash the oats in a colander and then add them to a blender along with two over ripe bananas, two eggs, 2/3 cups of milk, a sprinkle of cinnamon and a generous squirt of vanilla. Blend it all till smooth, let it rest for five minutes and then cook on a hot cast iron pan with butter. They're delicious with fruit and a little maple syrup. 

   I hope you give them a try and feel free to double this recipe or half it according to your family size. The measurements I used made enough for my four children and myself to eat for two breakfasts. What else can a mama ask for?

   What are some of your favourite recipes for breakfast? 

Parents Patience and Children's Good Behaviour

Bismillah (in the name of God)

   I have been paying close attention to children's behaviour for the last ten years- that's how long I've been a mother. Now, without claiming expertise in the area let me share my most important observation. One that I've had the opportunity to see in my own parenting, my friends' parenting and even I recall from the way I was brought up how this shape the way I am.

   Friends, I firmly believe that children's behaviour is, not only, but greatly shaped by how patient we are with them. And let me be clear that coming to this understanding hasn't, from one day to another, made me a patient mom. In fact, I have lost my cool on my sweet children more often than I'd like to admit. 

   What am I doing to help myself in this aspect? First of all recognize that I need to change and take the steps necessary to keep calm when all else seems to be falling apart. It doesn't require me to be super human but determined to do what's in my best interest and my family's well being and happiness.

   Also, make sure I'm taking good care of my body; that is that I'm drinking enough water, eating wholesome foods, getting proper sleep- not the easiest with a newborn but I do what I can, and if not exercising at least moving. Everyday I intend on trying my best. Some days are great others aren't. I just try to start fresh each day.

And lastly but most importantly, feeding my soul by fulfilling my daily prayers, and raising my hands in supplication to the One who can change my condition. I can't stress enough this last step. I believe most reading this are Muslims but if that's not you raise your hands and ask the creator of life and everything in existence and you will be helped in ways you had not imagined.

   You and I both deserve to enjoy the company of our children. And let's be honest, nobody enjoys misbehaviour, constant meltdowns, disrespect, screaming and so on. You get the gist of what I mean. But our children also deserve our patience and our example in dealing with difficulty, trials and tests. Let's try this and see the results. They might not show right away but in the long term we'll be glad that we made the conscientious effort to be patient with our beloved children.

   

Two Years Later!

Bismillah (in the name of God)

   Hello friends, it appears I come here once a year. What can I say? I'm being stubborn and not giving up on this idea of blogging even though I clearly haven't seem to put aside the time to do it thus far. I just have been beyond busy but in all honesty if I had really wanted to I would have posted here but didn't.


   It comes down to making priorities and making them happen. I want to make blogging a priority. Reason being I used to love expressing myself through writing and motherhood, home-keeping and all that it entails consumes my time these days. Don't get me wrong I would not trade my position for anything. I'm truly happy and thankful being where I am and doing what I'm doing alhamdulillah (Praised be God)

   Funny thing is my last entry is from February 14, 2014! That's just over two years ago and tons have happened since then. I gave birth to another bundle of joy in January of this year. Let's call him Salster -You want to know what I call my other sweetlings? check out my about page by clicking here where I mentioned what I call them and why. Also, I'm parenting solo during the week while my husband is away for his studies. On the weekends he's with us and we just relax and spend time together doing the simple things a family does, eat together, watch a family movie together and so on.

   These days we enjoy listening to audio books on this excellent free website and try to do our school work in the mornings and the kids do a lot of lego and drawing, those are their passions, oh and pretend play all day long.

   Well friends, let's keep it short and sweet for now. the babe has awoken and mommy duty is calling.

   Till next time (hopefully less than a year :)

Juicing:: Another Adventure in the Kitchen Corner

Bismillah (in the name of Allah)

  As a family we often find ourselves looking for ways to incorporate healthy eating into our days. A quick google search or even better a visit to the health and wellness section of your library will let you know the myriad of benefits juicing has. Apparently, drinking raw juice not only enhances the immune system, gives your digestive system a break but it also can be used as a non-toxic treatment for cancer and other chronic degenerative diseases.

We made an investment last year in buying this Omega juicer and I am very satisfied with it. The Gerson institute recommends this juicer when used for health enhancement. For therapeutic use they recommend The Narwalk but the Omega was right for our purpose and fit within our budget.

Mostly, we juice leafy greens such a kale and chard (rainbow and swiss), parsley, and add a carrot and an apple or orange to sweeten it a bit and make it easier to drink. We found that the more we drank this juice the less we wanted sweet fruits and instead our bodies craved the leafy greens.

We, for no good reason, took a long break from juicing. Acquiring the organic vegetables needed became a bit difficult. We didn't have the fridge space to buy a week's worth of greens and I found myself making several trips a week to buy them. Our budget doesn't allow for our largish family to eat 100% organic and our nearest supermarket carries a pretty small organic selection, which means buying organic green and fruits for juicing is an errand on its own for us. Eventually the juicer was taken off the counter and forgotten for a couple of months. Really a shame.

I said enough and brought the juicer back to its rightful place: the counter. On a weekend outing we found ourselves at a local health food store and I seized the opportunity to pick some organic vegetables and fruits they had available and had our first juicing party in a long time. They didn't have leafy greens so we settled for a sweet treat: carrots, beets and apples. 

The kids did not complaint one bit.

  It's priceless to see them enjoying something so wholesome and good. I am looking forward to making juicing a part of our everyday life.

Being Busy Being Just a Mom

Bismillah (In the name of Allah)

  A neglected blog this is. And I am unapologetic about it; somehow it just got put in the back burner but I knew I wanted to come back here to this space and for that reason I did not delete it altogether, I just left it alone since what? September 2011!

  So, what's been happening around here...? I have been super busy being just a mom, oh not just a mom, a stay at home mom, ok in all honesty... the title is a homeschooler stay at home mom. A title I never, in my wildest dreams, would have thought nine years ago. But here I am raising four children, home educating them, striving to provide them with nourishing meals and good memories. I must say I am very happy life took this turn and made me a mama of four darlings (the last sweetling came into our lives in the summer of 2012, and I'll refer to him as Soofer to continue with the tradition of giving my babes nicknames in this space)

  I am not going to pretend life is all sweet and my days are full of joy and laughter and well-behaved children who do as they're told. But I'm going to let you know that I'm going to spare you those details, most of the time. I want to come here to 'talk' about the things that bring calm and peace to my soul, things that I dream of doing, things that are relevant to homemakers and moms; I want to share new things I learn, keep a sort of journal of the various things I got going in the kitchen, the sewing corner, the learning corner, etc.

  Right now I should go and start a batch of sourdough, my second attempt this winter. If it goes well I will share the results here.

  So follow along and share your thoughts.

A New Beginning...

Bismillah (In the name of Allah)

Autumn's here.

I love the rain, the wind, and the coolness in the air, ahh... and the colours too. I have to admit that I love that this season is here already. I enjoyed my summer and did a lot of fun-outdoor activities with my husband and children: We visited countless parks in our city, visited the capital city (Ottawa), went camping right after Ramadhan when one could already feel the slight coolness in the air, oh we had some fun this summer.

But time has come for us to spend more time indoors, which means more cooking and baking, more sewing and reading, more family-centred time. Don't we all love that?

:: Finally, I might just have the time to bind off that quilt I started ages ago but hat to put away for sometime when I was suffering allergies.

:: Finally, I might just get on track with my home-made bread that I stopped baking during Ramadhan and took me weeks to make a new batch.

::Finally, I might just give a second glance to my abandoned sewing machine, my sweet stash of fabric and my lovely patterns that have been very neglected.

:: Finally, I am back here in this little corner of mine sharing about the things I love and wish had the time to do more often.

How is the arrival of Autumn (or the season you're in) affecting your life?

A Blessed Month...

Bismillah (In the name of Allah)

I think I've been MIA for long enough. And, the main reason is Ramadhan (the ninth month in the Islamic calendar, during which all adult Muslims are to fast from dawn to sunset)

Not surprisingly, I have been away from my sewing machine. And even though I miss it, I know that there is a time for everything, and right now it's time for worship and any extra energy is put to use in looking after the house and children. We're all having a good time. To our amazement, we're enjoying outings to parks and the river. And, since we're not so concerned about eating we are enjoying just being out there, the warm breeze, the water and just everything non-food related. It's so good to have this freedom.

Ramadhan is a busy month of fasting during the day and praying at night. I love this month; in this house we call it the reset button. We give up bad habits and hope to trade them for good ones. The first three days or so caffeine withdrawal and headaches, dizziness, hunger and thirst are an ordeal. But once I overcome this phase, I go about my days as normal and again can function perfectly, alhamdulillah (praised be Allah)

We're now in the last ten days of this holy month, and as Ramadhan slips out of our hands, we wish we had done more. More good deeds that will weight immensely on our scale on a day where every tiny good we did will count. We will miss you Ramadhan, and can't wait for you next year.

To my Muslim readers, I pray that you can fully take advantage of what's left of Ramadhan. I shall be blogging after this month is over with more updates.

Ramadhan Mubarak!