Meal Plan Monday 3

Salamwalikoum,

So here again for another installment of meal plan monday. Last week I unfortunately forgot to place the order for our halal chicken at the shop so I'm running low on meat. This week will be border line vegetarian until the box of chicken arrives next monday.
Luckily I always keep plenty of legumes on hand.

So here goes for this week:

Monday
We had friends over for dinner on sunday night.
The result way too many leftovers.... so today is
LEFTOVER DAY...lol

Tuesday
lentil soup a.k.a. Shorbat Adas
ingredients:
8 c. water
1 1/5 c. lentils
1 onion chopped
1 clove garlic
chopped fresh parsley or cilantro
3/4 tsp cumin
1 tsp turmeric
3 cubes chicken bouillon

Literally throw everything in a pot and cook on medium heat for about 30-45 minutes or until the lentils a tender and the broth is a bit thick.
Too yummy

Wednesday
Potatoe pancakes
This is a traditional acadian recipe.

3-4 meduim potatoes finely grated
1 egg
1 onion finely chopped
2 tbsp flour
salt pepper and any other spices you want.
oil for pan frying

Make sure to remove as much excess water from the grated potatoes as possible.
Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and laddle onto a hot skillet with a bit of oil for frying.
cook on both sides until golden and crispy.
Makes enough for 4 people.
This can also be a breakfast food.

Thursday
Spaghetti with meat sauce

Friday
Couscous
(this is still uncertain....)

Saturday
Pot pie
This will be using leftover turkey that is already cooked and sitting in my freezer...

Sunday
as usual is left blank because no matter what meal I plan on this day... it's never what I end up making...lol

So there is this weeks menu plan and inshallah I won't deviate too much from it....lol

Take care
happy eating!

Natural Beauty... Sugaring

Salamwalikoum,

Hope all is honkydory out there!. Today I thought I would share a trick I use for hair removal. It's super inexpensive and mild enough for even the most sensitive skin types.
Basically it's waxing but instead of all these chemical concoctions found in stores this one is found in your kitchen pantry.

Sugaring has been around for a pretty long time. This technique can be used for just about any area.

So here goes:
2 c sugar
1/4 c lemon juice
1/4 c water or honey

Heat all ingredients in a sauce pan until smooth and bubbly.
Let the mixture cool until it is comfortable to touch.
This is very important if you don't want to burn yourself.

Now it is ready to use!

To use, simply spread the mix over the hair then cover with a strip of cotton.
Rub the cotton in the opposite direction of the hair growth.
In one smooth movement quickly rip off of the cotton.

Don't forget that if you are using this on your face, it's a good idea to lay a cloth soaked in cold water on the areas where the hair was removed to avoid puffiness and redness.

I like this method because I'm forgetful and never think to buy wax or any other products until 5 minutes before I need them.
With this recipe I know I always have the necessary ingredients right on hand.

Also the cotton strips can be reused several times by soaking in warm water and washing when you're done using them. A good washing makes them almost as good as new.

So there you have it hair removal for pennies and environmentally friendly too!

Hope this is useful.
Till next time!

Meal plan monday

Salamwalikoum,
So it's that time of the week again.... Time to figure out what I will be making for dinner all week.
So this week I actually have some beef to cook with for the 1st time in a few months... Halal meat is hard to come by in my area, so we tend to stick to chicken and turkey and sea food since they are the only things that are halal and readily available.

DH eyes lit up when we got some meat from a freind of ours...lol

So here goes:
Monday
Meat with prunes
coleslaw

Tuesday
Tajine made with
leftover turkey,
 potatoes,
brussel sprouts,
carrots and olives.

Wednesday
Tuna casserole
tchatchouka (recipe found here)

Thursday
Cabbage rolls
(they were on my menu for last week but I had so much leftovers that I didn't bother to make them)

Friday
Couscous (as most fridays)

Saturday
Roasted red pepper and tomato soup
Biscuits

Sunday
I rarely plan meals on sunday because we often eat out or get invited to dine at a freinds house.

So there is our menu for the week.
I will try to post the more uncommon recipes at some point over the weekend inshallah.

Bon apetit!

Grrrrr......

Salamwalikoum,
I will apologize in advance for the following post.... I do usually try to keep things light and fun, but today I need to get something off my chest. This is simply me expressing a bit of frustration and nothing more...

So here goes,
Yea I am aware that im overweight!
I do not need a doctor to diagnose me, I' ve been this way most of my life and will probably struggle with this for the remiander of it.
But, this does not mean that I'm LAZY. I actually work really hard. I'm in better physical shape than most of my underweight freinds.
Being overweight means I carry almost 100lbs with me everyday, it's on me 24/7. I can't just put it in the closet at the end of the day like a witner coat.
I have learned to accept myself the way I am and I wish others could to.
I am aware that I'm an emotional eater and I'm making strides in orer to fix that. But it will take time. Rome was not built in a day.

Now I have been trying to religiously follow a good diet, not one of those silly fad diets taht mostly cause malnutrition and yo-yo weight loss.
No, a good diet where my hunger is satisfied and  I get all the nutritious goodness I need and it's HEALTHY.

Now somehow a lot of people out there take it upon themselves to give you advice and normally I'm all for it. But when the people giving you weight loss tips have never had to struggle with their weight, can eat whatever they want and never gain a pound... really!? HOW DARE YOU take it upon yourself to tell me what to do with my body. You have no idea what you are talking about, you are not a doctor nor a nutritionist.
Your telling me that I need to feel hungry all the time in order to lose weight. That if I'm satisfied then I'm not doing it right?
That it's all about will power, just control yourself... Hey, if I could do that, you think I would be in this situation to begin with!?

I what I'm trying to say wiht all of this is:
YES, I'm aware I have a problem.
YES, I'm making an effort to fix it.
NO, this will not happen overnight.
NO, it is none of your damn business.
YES, butt the hell out.

I'm working hard to change bad habits into good ones and it will take time. So please in the mean time keep your bullshit to yourself and give me encouragement instead of your stupid 2bit advice from someone who knows nothing of my struggles.

So there you have it... my occasional rant...

Take care, hope I haven't scared anyone away....lol

p.s. sorry about the potty mouth, or in this case potty keyboard....

A few pounds lighter!!!

Salamwalikoum,

So after like a month struggling to get my diet back on track, I finally managed to do so this week... and it paid off!

A combination of swimming laps every morning and following my diet resulted in dropping almost 10 lbs in a week! That never happens to me, but I think it's definitly encouraging. My goal is to lose an average of 1-2 lbs a week. It doesn't seem like much, but when it comes to weight loss slow and steady wins the race.

It's been show that if you loose weight too quickly it way too easy to regain it just as quickly. Also it can leave you skin all dangly and unattractive... So I prefer to lose a bit at a time and do a little bit of bodybuilding to tighten things up as I go.

I've found this is what works best for. This may not be for everybody... So what do you do to keep things running? Any diets and routines out there that work for you?

Meal Plan monday ... a bit late

Salamwalikoum,
Wow things have really gotten away from me this week... I had originally planned on doing this post on monday and kicking off my 1st themed post. But between work,  researching how to register a non-profit organisation, and prepping for some guests we are expecting on friday at our Islamic center.... It's just been craaaaaazzzzyyyyyy
Alright so let's get this rolling shall we.

I thought I would share some of my tricks to save money on groceries.
I've managed to lower my grocery bill from over 100$ to an average of 60$ a week for 3 adults.
Now granted I do cook over 80% of our food from scratch.

My tricks are probably well know and pretty simple...
So trick #1:
I do my grocery list based solely on what's on sale in the store flyers. I do actually go to several stores since I live in a small town and they are all close together.
Now when drawing up my list I write the prices next to the items that way if it's cheaper in another store but wasn't announced in the flyer I will simply pick it up.

If something comes on sale super cheap, I buy several. This will last me a long while and the item will likely come back on sale before I use up what I have at home.

I buy frozen veggies when they are on sale, they keep longer than fresh and have more vitamins than canned...

Trick #2 : I make a meal plan for the whole week using what I already have in the house. I put priority on the stuff that needs to be used 1st or is left from the previous shopping day.

Trick #3: Make enough at every meal for there to be leftovers for lunch. I don't have time to cook much so I rely on left overs for lunch the next day. I also try not too make too much that way nothing gets thrown away.

Trick #4: Use recipes that make a little go a long way. I do cook ALOT of morrocan dishes and serve them as I've seen them served in morroco. i.e. everyone sitting around the same dish.
Eating this way actually prevents everyone from overeating (or almost...lol) Everyone is satisfied at the end of the meal. There are very few leftovers... so less waste.

Eating this way I 've seen 6 people eat 2 chicken legs, 3 potatoes and 3 carrotts and everyone was full...Also you can have last minute dinner guests whitout worrying if there is enough for 1 or 2 people more than planned.


So here is my meal plan for the week:
Please note I only plan 1 major meal since my husband usually takes the leftovers along as his lunch for work the next day.

Monday:
Leftovers
(I had too much leftovers from the weekend , so I made a meal of it...)

Tuesday:
Macaroni and cheese
(the home made kind, not the in a box bright orange one...)
salad

Wednesday:
Roasted Chicken with carrots, turnips ,parsnips and olives
salad

Thursday:
Red cabbage and beet soup
boiled eggs
Fried cauliflower

Friday:
Morrocan style couscous

Saturday:
vegetarian cabage rolls
coleslaw

Sunday:
Beans and franks
ployes (traditional buckwheat crepe)

So there is my meal plan for this week.
I will try to post most of the recipes over the weekend inshallah.

If anyone is wondering why I don't make plans for breakfast, it's because I usually prepare most breakfast foods (i.e breads, pastries) ahead of time in large quantities and freeze them. So every morning I make a pot of tea before work and whenever my husband wakes up he just grabs a cup of tea and throws something into the toaster oven to eat.

So there ya go, meals for a week

Take care 'till next time

Morrocan pantry staples... pickled lemons

Salamwalikoum,
So as most people have probably noticed by now, I'm crazy about cooking. It's my favorite pass time...
A passtime that my hubby is all too happy to indulge. lol

Now my husband being from morrocco, it is normal that he will miss homecooked foods from his homeland.
Happily when we got married i moved there for several months and was lucky enough to get a crash course in morrocan cooking from my mother and sisters in law.

Now for the most part the ingredients are widely available in north america, but sometimes you need that one thing that give it that special taste and substitutes just can't match.

And pickled lemons are just one of those things. I have tried replacing this ingredient with lemon juice, but it's just not quite right.

So here is my 1st post in a series on morrocan pantry staples.

Ingredients:
water
salt
4-5 lemons

Directions:
Cut the lemons in quarters, leaving a small portion at the bottom still attached.like this:

Pour 1-2 tsp of salt into the cut up lemon and place into a food grade storage jar.

Pour another tbsp of salt on top of the lemons and fill the container with water until the lemons are fully covered.

Now to seal you can either pour a bit of oil on top of the water or process in a water bath in a canning jar for 15 minutes.

Leave jar in a cool dark place to ferment. Usually takes about 2 weeks for them to be ready.

The pickling process removes the bitterness from the pith of the lemon. So the whole lemon can be cooked and will give the lemon taste without the biter.

I will eventually share recipes that use the lemons.

Good luck and take care.

Batbouts recipe

Salamwalikoum,
So today I'm going to share a recipe that my hubby raved about for so long that I finally had him ask his mom how she makes it.
It's super simple. If you can make bread then you can make Batbouts.
I did change the filling but the basics are the same. Batbouts are basically little breads that are cooked stove top instead of in the oven and you can leave them plain or put a stuffing of your choice in them. They also freeze really well, so I sometimes make a huge batch so I have something for my DH lunch.

Pretty much anything you can put into a sandwich you can put into Batbouts. I do avoid mayonaise though because I'm afraid it will not keep well through the whole process, but mustard and other condiments should be fine.

Ok so now for the recipe.

Ingredients:
Bread:
1 cup warm water
1cup milk
4 cups flour
2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp salt
1 packet quick rise or bread machine yeast
1 tbsp butter
Put Ingredients in the order listed into the bread machine and let run through the dough cycle.

If you don't have a bread machine which I know most people don't the directions are a bit longer.

Heat the milk and butter till butter is melted.
In a bowl put all the dry ingredients at once and make a well in the center.
Add the water and the warm milk mixture and stir until the dough is well mixed and sticky.
Then knead until the dough is smooth and elastic.
 You may need to add a bit more flour as this recipe makes a sticky dough that is super light once cooked.
Let rise until almost doubled in size.

Filling:
diced chicken
olives
diced tomatoes
parsley
cheese

To make the Batbouts roll the bread dough on a lightly floured surface.

Place the filling on the dough and put another layer of rolled out bread dough on top and seal the edges.

Place the batbouts on a floured cloth and let rise for about 2 hours

To cook, flip the batbouts into a warm frying pan sprinkled with a bit of corn meal and turn over frequently so as not to burn them.
A low heat is best as it will heat the filling without burning the outside crust.

Raw meat would not work well unless the batbouts are cooked in the oven and get sufficiently hot to throughouly cook the meat.

So there you have it Batbouts.

If you want sugar shock...eat Sugar Pie!

Salamwalikoum,

Wow already more than a week since my last post...

So I guess I'm on a baking kick for now...lol

My friend passed this major exam in her nursing studies and wanted to celebrate by ingesting an insane amount of calories, so she asked me to make a brown sugar pie.

And so I did.

Now a brown sugar pie is a traditional pie for french canadians and also common in northern France and Belgium. There are a whole bunch of variations, but all versions are very sweet. Trust me, I'm a total sugar bug and I'm not even able to eat more than a tiny piece at a time.

So here goes.

Ingredients:
2 cups brown sugar

pinch salt

2 tbsp. flour
3 tbsp. maple syrup
1 cup cream (heavy-35%)

1 egg

Pie crust

Directions

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and pour into the prepared, uncooked pie crust.

Bake in a 400F oven for about 30 minutes or until the top carmelizes and the crust is golden.

Now you can put a lattice top on the pie or even top it with nuts, it's a matter of taste. I usually leave it au naturel.

So thats all for now,

Happy sugar Buzz......

New Burkini!!

Salamwalikoum,
So for those of you who dont know what a burkini is, this is it:
So I had not gone swimming in over 5 yrs since I started wearing a head scarf... I can't say how much I missed it. But lately I had been thinking of getting a muslim friendly swimsuit but they are soooo expensive. (usually 90-170$) But I found one on a web site called East Essence for only 45$ so after all the shipping and taxes it came to about 58$.  I showed my DH and he was more than willing to get it for me since he's been ragging on me to get more exercise and swimming is one of the few sports that I LOVE to do.



Ok so the one I bought is this one here.
There are some details that I like about the suit and others that I will need to get used to...
The things I liked:
The price is reasonable and the shipping was fast.
There are a few colors available on the site.
There are these loops on the pants were you can tie the top to the pants bottom. This prevents the pants from falling and the top from lifting too high. Definite plus for the beach.
The stitching and fabric are good quality and well made.
There are PLUS SIZES, the size chart is accurate and easy to use so its simple to make sure you get the right size and they also customize the length for 2-3$.
Fabric dries quickly.

Now the things I'm blah about:
The fabric is heavy... not noticeable when swimming but you feel it when you get out of the pool. Although with this thickness even if the wet fabric clings, it doesn't show as much details as a lighter fabric would.
I didn't like the hijab portion being attached to the top, but this can be helpfull at the beach with all the waves.
The hijab part was also a bit big so it tends to slip back pretty easily... would need something to tighten it around the face to make it stay in place.
There is no built in underwear... So if you're a bit top heavy a bikini top or a sports bra may be necessary.
I simply wore my old black one piece sports swimsuit underneath also as a backup in case the top went up or something.

When all is said and done for the price I paid I'm very happy with my purchase.
Also it gave me a chance to buy something from a web site I've been wanting to try out. and I must say I'm pleasently surprised with the service from that site. The prices are awesome, the selection is great and the sizes are realistic and varied.

East Essence definately get 2 thumbs up from me.

So what do you guys think? Any ladies out there wear a burkini to the beach or the pool? If so what kind of pros and cons do you come up with?

Til next time!

Homemade Juice Recipe

Salamwalikoum,

Hope all is well with you guys.I just wanted to share a recipe for fruit juice that I'm always making. My husband doesn't like the super sweet pre-made stuff and actual juice is often wayyy expensive. So being my trifty self, I found an old recipe for fruit drinks in an old cookbook off Project Guttenberg.

Essentially its a basic recipe that you can use with whatever fruit you have lying around in your fridge/freezer.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 litres water
fresh fruit

Directions:
Heat water and sugar in a sauce pan until sugar is dissolved.
Let water cool.
Add fruit to the water and pass in a blender until smooth.
You can pass the juice through a sieve if you want to remove seeds and pulp but this is totally optional.

This recipe needs very little fruit. Usually 4-5 strawberrys or a handful of any berries or 1 mango,etc its really basic and you can add more water if it's too sweet.

These are all the berries I used to make 2 1/2 litres of juice.
You can add 1 cup lemon juice instead of fruit and make lemonade.
I love this because it's basic you can even make Iced tea by adding 2 tea bags to the water while it's still hot.

I do this to use up whatever fresh fruit I have left in fridge that I may not be able to eat over the next couple of days.

My hubby likes this juice better than anything store bought.
Hope you guys all enjoy.

Take Care