Ramadan and Eid

Growing up I definitely wished I could celebrate Christmas like the rest of my school friends. Eid was fun, but it didn't seem nearly as exciting as Christmas did. So I decided to change that for my kids. My goal with doing all these holiday activities was to encourage my children to love their own culture and religion, without feeling left out during the holidays that others around them may celebrate. We have now been doing a Ramadan Advent Calendar for two year and my son absolutely loves it! Holidays should not be only about decorating and getting gifts they should also be about the importance of our values and belief in God. With each holiday I do emphasize why we celebrate what we do. During Ramadan we explain the importance of fasting, how it benefits our body and also gives us appreciation for those who may have less than we do on a normal basis. We talk about how fasting is not just for food but for keeping away from activities we should always avoid and to redirect our focus on prayer and love for God. On Eid we talk about traditions of prophet Muhammad pbuh: going for morning Eid salaat, wearing new clothes, handing out treats and spending time with our loved ones. For Eid ul Adha we discussed the story of prophet Ibrahim pbuh, how he trusted and was so devoted to Allah swt

Crafts and Activities: masjid coloring pages, crescent/star hanging ornaments, make your own tasbeeh (prayer beads), sheep cupcake decorating party
For Others: collecting toys for new refugee children in the community, writing Eid cards to our cousins far away and baking cookies to give on Eid namaaz to our friends nearby. My kids are still very young (5, 2 and under 1), but as they grow older I do hope to continue with more altruistic activities.
Family Traditions: Praying maghrib namaaz as a family and reading our favorite Islamic books before bed. Listening to nasheeds on Spotify by Dawud Wharnsby and Yusuf Islam during car rides to school. Watching Baba Ali and Zaki videos on youtube to learn manners and stories from the Quran.

Making holidays fun for the kids really doesn't have to be expensive or a lot of hard work. I found some affordable vendors who I purchased adorable decorations from, but I also made a few trips to Michaels/dollar stores to make our own as well. I probably spent the most amount on Islamic books, but to me that was worth the cost. A great way to save on that is to do a book exchange with friends every Friday. This way your children can get exposure to new reading material without having to spend a lot.

I hope you enjoy a glimpse below into our holiday traditions. I will do a new post soon to tell you our reviews of the reading material!

Our Ramadan Advent Calendar Goodie Bags. Kids can open one bag each evening counting down to Eid, filled with treats inside.

Our nightly reading selection in honor of Ramadan/Eid. 

using the Snapchat Filter to wish all her friends!

We are big on banners in our house. This was recycled from last year, it came in a DIY banner kit from Target

Keeping busy during the day doing activities per our Rafiq and Friends guide. Rafiq was our version of Elf on a Shelf this year. Loved the book and activity cards he came with. Super cute illustrations and engaging stories.

Praying with Baba before we break our fast for the day.

Kept the Pom Poms, swapped out the banner.  Using Sweet fajr lantern template and Imaginaryart Masjid Template

Onesie by JasmineandMarigold Skirt from Amazon

coloring Eid Cards to mail to our friends. Cards from GupshupGreetings

gifts wrapped and ready to be opened after Eid prayer

Eid favors for our friends, labels courtesy of my good friend over at Gupshup Greetings

Sheep shaped cookie cutter purchased via Etsy to bring these adorable Eid ul Adha cookies to life!

Eid Trifle for our Chand Raat party, yes I know the D is off centered. Its bothering me too! 

We attended a Make your Own Sheep cupcake party!

Masjid Ramadan coloring page via Imaginairyart

Recipe: Ultimate Chocolate Cake with Fudge frosting

I cannot believe how long its been since I last wrote here. I knew life was going to get busy in the new year, I just didn't realize exactly how busy it was going to be!

I have so many posts in my drafts right now which eventually I hope to post up. Even before 2013 ended we did some projects around the home, reupholstering our dining chairs and re-staining bookshelves. Once I got back from my cousin's wedding in NJ we took a trip to Atlanta (right before they got hit with a pretty serious snow storm!). Then, I hosted my first get together with a few friends I've made here using some awesome Pinterest party ideas for inspiration! And last weekend we finally made a trip out to Disneyworld, where I made my first attempt at DIY Tshirt making! So stay tuned because I have plenty to share with you all!

In the spirit of Valentine's week I'm posting up this UH-mazing chocolate cake I made. My husband's birthday happens to fall on Valentine's Day, so usually I end up spoiling him with goodies rather than the other way around. Fortunately, we are both major chocoholics so its a win win! I love how moist this cake turns out, due to the Secret Ingredient.

Recipe Sourced here: Ultimate Chocolate Cake with Fudge frosting

Your key to a super soft cake!

Because you can never really go wrong with sprinkles, use them to add some pizzazz 

Enjoy!

Our Autumn Recap

Here's how I believe you can create autumn while it's 80F degrees outside:

Find a flower basket to spruce up your front door
(preferable one which has a bow missing, then ask for a discount which ends up saving you a dollar. Score!)

Add a bow you found at home and feel fall crafty!

Take your toddler to indoor activities such as this free KinderMusik class offered at the local library where we sang Halloween songs.

Attend a Fall festival happening nearby and get your kid's face painted like his favorite superhero.  Bonus points: get a balloon shape of the same character.

Attend ANOTHER fall festival, this time where they let kids dress up and trick or treat for candy. Bonus: Have your family pose with pumpkins, ignore the sweat dripping off your forehead this is fall fun at it's finest!

Download a free photo editing app (I mentioned here) to add a cutesy fall garland to your pictures.

The one day all month when it suddenly gets chilly (meaning 65 degrees and windy) quickly pull out your sweater and take a trip to the park! Warning: This could result in your child subsequently falling sick for the next 3-5 days thus keeping you up all night, but that 30 minutes of feeling autumn weather might just be worth it.

Pretend its too cold to go outside so you finally make time for this easy DIY project.
Our living room lamp has golden accents at the base, but it didn't at the top so I figured, why not add my own?
Even though my hands are super shaky and I didn't do a very clean job the benefit is from a normal distance it looks pretty good!

Dress up your 2.5 year old as his current superheros obsession for Halloween (ignoring how this costume is way to warm for the heat outside), prep him for the role by watching a few (million) Batman cartoons. 

End the night eating your son's trick or treating candy while forcing your husband to watch your favorite childhood Halloween movie. 

And if you haven't had enough Fall Fun yet, try your hand at these perfect autumn recipes!

More Autumn moments to come soon, til then hope your Pumpkin Spice/Salted Caramel/Peppermint Mocha latte is extra sweet!

Recipe: Warm Apple Crisp

Eid Mubarak to all my fellow Muslims! For those of you who are well acquainted with this holiday you must know that it involves the sacrifice of a goat/lamb/cow in following the Abrahamic tradition. Therefore, normally, Muslims are found eating lots of meaty dishes post Eid ul Adha with all the fresh meat available everywhere. However, being the lazy American Muslims that we are, we have our sacrifice done overseas and distributed among the poor there. Traditionally  Eid celebrations do involve lots of sweets and desserts but it's usually more 'Eastern' dishes like what my mom makes, Sheer Khurma. I thought about attempting to make something more cultural and traditional to go along with the holiday, but truthfully my husband and I both aren't huge fans of Desi desserts. So instead, I thought about what I wanted most for this holiday. I wanted to be home, to be with my family back in New Jersey. I miss home SO much. Like my mom who probably made Sheer Khurma for us all those years on Eid because she was missing her home in Pakistan. I decided to make apple crisp because I was so desperately missing Autumn in the Northeast.

I also had a jar of caramel sauce, from a gift basket I won at work so many months ago and this was the perfect way to put it to use. 

Soon after pouring it over the apples, I realized they are supposed to be drenched in caramel sauce, clearly this jar wasn't enough.

So I quickly whipped up my own batch of homemade caramel sauce and added it in.

Then I got to making the top layer. Normally this calls for using rolled oats, but the rebellious chef in me decided to use the Granola my crunchy Betty husband bought. 

Some people like to press half of this mixture into the bottom of the pie pan to make a crust, but I used it all on top of the apples. 

Pop that bad boy into the oven and watch your home turn into apple/vanilla smelling heaven!

I have a weird obsession with watching caramel bubble and staring at the gooey rivers that run through

Recipe adapted from  Here

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ¾ cup Old Fashioned rolled oats
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground Cinnamon
• ½ cup butter, softened slightly
• ½ cup chopped nuts (pecans, almonds or walnuts) optional
• 4 cups chopped peeled apples
• 1 cup white or brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 cup water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. In a large bowl, combine first four ingredients. Cut in butter until crumbly. Toss in nuts if desired. Press half into a greased 2-1/2-qt. baking dish or a 9-in. square baking pan.
3. Cover with apples.
4. In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, cornstarch, water and vanilla. Bring to a boil; cook and stir 2 minutes or until thick and clear. Pour over apples.
5. Sprinkle with remaining crumb mixture. Add more nuts if desired.
6. Bake 60-65 minutes or until apples are tender. Serve warm, with ice cream or Whipped Cream.

Finding Me.

One of the personal goals I had set for myself recently was to get more in touch with my inner self. Marriage, motherhood, a job; they all sort of cloud us with daily responsibilities and as much as that self defines our being so does the self that existed prior to all those roles/duties.

Back at the end of June, in my attempt to rid our place of unnecessary items, I convinced my mom to also empty out her attic so we could do a joint garage sale.The best thing to come out of the sale was that we found many old items brimmed with precious memories.

I felt like a treasure hunter who had uncovered a goldmine in those boxes and boxes of old pictures, flooding back memories of my cheerful childhood. I found old scrapbooks and slam books from middle school, stirring up memories of 7th grade where my best friends and I would pass back and forth a composition book filled with our daily woes. Woes that seem so silly now. The irony will never escape me of how we came upon that past which so quietly sat up in the attic for years, just in time for me to say goodbye. All owed to that useless garage sale, how I owe it so much.

My sister also found my old school agenda books and told me I had a creepy obsession with documenting every single day of my life. Literally, I would write down what we did everyday throughout the summer. I had been doing this on and off since I probably learned how to write in 1st-2nd grade.

It made me realize that I'm someone who truly cherishes memories a lot. I love writing them down, even the daily mundane things we did as a way to capture it. To me, the 'now' was so special I was certain I would come back to it one day in the future and be thankful for everything I wrote down. We all love to glorify the past, in our mind it becomes nothing short of rosy. Memories of high school days, college life and those early years of marriage pre-parenthood; thinking back to those times we're left with a glazed look and a nostalgic grin. What I'm realizing now is that my past, these past 18 years of life in this town has truly been a memory that I will not over glorify, it is a memory I cannot cherish enough!

It's time to say goodbye to a massive chapter in my Life book. Our apartment has been emptied, keys turned over.  Meanwhile, mail has already started arriving at our new address and boxes have been moved in eagerly awaiting their owners. For the past two months I haven't allowed myself to be consumed with the reality of how quickly this chapter was ending. I couldn't deal with it, I had an apartment to pack up, full time job to perform, movers to contact, and a two year old to appease among all these changes. Now, with my IPhone reminder telling me we have 5 days 7 hours and 45 mins until we officially leave NJ I have decided to allow myself to feel reality. 

I'm leaving behind not just my family and close friends who I will severely struggle to live without, I'm leaving behind everything I've ever known. Everything that made me who I am. I'm grateful to have had the past few months to appreciate these 'good old times', to be given the opportunity for closure and experience immense love from so many of the amazing people I am fortunate to call my own. As I  wonder what this next chapter has in store for us, my heart aches for all that I leave behind.

 I know I will march on and so will this place without me. While we will go on living and doing what we do,  I also know both of us will never be the same. Our past is forever intertwined, and so are we.

All images via Google