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Ramadan is a great time to open your fasts with your family, loved ones and friends. Opening the fast of others counts as a blessing (sawab) which means that you will get rewarded for it. This is why it is good to provide food for others and to open their fast. Many muslims also send food in packs to others within their locality.

Firstly, I want to say that the whole point of fasting is so that we realise how someone who hasn’t got anything to eat feels. So it is important not to over eat and count our blessings. Although I made a lot of food in my iftar party, this is not typical of a day to day opening of fast and it is better to eat less, but drink as much as you can which is very important. Plus, we don’t want to miss the true meaning of fasting.

So I recently had an Iftar party at my house and a get together. I had a few family friends round and made a few things to eat.

On the day, as well as a good tidy up, I also made the following traditional dishes:

• Aloo Choole which is made with chickpeas, potato, onions, tomatoes (finely chopped) and a mix of spices.
• Dahi Bare which is made out of chickpeas and spices which is then mixed with water, left a while then fried to form balls. They are then soaked and put into yoghurt, with finely chopped onions and tomatoes and spices! It doesn’t sound as good as it tastes!
• Biryani which is made with either chicken or lamb, tomatoes, lemon, spices and rice.
• Meat Somasas and chicken rolls
• Shammi Kebabs made from chicken
• Some homemade Pina Colada and a traditional drink called Rooh Afza
• Sweet dish of cream with cake, chopped bananas and strawberry.

Here you can see a snapshot of the table and some of the food!

It is also good and traditional to have dates when opening the fast, as well as fruit. I added the dates and didn’t want to just make a fruit chaat (fruit cocktail). So I decided to make something different. I started by cutting up an array of fruits. I then threaded them individually onto the cocktail sticks and then lodged them into a turned over, half cut and emptied water melon. And voila, an amazing display of fruits was formed! It looked rather beautiful if I do say so myself! 😉

The dinner went smoothly and a good time was had by all!

Ramadan is a special time. Muslims around the world fast from when the sun rises and ends for 30 days. It’s a time to do good as much as you can by praying, being kind and giving charity.  It is a wonderful month to appreciate the blessings that you have in your life.

For more about Ramadan, I wrote a more detailed blog post last year here.

It’s a time when you contemplate on what you have and reflect on the blessings that we take for granted.  The best thing about it is that you have an inner peace and strength that is sometimes hidden.  It is also  a time of empathy where it allows you to appreciate that you will get food after dusk but there are people out there who still may not have anything to eat even after dusk. And this is the sad fact and this is why it is also vital to give charity, always and especially in this month, so that we can help others who are under privileged.

I have a lot to be thankful for and I thank Allah (God) for the food and other blessings that I have. It’s also a great time to get together and open your fasts with everyone, as this also counts as a blessing.

After the fasts are over we can look forward to having a nice time with the family and dress up and appreciate what we have in life. We should not however, forget at Eid or after Eid the underprivileged, so it is important to be continually kind and give charity whenever we possible! InshAllah.

I hope you all liked this blog about Ramadan and it’s importance for me.  How do you spend it and what are you looking forward to this Ramadan and Eid?

Thanks,

Afshan. xx

I tried Slendertox tea and if you are determined to detox then this is your answer.  A word of warning though is that it does act as a laxative, so it’s best to use the tea only on weekends where the wc is nearby!

The tea must be taken as a detox and not a method to lose weight. So the tea or shake needs to be taken with a controlled diet and exercise as is normal when one wants to lose weight.

The tea is herbal and tastes ok, so this is a plus.  I had a 28 day supply, but because I work I didn’t take all the 28 days.  This consisted of 14 days of daily teas and 14 days to be taken at night.

I am not a fan of tea, but I don’t mind some mint or green tea once in a while. It wasn’t hard drinking the tea, but this does upset the stomach, but this is understandable.

To be honest as I am not a tea person, Slendertox tea is just not for me.  I would prefer to eat healthily and exercise for natural weight loss.

The shake however, wasn’t bad as it can be mixed with juice etc, so overall I preferred this to the tea.

Has anyone else tried slendertox?

I wanted to introduce my love to my fairly newly used Rebecca Minkoff bag. Rebecca Minkoff is a New York designer and her bags are popular with many people not just in the US, but in the UK too. Rebecca Minkoff bags come in a variety of ranges and colours, but the most popular are the Mini Mac’s.

The one I have is the 5 Zip Mini MAC. It is a great going out bag. It’s small, but you can fit surprisingly a lot into it. I recently used it on a day out to the Drayton Manor theme park, as seen below.

I particularly like the zip designs on the front and the gold hardware on the bottom, zips and chain. The leather is well made which means that the bag is robust and long lasting and a must-have in anyones bag collection!

I bought my Rebecca Minkoff from a great lady called Melissa on The Little Black Book Of Style website. I wanted to give her an endorsement, however, sadly she has decided to close her website. It’s sad as Rebecca Minkoff isn’t readily available.

The bag comes with the added bonus of extra tassels that are on the zips, which will be great for wear and tear.

It’s a great looking bag which will make a perfect accessory to any outfit!

Sebamed quite kindly sent me a few samples (quite a lot actually) of their Clear Face range.  I tried their toner, facial soap and clear skin gel. I tried all three for a period of 28 days. The reassuring thing about this range is that it has low ph levels of 5.5, which will suit even those with sensitive skin.

The toner felt like it cleansed and was soothing, especially when my skin was irritated. The clear skin gel has a really nice consistency and made my skin feel smooth and hydrated. I think this would make an excellent primer too, just before foundation. The clear gel is also a must to use regularly to keep the skin moisturised and spots at bay.

The soap was also great and is really long lasting.  It isn’t too drying, plus it is non greasy as are the other products.

I recently used a cleansing system where a few spots came to the surface, so I was really lucky to have Sebamed to the rescue! My skin recovered with regular use of the products.

I was very glad to have tried Sebamed and will definitely be buying the products again, especially the Clear Skin Gel.

Hope you enjoyed this blog! You can buy your own here – Happy Shopping.

I love this You Tuber, she is called Amena and her channel on YouTube is not only fun, informative but also inspiring. Her hoojabs (head scarves) are amazing and she is just so beautiful!

She also has a her own online shop called Pearl Daisy. I just love the daisy chains she wears in her videos that I was inspired to take a look and choose a daisy chain or two. In this case I chose three, which I gave to my sister, sister in law and the one shown on the picture for myself.

It is just so beautiful and would make any outfit or hand that little bit better and of course blingy!

Just one thing to note; as these hand daisy’s are so popular it means that the one I am wearing may no longer be available, but there are more to choose from – just check out her site: http://pearl-daisy.com.

Tootles! 😉 (An Amena Goodbye).