Smiggle – just the name makes you smile. Smiggle is a fun stationary store that originates from Australia. They have several stores in other countries including New Zealand, Singapore and now in the UK.

I recently went to Smiggle to see their back to school range and to pick up some goodies for both my son and niece for when they go back to school.

When you first enter the store, the first thing is that you’re hit with a vibrancy of colour.  The store just oozes fun and puts the magic back into stationary. It’s like a step back in time and all I can say is I wish I had a Smiggle store and it’s goodies when I was young!

They have the most amazing range of pencils, pens, cases and stationary bits. It’s not just reserved for the kids; adults can have fun too! There are some great bags and even safe’s to keep your money safe!

So back to school. It’s daunting enough for the child when going back to school but also for the parent. It’s a task and a half to get all that is needed for school and in one place. This is where Smiggle comes in. It has all the stationary that any child would need!

Their back to school range is also handy where some pencil cases contain everything (bar the pens and pencils) that is needed for class. Within the pencil case you have scissors, sellotape, rubber, sharpener and ruler, all concealed within their own compartments. It sure makes it easier to look after, without too much trouble, especially when you have kids prone to losing things, like mine!

My son loved the safe money box that I bought him. I also bought him a few cool pens and the above mentioned pencil case.

They have some awesome smelling pencils from cookies, cola, lemon and mint to choose from. I particularly loved the cola and cookie smelling ones.

Another cool item is a secret pen, where children and adults alike can write secret messages that isn’t visible to the eye until the light at the other side of the pen in shone on it. Ingenious.

I also liked their small boxes (resembling a small lunch box) with three to four glorious smelling rubbers. These can also be re-used to house, pins, clips or any other small items, including medicines (for adults only). There are an array to choose from from food to fruit rubbers. It’s a girl or boy’s dream place!

The staff are very friendly, welcoming and the store has a vast amounts of goodies to choose from. You can spend as much time as you want deciding what you want, which makes it easier to choose what you need.

You could quite easily loose yourself in the store. Kids have plenty to do and see, as well as buy. They have a great trying out table where you can try some of the stationary – a try before you buy. The only thing is that your child will either want everything in the shop or it’ll be really hard to get them out of there!

Just be warned even though it might be hours of fun with your child, it’ll leave a hole in your pocket, but you will be your child’s best friend and that is reward in itself!

I recently went to the Bloggers Hub event held in the Kanaloa Club which incidentally was a great bar and venue to have a party! This was the first time I went to a food bloggers event and it was very interesting. Tasting food is anyone’s dream!

I met quite a few great companies who had some great food goodies to market.

There was an array of fruits, goodies, drinks and scrumptiousness.

I had some delicious foods and met some great people. Some fairly new and small brands and some more established.

My son particularly enjoyed the Nosh, which is a breakfast in a bottle, made with real fruits and oats that were chewy and flavoursome. The drink contained the following ingredients, quinoa, oats, greek yoghurt, fruit pieces and apple juice. Yummy! It contained some great advantages which meant that you would feel fuller for up to 10 hours and it wasn’t just a smoothie, but a ‘foothie’.

I particularly loved a delicious brownie from the Good Brownie company, which believe it not was wheat and gluten free. I tried the hazelnut brownie which was very moist and not too sweet. It was a pleasure to talk to the owner, he had so much passion for his product. David told me the way they started by offering free brownies and then people liking them and expanding the business from word of mouth, which was a great startup story. I was impressed that he was offered to have his brownies in Whole Foods but turned them down. I must admit, I thought that was a brave move!

I also met some very friendly people from Cocofina, with some great coconut based products. I was blown away with their helpfulness and friendliness. They gave me more products to try then anyone there and gave me a big bag to hold the food I was given, which was very kind and useful. I really liked the coconut bars and the organic mango and coconut snacks.

I met Sukrin who really looked interesting, they had some great types of flour; almond, coconut, sesame and peanut to make cakes or sweet treats. It looked good, but unfortunately there was nothing to try. They did say if I got in touch they would send some samples though.

I got some yummy olives too called Oloves. They produce and sell olives to over 14 countries and the olives contain just 50 calories per bag, which I must say is a great selling point, especially for those who look after their health. I particularly liked their business cards which had great designs and were very colourful.

I got a great spicy biscuit from the Speculaas spice company which was a nice snack. He had some tips on great recipes that the spices could be used with.

Glorious soups were also there. The soups are yummy and there is a good variety to choose from. To top it all off they are also low calories, so good for you too!

Chika’s was also there. What’s interesting about them is that they were recently on Dragons Den. They also sell in Whole Foods. The chickpea crisps were a new offering which I must admit tasted bland, but I did like their smoked almonds.

Other brands I saw were from Rapeseed oil from Borderfields, Koko; dairy free products, Darling; Gluten free snacks and crisps, Rosy Lee tea, Berrywhite; some organic fruit drinks and pack’d; which you can make great frozen smoothies with!

Hellofresh was also there which is an internet based service, where you can get fresh ingredients to your door that you can cook easily with. You’ve probably seen them on the tv.

All in all it was a very foodie and enjoyable event! Very different to the beauty ones that I usually attend.

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