Eid Mubarak!

There's excitement in the air, have a fun blessed Eid everyone.
We spent about an hour blowing up something like 20 balloons or a little more in preparation for our small Eid party tomorrow. Our little monkey spent the evening chasing balloons, screaming and jumping.

We also rented a bouncy castle for the Eid party, it's pretty exciting.
Maybe I'll post some pics of our little celebration.

Wishing everyone a blessed Eid.

Have a great fun day everyone.

Anyone making Eid cookies? Any recipes to share?
Let me know, I have no energy to make anything this Eid but maybe next one.

Peace

My mom's easy trifle recipe

For those of you who don't know it. Trifle is this English desert that consists of several layers of cake fruit and whatever you have on hand to add, usually custard.

My mom makes it in a very simple way, and it was always a family favorite and a hit at any dinner party.

I decided to make trifle yesterday at a spur of the moment.. Yup it's that simple. My significant other likes lots of deserts in Ramadan, and we had finished eating our last cookie batch, so I offered to make him a fruit salad.
While cutting the fruit I realized we had everything to make a quick trifle dish and I had already cut the fruit.
So I layered a Pyrex dish with plain biscuits, added the fruit, coverd it with some more biscuits and poured jello over it until it covered it.
Left it in the fridge to firm up over night, then topped it with some home made whipped cream.
How easy is that!
I left some fruit for the fruit salad in case you were wondering, we ate the trifle today, and it was everything I'd imagined it to be, just wonderful.
BTW( my mom topped the trifle with custard instead of whipped cream, but Its just as good with the whipped cream, and the traditional recipe I think has cake instead of biscuits)


My mom's easy trifle recipe:

1 orange peeled and chopped
1 apple peeled and chopped
1 cup grapes, cut into halves
2 bananas, diced
1 cup strawberries diced
(you can use any seasonal fruits, these are fruit suggestions)
My mom used pomegranate a lot.
you can also add chopped toasted walnuts( optional)
1 Pack plain sugar free biscuits( we used this brand called Mary biscuits, and luckily I found the same exact brand at the halal store)any other plain kind will work.
2 or 3 packs instant strawberry flavored jello (I used pineapple this time coz I was out of strawberry, it was almost as good)
Home made whipped cream, or if you have time, make some custard.

Directions:
Layer the bottom of a deep Pyrex dish( I like it to be rectangular) with biscuits, mix the fruits and add them, then cover with more biscuits and add jello to cover.
Leave in the fridge until the jello firms up, or over night, then top with cream or custard.

Make du'a for my mom while you're eating it.

Etsy benefit sale

Just a note.

Visit the Soule Mama blog for details about a benefit sale in support of a blogging family that went through a recent tragedy.
Keep them in your prayers.

Our free Microwave

I don't know if you heard of this group called freecycle, if you didn't check it out, its awesome. It's aimed at reducing waste going to land fills by cycling your unwanted stuff.
Kind of a garage sale without the sale part. It's like giving gifts to people you've never met only that the gift isn't new, its something you don't want but they do.

That's the story of the title of this post. I've been wanting to buy a microwave for over a year now. I don't use the microwave for cooking, but its really convenient for warming up food without having to dirty a couple of pots and pans in the process.
Do I absolutely need a microwave? No. Can I live without it? yes and I have for many many years. It's just nice to not have to worry about washing those two extra pots, when you have a 20 months old running around and helping you cook by throwing potato peel all over the floor (which I happily clean).

Anywho that's my story, I needed a microwave, I posted a wanted post on the freecycle group and I received one in perfect condition.
The moral of the story: Pass along your unwanted items and spread the love, I make du'aa for that woman whenever I'm spared another pot to wash. She made a pregnant woman very happy:)

Uncomfortably numb

The last days in pregnancy are quite challenging, you can't sleep anymore. You constantly feel heavy, the space inside gets two crowded for the both of you, that the baby makes intense movements like its going to come out, only through your belly.
And if you stand sit or lie for longer than 10 minutes your limbs go numb.

I have to prop my self with at least three pillows when i go to sleep, and I still wake up achy and my arms and legs have fallen asleep, not to mention the cramp attacks.

What I'm trying to say is I am ready, I've been more than ready for the past 2 weeks, so let the show begin.

Hello baby, I can't wait to meet you.

Fall

The weather has been quite chilly for the past couple of days, and tonight is supposed to go down to 45 degrees. Fall crept in on us so fast.
We just got a new crib and a new heavy cover for the little one and she's all bundled up in it right now, talk about good timing.

Fall is my heavy pregnancy season it seems like, I was about 7 months with My first and I am 8 months with this one.
The result, Lots of pasta for dinner/iftar, and a whole lot of sleeping when I get a chance.

I am sprouting some more beans for soup, and thinking about a hearty meal for tomorrows Iftar. Mashed potatoes, steamed dark greens and roasted chicken? Maybe If I still have energy after my very early Yoga class. I do like hearty meals for cold weather though, we'll see.

Please Keep this heavy pregnant woman in your prayers this month, I really do need it.

Eat Broccoli

I am not very chatty today, I did come across this article about the wonderful broccoli, so read the article or not but do eat broccoli!
Maybe I'll post a broccoli soup recipe later when I'm more chatty.

Ramadan desert recipe

The theme this month is Ramadan, in case you guys haven't noticed. That's why I gave up my cool hippie butterfly logo and am pleased with the crescent moon photo instead, well for this month at least. In celebration of this month and our wonderful CSA boxes I'll be posting some tried out recipes to share.

Since I joined the CSA I failed to mention all the goodies I've been getting in my boxes.
Even though this hasn't been a very kind spring/summer for our precious Midwestern farmers, with the delayed season and all the floods. They still strive to deliver a fresh variety of produce, not to mention the yummy eggs.

This weeks box included apples and crab apples that frankly I had no idea what to do with them. The apples were tiny, and I didn't dare bite into one of them. they looked so strange, we also received some tiny(yet delicious) plums and rhubarb along other things.
I am mentioning the fruits coz I made this delicious desert with all the weird looking apples, and it turned out to be wonderful. The recipe is from the CSA newsletter( thank god for that, some times I receive stuff, and I have no idea what It is and what to make of it)

So here's Aunt Bessie's summer fruit crisp:

2 OR 3 Cups chopped or sliced fruits( apples, crab apples, plums, rhubarb)

1/2 Cup Brown sugar

1/4 cup white sugar

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

5 tbsp cold butter cut into small bits.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, sift dry ingredients together.
Cut in butter and mix until crumbly. In a seperate bowl toss the fruit togther.
Butter an 8 by 8 baking dish. Pat down half of the crumble mixture to the bottom.
Add the fruit then add the remaining crumbly mixture on top. Bake for 40 minutes or until the top is bwon and fruit is bubbly.
Serve warm with ice cream, or home made whipped cream.

Enjoy.

Fanoos Ramadan

Ramamadaaaaan, Ramamadaaaaaaan. Sing this with a deep melodic almost opera like voice, and you'll have an idea of our two lined cool Ramadan song.

My little one got her Ramadan lantern this year from some cool ghetto place under some bridge in Egypt. The lantern is fuchsia, comes with two buttons. One makes thunderstorm sounds(don't ask for the logic behind this) and the second button makes the Fanoos glow like a disco dance floor. How awesome is that! a very special thanks to a very special friend who picked it up on her last day of her trip to Egypt:)
My little girl holds it and says "Fanoos Daaan, Fanoos Daan. Look at dat!".

It's fun to have a Ramadan Tradition for the kids, Next year I might go all out and make the small colored flags that are hung between alleys in Egypt. Americans will probably confuse them with Buddhist prayer flags. We'll see what happens then.

For now just keep us in your prayers.


Ramadan Kareem