Finding time to cook in Ramadhan

These days I do not seem to have the mood to spend time in the kitchen. Some of the vegetables have to be thrown away periodically. Its such a shame!

Eat more vegetables!

I bought some beautiful fresh mushrooms the other day but I got ambitious so I also bought pumpkin, baby tomatoes. fruits, capsicum and cheese. Managed to make a quick pumpkin soup - low fat and vegetarian. Insha'Allah I will - I have to use up all my mushrooms before they turn yellow and dry.

Fresh Mushroom Soup and Buttered Mushroom with garlic - yummy and quick

Perhaps a clear mushroom soup if I am too tired or a creamy one if I have time. The balance will be stir fried in some butter or olive oil. Just a smashed pip of garlic or sliced onions. Some left over frozen french bread.

Tasty Salad

Easy to make a fresh capsicum, onion and tomato salad in apple vinegar and little olive oil and salt and pepper. use any crispy lettuce available - just tear it up. That's going to be really quick.

I discovered I did not have to add any honey if I used apple vinegar. It is sweet and just the right flavour. Maybe I will whizz up some hummus (blended garbanzo beans), tahina (sesame paste), fresh lemon juice and a spalsh of olive oil, pepper, garlic.

I did give an offer to have a cooking session before Ramadan but so far the timing may not be right. Suddenly there is a committee meeting on 23rd July so that means only 24 afternoon is available. Ipoh visit on 30th though I am not sure if I can make it.

Fancy Pumpkin Seafood Soup

I saw a cooking show from Taiwan in someone's house (no, I do not subscribe to Astro as it really takes up too much of time) that suggested the addition of fresh fish fillet, mussels, mushrooms and silken tofu to the pumpkin soup. The chef also made a roux (white sauce and added some cream), Looked interesting but a bit too rich and fancy for my simple taste buds.

Maybe for a fancy dinner and possibly just a small dish of soup each, not the larger helpings in the case of a more rustic and basic pumpkin soup.

Tonight's dinner

We had pumpkin soup tonight. With the fresh salad and steamed brown rice. I also served store bought prawn sambal petai and some fried tahu cooked in coconut milk. Dinner was unexpectedly pleasant and I threw in the extra cheese and baby tomatoes over the steaming rice. Cooked rice in 2 small shallow dishes in layered electric steamer.

Easy steamboat or hotpot

Actually its rather nice to cook a pot of chicken stock with some bones and drumsticks etc. Add a few tomyam cubes or paste or leave it plain and naturally sweet. If you add stock cubes there will be a lot of msg in it, whether we like it or not.

Just add your favourite vegetables, prawns, chicken and fish fillet. Fresh squid and mushrooms are great too. Throw in some lemon grass, limau purut leaves, chili padi, onions and galanggal or lengkuas for tomyam soup. This can be made more extravagant when you have special guests or just have it simple with some quality prawns, fishballs and yong tow foo.

So much time and preparation for a meal

Marketing, cleaning, preparation, cooking, cleaning, serving, clearing up, cleaning, storing etc etc. That's a lot of work for just one meal. But the satisfaction is definitely greater when we share a nice meal at home. Especially when our family sees their favourite foods on the table. Mothers know all about that, waking up and cooking for sahur - I really salute them.

Microwave - thing of the past

I was only adept at reheating food in the microwave. Can't do that anymore as I stopped using microwave many years ago for health reasons.

Super simple sahur

Good thing my son really likes cereal and fresh milk. Alhamdulillah! Even when he was primary school aged, he would set the alarm clock and prepared his favourite sahur. When I was really tired and sleepy I would only wake up for dates and water. So long I had sahur. following the sunnah.

Train children from young

Do not let our children demand or tell us what to do or what to cook, especially for sahur. If they requested very nicely, any mother would not be able to turn down their appeals. If kids simply expect to be served or must have freshly cooked meals for sahur, we have no one to blame but ourselves.

Why be slaves to unappreciative little people? You may end up doing that for the rest of your lives. Not a very exciting thought.

Less I eat, the less hungry I become

I find the more I eat for sahur, the faster I would become hungry. Maybe the gastri juices would be overworking and demanding for more food. A piece of toast or a egg or cereal is more practical for me.

Iftar is not for stuffing ourselves after fasting all day

Iftar should be moderate and best to avoid sweets too often. The temptation may be great especially if we attend a lot of iftar with friends. They really try to feed us too well. If people actually put on weight in Ramadhan, something is wrong somewhere!

Go easy on the extras

Better take some dates and drink and complete solat maghrib before commencing dinner. Sometimes I do eat my dinner right away. In a way it is good as I do not have time to eat too much and do not have time for any appetizers or dessert. Just a simple main meal and perhaps some light snack or morey after tarawih, eating with friends before we part.

Best of Ramadhan

The best part of Ramadhan is when we break our fast from not merely eating and drinking but abstaining from evil thoughts, bad deeds and poor etiquette. And a supercharge of energy and faith when we stand together in worship of Allah SWT. SubhanAllah!