I never thought making donuts could be as easy as 1, 2, 3, I’ve tried this recipe many times and loved it each time. The following recipe truly is amazing and most off all easy. It would take no longer than 30mins from start to finish. The best thing about this recipe is that you only require two ingredients. YES you read it correct!😄. Well what are we waiting for, let’s hop to it😁
Try it and let me know how yours turn out inshaAllah.
I am sure you are going to love making these, I loved it so much, mostly because I could get my 5 year old daughter involved without worrying about the mess she will make.😂 . Less ingredients +little child = less mess (call it baking together)😂!
We all love the spiritual vibe that comes with Ramadan and wish for it to stay throughout the year.
Unfortunately for many households the spiritual vibe ends with the end of Ramadan. I have spoken to mums with young children who love to be glued to the television all day and they are clueless as to what kind of Islamic alternatives they should be giving to these kids without forcing them.
Seeking alternatives could be difficult if you are only looking in your comfort zone. Think outside the box, make it fun and engaging, No pain no gain right. I am a strong believer in the saying “where there is a will, there surely is a way and Allah will show it”. Try your best as a parent to nourish your little tots’ spiritual side. In my personal experience one of the major supporting factor for nurturing children is to have an Islamic environment in the house. By this I don’t mean you sit and recite Qur’an all day, although this is great. What I mean is having fun and tangible Islamic materials available in and around the house.
Below is a list of things I find very useful to have and do around the house. It is essential to have an Islamic environment around the house. Do your part and Allah will take care of the rest.
Islamic Books Read, Read and read some more and keep on reading. Your children will inherit this from you. (Monkey see monkey do, trust me). I love reading children’s books with my daughter and I am in the process of writing my own children’s story book inshaAllah.
Ramadan is a great time to introduce Islamic books to your little ones. You could get really lost in the amazing stories in the Qur’an. If you as a parent find it difficult to paraphrase these stories to your children then you will find the following book recommendations highly beneficial. Another way to teach our history to young ones is through stories and biographies of those of the past.
These books are colourful and filled with pictures. No bulky texts. I love them.
1.1. Muslim scientists
My daughter and I love all 4 books in the Muslim Scientists Series. Very well written for children, kept my then 4 year old daughter engaged cover to cover. What a beautiful way to teach our kids of our rich history of the Golden Ages. My daughter wanted to repeat these books over and over again Re-live History Through Books! Reading level : 4-7 years that doesn’t mean it is not suitable for older or younger children, many of us parents are unaware of our rich history and the chances of our kids knowing are very little. It is never too late to learn nor is it too late to teach.
These books by ‘GoodwordKidz’ are great too. The stories are beautifully depicted through colourful pictures with less text. My daughter loved looking at the pictures way before we started to actively engage in bedtime stories.
Following is a link to one of the books, by clicking on it you will be able to navigate and view many other books similar to this.:
Family and friends highly recommend this. I have yet to buy this inshaAllah. The reason I have been delaying is my daughter’s bookshelf is overflowing. This delightful hardback book contains vibrantly illustrated stories of the prophets, from Adam (A.S) to Muhammad (P.B.U.H) These stories are concise, and told in engaging, child-friendly language. A delightful question and answer session after each story is also unique in its style, depicted as a conversation between the two lovable characters. Ali pretty much asks Migo the questions that will be on your child’s mind. The list of books I can recommend requires a whole separate blog post dedicated to it.
2. Activities
If you or your children are not into reading as much then there are other alternatives to teach and learn Insha’Allah. You will need buckets of patience to find the most effective way of learning and teaching for your family. For my family it is through, reading Islamic as well as Non Islamic books, crafting, puzzles and fun and games. Following are a list of interesting and engaging puzzles and games (Islamic and non Islamic).
This is great fun and kept my 5 year old occupied for good 15-20mins. It’s colourful and fun
These are beautiful with vibrant and child friendly artwork.
Easy-Clean surface keeping the puzzle looking new. This puzzle game can help develop your child’s hand-eye coordination and problem-solving skills.
Join the puzzles together and discover a bigger picture of all the 28 Arabic letters, your child develops concentration skills. A great way to learn about the sequence in which the Arabic Alphabet comes. They will also be learning arabic words for each letter with its English meaning.
Made to be played in the style of a traditional snap game, these cards teach and reinforce the letters of the Arabic alphabet and their letter joins. The cards can also be used as flashcards in a teaching environment. These colour coded snap cards can also be used as flashcards to teach the letters of the Arabic alphabet in their various positions.
My daughter had this when she was about 2 years old. She loved it and I have no idea of its whereabouts now.
Other Activities
The following are great games to bring the family together and actually interact with each other. Watching television together cannot really be called spending quality time with family. Stop deceiving yourselves and start engaging with your children from a young age.
My daughter loves this fun game as do I and keeps us occupied for about 30-40mins. I really wish I could have a nap during this time but if I don’t play with her she is going to end up in front of the screen, so no pain no gain. This game is suitable for all ages, my daughter started playing from age 4. This develops and tests your observational skills. The cards come in a metal tin, making this a perfect game whilst travelling. In Dobble, players compete with each other to find the one matching symbol between two cards. Every card is unique and has only one symbol in common with any other in the deck. The match can be difficult to spot as the size and positioning of the symbols can vary on each card. Once a player finds the match, they shout it out before the other players and taked the card.
I know we are on lockdown and we are running out of things to do with our children. As parents it is our duty to make sure they are not overdoing the screen time. This could be detrimental to their physical and mental health. I see fun and games as investment for my children and family as a whole. This cup stacking game is a great way to encourage friendly competitiveness and social interaction with your little ones. A fantastic gift for any occasion especially great for kids with unlimited screen time, without having a go at them.
This is the one I have and love hearing the Athan 5 times a day everyday in the house especially at Fajr times. This Athan clock has time for major cities around the world, 1500 cities totally for your choice, It shows current time, date, week, Daylight Saving time, temperature and Muslim lunar calendar, etc. Full screen light helps to view in the dark. Perfect for home and office. Also, a great gift for family and friends.
4.2 Al Fajr Athan Clock I have been recommended this clock by Al Fajr but at the moment I am happy with the I have. Choice is yours!
5. Make the Qur’an be heard Have you ever let the Qur’an play on the T.V only to be bugged by your children to change the channel for them to watch cartoons or have you tried playing the Qur’an on your phone and find it draining your battery? This has happened to me on numerous occasions, until my husband bought this great Qur’an speaker, I love it so much, it even comes with a remote control how handy is that. Now I can listen to it at bed time and not worry about getting up to turn it off.
5.1 Qur’an Speaker It has amazing features with Ka’ba Design, Bluetooth, Wireless Speaker with Full Quran. Recitation of 25-Qaris-and-24-Languages Bluetooth, Athan Alarm , Dua for Hajj and much more.
Having a prayer Mat dedicated to your child makes a huge impact. It shows them that you value their feelings. My daughter was excited when she got her prayer Mat as a gift from my aunty. I leave it rolled out on the floor, this way they see it everyday and I see my little ones pretending to pray at random times MashaAllah tabarakAllah.
Remember you can have all the Islamic resources in your home but if your children don’t see the parents making effort, to genuinely follow the teachings of Islam, the impact of these resources maybe little to none.
Salam everyone. I really hope you are keeping yourselves busy and productive, physically and mentally.
Remember to keep your little tots occupied with productive activities instead of being glued to the screen .
My husband and I were starting to worry when we saw the fruit basket, surely there were no chance for the Apples to make it for another week. They were on the verge of rotting. My husband told me to do something with them. My daughter and I decided to make this yummy Apple and Banana crumble Muffins.
Ramadan Mubarak to everyone out there. Ramadhan could be challenging especially if you are a mother, your chores are endless leaving you drained at the end of the day. Thus giving you little to no time for your ideal Ibadah time you had planned.
Following is a list of Ibadah that could be carried out with a little bit of effort inshaAllah.
Salah – start perfecting the Obligatory acts. What better way to get closer to Allah than the most beloved acts to Him (fardh acts).
Designate a place for Salah
Wear your best garment
Perfect your Wudhu
Pray in Jama’ah
Reminder circles with family
Qur’an
Listen to your favourite Reciter
Dedicate time for translation
Reward system: Encourage family members
Family- Recite together at the same time
Iman Boosters
Listen to short reminders
Read about Ramadhan
Read as a family
Make Dua – benefit from Dua acceptance times. Do not underestimate the power of Dua. I cannot immagine mylife without Dua. (Make your own dua or use Dua book for particular Duas, link to my favourite dua book at the end of this post). *
I hope you are all well and in the highest of iman.
I just wanted to share some of the products that I’ve tried and tested and that actually worked for me this making motherhood that tad bit easier.
Motherhood indeed is a trial and error journey. Trust me there is no such thing as a perfect mother or a mother who knows it all. Hence I have thrown the terms “perfect mother or supermum” right out of my motherhood dictionary.
Do you ever get the feeling to rewind time so you can raise your first child again, start this motherhood journey from scratch. I hear you all screaming 📢 “YES!” Guess what, almost all the mothers I’ve spoken to are on the same boat.
Things changed a lot when my second child was born. I was in a more positive mindset, I felt slightly more experienced and ready to deal with whatever comes my way. Alhamdulillah since my first pregnancy or since marriage should I say, one of the most important thing my husband has taught me is to change my mentality: the way I think, be optimistic, stop worrying over things you have no control over, (I guess these are some of the things they teach in NLP courses i.e. conquering your thoughts). Until this day my husband’s advice is more or less the same, he always asks me the same question when I complain. “So what is the solution? How can we solve this issue?” Then I wear my thinking cap and get on with life 🤣🤣. This has helped me immensely with the permission of Allah.
You know you are just a Dua away from finding solutions to your problems. Never forget to seek help through what Allah has blessed you with in a Halal way.
Anyway, I don’t intend to bore you readers by delving too much into my life experiences. So let’s get straight to the point. When things got tough during motherhood I sought solutions and some of the solutions were in small changes I made to the products I used. Trust me they made a huge impact especially when travelling.
These were/are some items I found extremely useful for my children. Loved the few spare minutes I was having.
1. Baby Food Dispensing BottleSpoon
My first child is 5 years old. She was a very fussy eater, I used to dread travelling, specially long journeys. Did I travel? Oh yes I did, a lot and to top it off abroad too, she was just 4 months old when I went abroad. And at times it was mentally draining. Particularly feeding her when out and about until I found this amazing product.
This one is full sillicone but the one below is plastic with a sillicone spoon attached. I love both of them, they are equally good
These were great in the car, on the plane and when out and about. I didn’t have to worry about separate spoon, or plastic containers. I used them for my daughter and my son and will use again inshaAllah if I am blessed with more children.
With my daughter bath time was and is still a nightmare. She hates water running down her face. She thinks she’s drowning in water 🤭. I tried a couple of products and to be Frank they were useless and some were stiff and others were too flimsy. Until I came across this basic item, very easy to use and gentle to skin.Now my kids love bath time and for me it is a chore/in my to do list.
I love this so much that I made sure I never forget them when out and about and even around the house. Meals times can be fun when there is less mess and less cleaning in the end.These are wipe clean, just wash with warm water and soap and will be good as new each time. The one I have is almost 5 years and looks like I bought it yesterday.
“Give your child lots and lots of water, let them learn how to drink from a cup from six months” I’ve heard this so many times and I’ve thought to myself “really! but my child keeps spilling it all out” until I bought my daughter this cup and it’s been heavenly since then. I’ve got this same one and I preserved it carefully and I am using it for my son at the moment.
I love this feeder. We got this as a gift from a friend and I just love it so much. Fruit time has become alot easier and the worry of my child choking on a piece of fruit has disappeared 🤭.
This pacifier feeder is designed to encourage natural and comfortable feeling of chewing for baby. It also soothes baby’s teething pain and massages the gums. Ideal for introducing solids.
Sterilising all of baby’s bottles, cups, spoons and plates was another annoying chore for me until I discovered the Milton Sterilising Tablets and Solution. I trust it and it does the job. One satisfied mother! Milton sterilizing fluid allows you to sterilize in just 15 minutes. It is Hygienic for baby and home. It is harmless. Utensils are safe for your baby to use immediately.
We all love to have a peaceful car journey and for that we need the kids to sleep. It was a nightmare when my daughter started sitting on the passenger seat and fell asleep with her beck hanging. She was over the moon to finally be able to sit at the front and could see everything. Long journeys became a nightmare for me. 🙄That’s when my husband and I looked for solutions and found a great product. It was a game changer. Phew!
Child Car Sleep Aid this is the one I use for my daughter, no complaints whatsoever. I simply love it as it allows me to relax whilst she’s having a nap during long journeys.
I will link another one which is practically does the same job as the one above but you have colour options.
Yep I said cookies. It was a tough cookie. It literally was tough to bake perfect cookies and I have come a long way in my baking Journey.
I have tried this recipe three times so far and here’s how they turned out each time:
1st time: perfect shape, perfect taste but I left it in the oven a bit longer than I should have and cookies started to harden as soon as I took them out.
2nd time: I made them with my younger sister at mum’s house and turned out better than first attempt- perfect shape, perfect taste and baking time was just right and cookies were softer till the last one
3rd time: well it was another story I over mixed it which caused the gluten in the flour to toughen resulting in cakier mix.
4th time : InshaAllah one day and hoping to get it just right and yummy iA…
Never give up guys. Practice makes perfect.
Ingredients
for 25 to 30 cookies
½ cup granulated sugar (100 g)
¾ cup brown sugar, packed (165 g)
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup unsalted butter, melted (115 g)
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour (155 g)
½ teaspoon baking soda
4 oz milk or semi-sweet chocolate chunks(110 g)
4 oz dark chocolate chunk, or your preference (110 g)
Method
In a large bowl, whisk together the sugars, salt, and butter until a paste forms with no lumps.
Whisk in the egg and vanilla, beating until light ribbons fall off the whisk and remain for a short while before falling back into the mixture.
Sift in the flour and baking soda, then fold the mixture with a spatula (Be careful not to overmix, which would cause the gluten in the flour to toughen resulting in cakier cookies).
Fold in the chocolate chunks, then chill the dough for at least 30 minutes. For a more intense toffee-like flavor and deeper color, chill the dough overnight. The longer the dough rests, the more complex its flavor will be.
Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Scoop the dough with an ice-cream scoop onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, leaving at least 4 inches (10 cm) of space between cookies and 2 inches (5 cm) of space from the edges of the pan so that the cookies can spread evenly.
Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until the edges have started to barely brown.
Method: Add icing sugar, butter, cocoa powder, and vanilla into a bowl.Use an electric mixer on low, combine for a few seconds.Slowly beat in the milk, add little at a time, until it’s frosting consistency.Beat on high for about 30seconds
And ta-da! It is ready, yummy I love it so much couldn’t wait to eat with cake so I started ahead and started eating the frosting lol. I haven’t met anyone who loves chocolates as much as myself.
Excuse the mess, I had my almost 9 month old on one hand and I wasn’t fussed about frosting the cake, just wanted to splodge some frosting on the cake and gobble it down. All finished in 1 and a half day.
