Ramadan is just around the corner

[Peace.... 281]

Hi all,

Well soon I will experience my first Ramadan with my husband here in the States. I am sure he will miss his family during this time, as they loved spending time together with family members. I have tried to make the soup they have in Morocco to break there fast in the evening, it was okay I guess, but it's nothing like what I had in Morocco LOL. My husband says why you worry so much, it's okay you don't have to worry yourself cooking, anything will be okay.... I just want his Ramadan to be special as fasting everyday is hard but he says it's not. He has always fast on Monday's and Thursday's it seems like forever and he is never cranky...Gosh, if I don't eat after 5 hours, I am a bull in a china shop for sure.

So if there is any body out there who has experienced Ramadan with there spouse, can you let us newbies know what to expect and maybe some food ideas to break the fast in the evening. I am sure there will be plenty of tajine's in our home as we love them. I actually find myself eating them at least 4 days a week now.

Hope all is having a great summer..... Hope to hear some good food ideas from you all.

[EAbbas 213]

Hi all,

Well soon I will experience my first Ramadan with my husband here in the States. I am sure he will miss his family during this time, as they loved spending time together with family members. I have tried to make the soup they have in Morocco to break there fast in the evening, it was okay I guess, but it's nothing like what I had in Morocco LOL. My husband says why you worry so much, it's okay you don't have to worry yourself cooking, anything will be okay.... I just want his Ramadan to be special as fasting everyday is hard but he says it's not. He has always fast on Monday's and Thursday's it seems like forever and he is never cranky...Gosh, if I don't eat after 5 hours, I am a bull in a china shop for sure.

So if there is any body out there who has experienced Ramadan with there spouse, can you let us newbies know what to expect and maybe some food ideas to break the fast in the evening. I am sure there will be plenty of tajine's in our home as we love them. I actually find myself eating them at least 4 days a week now.

Hope all is having a great summer..... Hope to hear some good food ideas from you all.

I'm with you on this one... I still don't know if my husband will be here by Ramadan or not but i'd like to be in on this LOL addy tells me i don't have to do anything special he would eat anything good to break his fast... and since im a new muslim i too will try my first Ramadan with him/or here alone but either way it will be a special one as we experience it as a married couple!!!

[Peace.... 281]

I'm with you on this one... I still don't know if my husband will be here by Ramadan or not but i'd like to be in on this LOL addy tells me i don't have to do anything special he would eat anything good to break his fast... and since im a new muslim i too will try my first Ramadan with him/or here alone but either way it will be a special one as we experience it as a married couple!!!

Ohhh how exciting for you, your first Ramadan too and as a muslim My husband just talked with his Mom in Morocco and she said tomorrow or the day after might be the first day in Sha'ban (the month before Ramandan).

I'm with you on this one... I still don't know if my husband will be here by Ramadan or not but i'd like to be in on this LOL addy tells me i don't have to do anything special he would eat anything good to break his fast... and since im a new muslim i too will try my first Ramadan with him/or here alone but either way it will be a special one as we experience it as a married couple!!!

Ohhh how exciting for you, your first Ramadan too and as a muslim My husband just talked with his Mom in Morocco and she said tomorrow or the day after might be the first day in Sha'ban (the month before Ramandan).

[Mithra 1,185]

While Ramadan is super important for many people, don't go too crazy trying to prepare complicated dishes or make huge meals every night. The month is LONG and you will get burned out FAST. I'm sure any effort you put into it will be appreciated. I would keep dates on hand, naturally but also small appetizer type stuff for breaking the fast. I would mix up traditional Moroccan foods with food you're more comfortable preparing. It's important to have a meal in the evening but it doesn't have to be a big ordeal. I would reserve bigger meals for days off so it's easier on you and your husband. You'd probably do best asking your husband what kinds of traditional Moroccan meals he'd prefer. From my experience from when we used to do Ramadan, the first week to 10 days I would knock myself making everything special then the rest of the month it was simple stuff like tacos or whatever. I'm sure others have a lot more patience and stamina than I did.

[KittyPollitt 284]

We came back to the States 2 days before Ramadan started last year. It was painfully difficult for him. He came from an environment where everyone is fasting to America where he has to constantly explain himself. It was tough because my family wanted to have him over for dinner to meet him and stuff, but they're all old people who eat dinner at 5pm. Compound it with me going back to work, and there were a few days when he only ate one meal.

This year will be better. He understands that I have to get up at 5am for work, so I can't be up all night cooking for him. And he's learned his way around the kitchen, so he can take care of cooking his meals during the day to eat later on. He's got it all planned out. We'll see how it works

[kristen_maroc 126]

To be fair, I haven't tried any of these, but they look similar to the way I have seen people make them in the kitchen:

http://moroccanfood.about.com/od/soupsandappetizers/r/harira_recipe.htm

http://moroccanfood.about.com/od/dessertsandcookies/r/Chebakia.htm

http://moroccanfood.about.com/od/pancakes/r/Onion_Msemen.htm

http://moroccanfood.about.com/od/pancakes/r/Beghrir_Recipe.htm

http://www.femmezoom.com/recette-410-Sellou.xhtml

My favorite breaking-the-fast meals have included harira, a bread (msemen, beghrir, harcha, etc.), hard-boiled eggs with cumin and salt, chebekya, sellou, and dates.

(And if I were doing Ramadan, I would do a lot of it in bulk... make a weekly huge stock-pot of harira and freeze it in single or double-serving containers, make a huge container of sellou at the beginning of the month (it keeps well in air-tight containers), make a huge batch of chebekya for the month and just have it every few days, hard-boil a dozen eggs at a time, buy 2-3 bunches of cilantro and parsley, clean and chop them, and store them in individual containers in the freezer... I'd even experiment with bread doughs to see if you can cook them a little at a time and save the batter in the fridge if it worked out. This actually makes it seem quite manageable).

Edited July 3, 2011 by kristen_maroc

[lovepath 11]

I have a lot of respect to all of you new Muslims who will be experiencing their first Ramadan. Ramadan in the summer month will not be easy. The day will be long. I suggest trying to fast in "baby steps" during July. Off course, it will not be a "true fast", since you might not be fasting the whole day (in July), but as we all know God is the MOST gracious and most merciful...and your intention is pure. This way, when Ramadan comes in August, you will be ready for the long fast.

Welcome sisters! (P.S. I am a dude).

[UmmSqueakster 54]

For the new muslims in the house, check out the last few pages of the Muslims thread for some free Ramadan courses. Fasting isn't just abstaining from food and drink during daylight - there's the fiqh (rules) of it, and the inner dimensions to consider as well. In particular, check out the Qibla/Sunnipath FREE Living Ramadan course. You can also look at posts tagged Ramadan on my blog for lectures and good reads on my blog.

As LP suggested, it's absolutely essential to prepare pre-ramadan. Especially in the summer months, fasting can run you over if you don't train first. Doing mini fasts, first through lunch, then to 1 pm, then 2 pm, until you work yourself up to sunset is a great way to train your body. If you dive in head first, your body and your attitude will suffer. And being crabby, mean and nasty because you're hungry and your head hurts kind of negates the purpose of fasting:

Narrated Abu Huraira (ra), the Prophet (saws) said, “Whoever does not give up forged speech and evil actions, Allah is not in need of his leaving his food and drink (i.e. Allah will not accept his fasting.)”

Some people expect very elaborate iftars (meals to break the fast), and will expect huge suhoors (meals before the fast). Some must absolutely have a certain dish or Ramadan just isn't right. But as Mithra said, no need to go crazy. If you spend 5 hours each day preparing fancy iftars, then it cuts into time for ibadah (worship). These last few years, I've emphasized fresh, raw veggies and hearty stews. That's the first and biggest course, so we make sure that we fill up on healthy food and not stuffing our stomach with 2000 calories of #######. Do make sure there is meat on the table. The first ifar I made (the 2nd day after AbuS had arrived in the US back in 2005), I made a typical iftar for me, a light soup and a tuna melt. AbuS looked at it with the saddest look on his face and was like, but where's the meal? I find, in general, that meat is a huge part of the Ramadan culture. As I joke every year, I'm a vegetarian 11 months out of the year, but in Ramadan, I'd starve if I couldn't eat meat (since every iftar we go to only has a wimpy salad for a vegetarian option).

One thing to do is to look for email lists for the local muslim community, to see if there are community iftars. Several of our local masjids have iftars throughout the month. Some are sponsored by community members (feeding fasting people is charity, so a lot of people look to do that this month), and some are fundraisers. It's a great way to get to know the local community and meet people. If one isn't arab/pakistani/indian/malaysian/african/insert majority ethnicity here, it can be a little intimidating and you may feel a bit like an outsider - but just put a huge smile on your face, offer to help set up and clean up, and try to strike up conversations and inshaAllah you'll make some friends too

[MrsAmera 41]

I'm doing a month-long special series of meal ideas and meal plans on my blog - both traditional Moroccan dishes and other foods. Come over and sign up for the newsletter! I'm also having giveaways and other deals from Halal friendly companies during the month! www.marocmama.com (the sign up is on the right sidebar!)

[Peace.... 281]

I'm doing a month-long special series of meal ideas and meal plans on my blog - both traditional Moroccan dishes and other foods. Come over and sign up for the newsletter! I'm also having giveaways and other deals from Halal friendly companies during the month! www.marocmama.com (the sign up is on the right sidebar!)

Oh wow, thank you...I will drop by and visit your page for sure. Thank you again.

[Peace.... 281]

To be fair, I haven't tried any of these, but they look similar to the way I have seen people make them in the kitchen:

http://moroccanfood.about.com/od/soupsandappetizers/r/harira_recipe.htm

http://moroccanfood.about.com/od/dessertsandcookies/r/Chebakia.htm

http://moroccanfood.about.com/od/pancakes/r/Onion_Msemen.htm

http://moroccanfood.about.com/od/pancakes/r/Beghrir_Recipe.htm

http://www.femmezoom.com/recette-410-Sellou.xhtml

My favorite breaking-the-fast meals have included harira, a bread (msemen, beghrir, harcha, etc.), hard-boiled eggs with cumin and salt, chebekya, sellou, and dates.

(And if I were doing Ramadan, I would do a lot of it in bulk... make a weekly huge stock-pot of harira and freeze it in single or double-serving containers, make a huge container of sellou at the beginning of the month (it keeps well in air-tight containers), make a huge batch of chebekya for the month and just have it every few days, hard-boil a dozen eggs at a time, buy 2-3 bunches of cilantro and parsley, clean and chop them, and store them in individual containers in the freezer... I'd even experiment with bread doughs to see if you can cook them a little at a time and save the batter in the fridge if it worked out. This actually makes it seem quite manageable).

Thank you so much, these are great recipes and my husband brought back the States some Sellou and ate on it for months and months and so did I LOL. I have tried all of these dishes while in Morocco, I love them all. Yummy for sure. Thanks again great ideas.

[Jenn! 918]

Ah, I was wondering what sellou was...zameta (sfouf)! Yum! I need to make some during Ramadan.

DH was telling me that he wants to pay a Moroccan lady every week to come and make a bunch of stuff for the week. Is he trying to tell me something? Hey, no problems here! I have a few requests too!

[MrsAmera 41]

Jenn- when we lived in DC I always bought msemmen, beghrir and chbekiya during Ramadan because it was so much easier when I was working+ commuting 10-12 hrs a day. Sadly there's 2 Moroccans in this town, my husband and a guy friend of his...looks like I'll be doing the cooking haha

[kristen_maroc 126]

Yeah, last Ramadan, I bought chebekya and sellou/sfouf/zmita from a local place too... just for me and my parents, lol. But it is so expensive! Eh, well, time to get practicing, and division of labor with my fiance... maybe we'll each take responsibility for a few key recipes...