Leek and Potato Pie [with some other veg]

What started out as a simple pie soon became filled with other veg delights, as i had so much veg in the fridge and could see some was old and risked spoiling soon . I must add this one tasted nicer than the chicken pie, maybe coz i am more a vegi at heart. Well it was one way to get broccoli down the kids.
so i started by steaming my veg

These next ones are carrots and parsnips, i had beetroot in the pot part of the steamer and while i was away it rose up and coloured and flavoured my white parsnips and carrots too. Nice colour.

I made a roux and added this to the veg

the rest is as with the previous pie

This pie was meant for my sister who was to come and visit me but canceled at the last moment. Well i am sorry sister once the kids got home they spotted the pie and only a little left now and DH is due home any moment now.

Dolma ma bisbass [stuffed fennel]

This is a dish i learnt to make during my hijrah years, it was my first time using Fresh fennel and this is one way i cooked it. You can also use corgettes or cabbage, it can be cooked in the oven instead of on the hob.

Blitz 2 medium sized onions and get them in a pan and add some oil, begin to sweat them.

In the meantime wash the veg i used some potatoes as well as the kids don't eat the fennel alone. I cut of the hard storks and carved out holes in the bottoms and carved holes in the potatoes too.

rub some lemon on to the cut areas of the fennel, this will prevent it going dark in colour.

Add some crushed garlic to taste to the pan, spices, salt , white pepper and cinnamon, about 1/2 a tea spoon.
cover with a little water and allow to simmer.

In the mean time mix some of the same spices into some ground beef or meat of your choice, add some rice, egg for binding and fresh parsley chopped and mix well. now use this to stuff the veg.

By now the water you added earlier should be boiling, reduce heat and lower the stuffed fennel in to the pan gently.

replace lid and allow to simmer until the veg is tender do not stir. Before you finish you can add some tinned chick peas.

serve with fresh lemon and bread to eat.

The Break of dawn

that leaves traces of the night behind. When i was up praying fajr salat this morning i spotted this out of the window while i was in conversation with my Lord. The night left behind a sign of its passing.

I adore this South Indian Dish
DokraI had a go at making it myself but all looked well but i ended up binning the lot as i didn't have the right pot to steam it in needed a pressure cooker really with a lid but it tasted great , will try again soon.

Jerusalem Artichokes

I was tidying up my bedroom, when i heard some noise coming from the allotments, it was L the old Philippine lady i knew. Who has an allotment over there, she called up 'hi, do you like artichokes?' Yes i told her, she told me to come to the gate and she would give me some.

As i was planning on making 'dolma' tomorrow i thought great. well when i got around to he allotment, i guessed i would grab the bag and go but i was taken to the patch and told to dig them up with the fork, she showed me how. As the folk went in it threw up a whole pile of fresh artichokes from the earth. I was like , subhanAllah, wow natural or what? I ended up with a bag full. they was not the artichokes i was expecting they were these

I have seen them in Algeria and really the first time i mistook them for Ginger and got very excited.
I gave them a wash

Jerusalem Artichokes they call them.

Something new to try, due to its mis shape i could not think what to cook and soup seemed to easy. I thought potato and made a dish with meat balls. They tasted very nice, waxy and sweet. they took a lot longer than a potato to cook more to do with being organic i guess.

Seeking Tawqa

Simlpy i have missed you around and making dua for you and your family for a speedy recovery. My dear mate and cyber buddy come back well soon inshaAllah.



La basa Thurun inshaAllah.


To any other fellow bloggers if you are not feeling well wishing you a speady recovery too.

Thinking out loud

Alahmduilah this week has come and gone, what with all the snowy carry on and reclaiming the pavements after the icy melt down. Only to be told its on its way back but they have been saying that since Wednesday evening so i am not holding my breath or woollies rather looool sorry one of those personal jokes that no one else will get iam sure, i often am left laughing at my own jokes and not others, is that a joke in itself?I have joined the raverly forum about crochet and hope to get down to some serious crocheting. I am having trouble getting nice yarn with good selection of colours anyone know anywhere online? I have good lots of ideas buzzing about in my head but not able to get them out via the yarn and hook. I want to get cracking on a stunning project but just can't get past the first line of the patterns some days.

I have been feeling out of sorts with myself , i can't get a grip on it, some sort of pre mid life crisis? I need direction or new direction, i just can't put my finger on it. It's getting to me that's for sure.

I was on the bus the other day yesterday to be exact, i was sat on the top deck as it was rammed full downstairs. The lady i was sat next to got of and a load of new passengers got on. As they came up looking for seats and now the seat next to me had become vacant. I looked up to see a man and it looked like he was excited about finding an empty seat and was headed towards me but when we looked at each other at the same time his look changed, maybe as mine did to as i recognised him as my cousin, yes my first cousin who i grew up with and was there throughout my childhood, the memories just came flooding back. He didn't take the seat and stood rather than sit there next to me. I felt relief and anger at the same time. Anger why? It brought back all the memories of my aunts and uncles cousins and family that i no longer have for 15yrs now, the disowning by them of me. Life does get lonely with out family and this is often a low point for me , especially when my kids have no cousins, or aunts to visit. Anyhow I thank Allah for all the blessings he has replace them with and i move on but we need families don't we? Relief as i didn't have to worry about him talking to me or saying something, funny is it not? how i can't make up my mind?

Schooling The Brood

For those that asked i have been meaning to put out a post for some weeks. i didn't want to earlier as i wanted something to tell you so i let time lapse a little.

The way i see it in life you have 3 choices to educate your kids
1. Home Schooling
2.Islamic School
3.State school in your respective land of abode

I will tell you now not one is the perfect choice, again another reminder to myself there is no perfection in this world. i have to take the best of my choice and leave out the bits i don't like and do my best to raise my children inshaAllah. Also i want to point ot iwhat i do is my choice in relation to my life and whats shapes it. Any of you that know me i am quite the rebel and following others and the norm often is bottom of my list. So what ever others feel they need to judge me by, may Allah guide you and me ameen.
I have tried all three choices and more here in the UK and abroad. Really State school was not an option i had much experience with apart from my own British Education. Which was not a good one, experience that is. As dear sister said to me recently in an email, Are they going to a Muslim school or a state one? Either way, please, please remember that you are still the biggest influence on their lives, and everything they learn at home, sitting around the table at meal times, travelling in the car, coming in the door dying to tell you about their days, is all home education.

My decision to send my kids to school came about after another personal matter arose within the family putting tremendous strain on my mental and physical well being that in turn started to effect my children and the signs were visible. No more i said to myself , no more, my kids need to get a life and its unfair that they are not getting an adequate education at present. I looked into Islamic Schools, the cost was crippling , there was no way i could do it money wise. with the eldest already in a secondary Islamic Girls School, that is not cheep. Sending the other two well it would have been an impossible struggle, i even seriously considered going out into the work force after 15yrs of being a housewife and mum to meet the cost. That in itself was very frightening for me. The other obstacle i faced from the Islamic schools was as my children were behind their peers in their English level as they have been taught mainly in Arabic through their lives. The Islamic schools were rejecting to take them on, i knew given the right environment , work load and consistent of work they could catch up easily. As i still endeavoured to help them on a daily basis.

My choices were running out thick and fast, also the school run is something i didn't want to get into , sitting in the car daily in traffic , ferring the kids twice a day to and throw from school. I don't like this idea of constraints i guess and i wanted to avoid it at all cost.

My DH was adamant from way back in 1995 when my eldest was about 1yr old, there was no way his kids would go to state school in the UK. That is when i started to think about other options, coupled with my own poor experience in the UK Education system it was time to think outside the norm.

It was one morning after continues bickering between myself and the younger two on the way to the laundry way back in October 2008. Feeling fed up and at a point of this needs to change, i U-turned to the local Primary School and my children just stood there with their jaws hanging down speechless. I enquired about applying and i was given application forms. The forms sat in my drawer for about 2 weeks , while i discussed this with my DH , i made istikarah, the prayer of guidance. Until one day i felt ok i am going to fill these out and send them off.

I waited and waited, nothing the schools were over flowing and the places were full. This went on for another 6 weeks before finally i was offered a placement for both at my first choice local school. It was another 2 weeks before we was given an admissions interview. The process seemed to drag 8 weeks seemed to long.

They finally started the week before the Christmas break. Straight away to change i saw in my children's mental well being made me realise this was the right thing to do.

I was expecting the worse but it has so far and good willing will continue to be a positive experience for them. There have been some challenges, like the adapting of this slang version of the English language but this has been so with the 14yr old who attends a Private Islamic girls School.

My kids are now flourishing mashaAllah, i am helping them daily with their studies, involving myself with the school when the opportunity rises. They are coming home enlightening me about things.

I noted that the relationship between the siblings has improved as well,i see them discussing int resting facts rather than bickering mashaAllah.

The school has been most accommodating when i have requested different ways form the norm due to religious need, they have met my every wish. The school is very informative, keeping parents aware of what is being taught how and why. Giving us the choice to with draw children from lesions and activities that conflict with our values. Like the Sex Education classes, it has and will be my absolute right to with draw them from it any time i see fit. The kitchen has a halal and vegetarian menu so school meals are catered for alhamduilah.

I find myself having to work harder in respect of making sure the children know about their own belief and value system and making sure that they are not picking up the negative traits of their peers. I have to work hard to ensure the kids are not feeling the need or slipping into the norm to fit into a duel character, one person at school at home another. Islamic, they attend an Arabic school on Saturdays to help with this , sadly the Arabic level has slipped but we are trying hard to maintain it. Qur'aan has actually improved mashaAllah so iam pleased with that, alhamduilah that has to do with my completion of my first level of Tajweed. You see i won't be able to have it all , i can damm well try.............it's not going to be a smooth ride, life often is not but alhamduilah for each day and each blessing. All praise is due to Allah. Overall i am happy the kids are happy and i don't regret my decision for now mashaAllah , i make daily duas for my children and ask Allah to aid me.
There are aspects i am not happy about but then again nothing is perfect in this earth is it?

Home made Valuvents

With the left over pastry from my earlier chicken pie , i decided to try some valuvents. They didn't come all that good but edible alhamduilah. I stuffed them with prawns, spring onions, parsley and sweetcorn.

Sammon and Vegetable TAGINE

It's not often i get the tagine out due to its sher size and weight really.

cooking works on the principle of layering and not stirring. Tenderly steaming the food retaining its natural flavours and splendid jucies.


A short while later and

I usually take the base of the tagine staight to the table and we all eat from it.

Snowed in

It started snowing a little last night, after the bitterly cold days of past not a surprise. so this is how it looked last night and the kids were excited.




This morning it was a different story, with a lot of snow and no public transport school are closed. Kids are at home they have been outside playing in the snow , for the younger ones its their first experience in snow.



Reminds me of my own childhood memories and now the kids can experience it to knee high snow to trug through.



so preety and clean looking the white sheet of crispness.

Chicken and Mushroom Pie

Sweat some onion in a pan with a little oil, add the chicken pieces and sliced mushrooms. i added some sweetcorn too. Spice it a little to your taste. I kept it very bland just salt and pepper mind you i sneaked a little cumin in mind you i added some All spice too well not so bland after all.

In the mean time add some butter to the pan and about a table spoon of cornflour mix well , add a little milk. Dissolve a veg's stock cube into about 400mls of hot water, add this mix to the pan and allow to heat


Until it becomes a thickish mix. NOW add this mix to the chicken and mushroom.

Roll out your pastry , i used puff pastry made. Line your pre oiled dish with the pastry sheet . Fill it now with the cooled filling mix

Roll out a roof for your pie and secure well

I made a tin foil frame i don't know the proper name for it but its to prevent the pie opening during baking and the filling spilling from the sides.

Made some slits with a knife on the top.
Brush it with egg and allow to brown well in the oven.

Now once cooked allow it to cool as it will hold a firm texture and not run , as my lot were hungry mine was cut whilst still hot.

We had ours with some steamed veg ,



I must add this pie was really confort food very delish mashaAllah.

How life changes........

just under 6 months ago i was living out my destined hijjrah, emigration for the sake of my Lord. My new life of 3yrs and now well it's all change and Allah is the best of planners alhamduilah. My ambitions have changed, my realisation has changed, my perception of life as i know it has changed. Not all drastic change but a realisation , my life and self have under went some sort of cleansing of thoughts, perceptions and actions. While i was in Algeria i was blessed to experience the true essence of tawqual Allah, dependence and trust in my Master alone. This became the turning point in my life so far as a Muslimah. This was a total dependence on Allah for all, really letting go of the worldly matters and freeing my soul to stand alone and only depend on my Lord. It was a sweetness of faith a kinda high that i have only felt once in my life. That was when i became a Muslimah and took my testimony of faith. It's a spiritual feeling something you have to feel to understand. Crying out to my lord in my darkest hours healed me, His mercy was felt soothing me and strengthening me. In my past years as a Muslimah i though i was doing well and that i had cracked it as living a religious life to please my Lord now 15yrs on mashaAllah i can say i know where i am headed and its almost like Allah has shown me there is more you can do or there is stuff to be rectified.

In the solitude of my loneliness I found my purpose in a practical application of my faith and daily life, my relationships with others around me. I learnt to deal with many hardships that really effected my well being, throughout my life. i learnt not to be too bitter for for too long with one that hurts me, i have learnt to forgive quicker. I was one who was raised in a household where the silent treatment went on for months when one fell out with one another. Maybe some of my DESI fellow bloggers can tell me if this a common occurance in a desi household. Not realising that this would later have a grave impact on my life in the ability to forgive. The bitterness of not being able to forgive blackens the heart. It really can damage your character and cause you pain. Believe me i know, not to say i never forgave as i did eventually but the time lapse could be many many months or years later sadly. I have not perfected this art down to the same 24hrs span but alhamduilah i feel i have reached a milestone in this and you know what? It feels great , great where ? within my my heart and my soul feels at ease alhamduilah, all priase is truely to my Lord.
Islamic teaching presents the prophet Muhammad as an example of someone who would forgive others for their ignorance, even those who might have once considered themselves to be his enemies. One example of Muhammad’s practice of forgiveness can be found in the Hadith, the body of early Islamic literature about the life of Muhammad. This account is as follows:
The Prophet (may peace be upon him) was the most forgiving person. He was ever ready to forgive his enemies. When he went to Ta’if to preach the message of Allah, its people mistreated him, abused him and hit him with stones. He left the city humiliated and wounded. When he took shelter under a tree, the angel of Allah visited him and told him that Allah sent him to destroy the people of Ta’if because of their sin of maltreating their Prophet. Muhammad (may peace be upon him) prayed to Allah to save the people of Ta’if, because what they did was out of their ignorance.

Humbleness to and love for Allaah can only be actualised through worshipping Allaah in all aspects.

If any of you are like me , going through life and saying well its ok i will tackle learning to read qur'an one day soon and before i knew it 15yrs had lapsed and i still couldn't read. Yet i knew that my life span is not in my hands and that deaths last breaths could be upon my lips any day soon. I really needed my good deeds to be way up in balance from the bad deeds, after all its jannah paridise i am workingtowards. What will be the greatest abode of my exsitance ever. After all i am only passing by in this world and this zone, really i look back on life and remember as a young lady at a mere 17yrs old pondering on my life to come in my 30's, married with 2 kids living in the country, living a life based around materlism and worldly gain. Well i had lived half of my 30's..........time has escaped me really where did all that time go? Before i know it i will be old perhaps less able more, dependant on others why not cease today this moment and set goals to achieve to? Get ourselves some good deeds.