Thursday, October 30, 2014

YouTube

I do go through all my IG comments and each and every single e-mail that I receive, but I stopped reading my YouTube comments a while ago, simply because they were just too many and I had no time to go over them all. I was configuring some YouTube settings on My Channel, and stopped at the 'Comments' page...and I have just been scrolling and scrolling and...I even put the song 'Thank you Allah' by Maher Zain (Vocals Only) playing in the background to get the proper mood going here. 

If even one of those comments is partially true, then wow. I really have to get cracking on some more videos. I am seriously about to shed a tear or two here. 

So emotional. So beautiful. This Ummah.

SubhaanAllah. Alhamdulillah. Allahu Akbar.

How Do I Keep My Imaan Strong?




You would not believe how often I get asked this question, and I still have not thought about it or pondered over this enough, to make a proper full-length in-depth post about it, because this touches some of the most deepest parts of me. 

So, I will merely start.

#1
Mufti Menk.  
Video Series: Pearls of Peace 

If you have not listened to this video series, then please do.
If you have listened to it, then please do it again.
It will now be my 3rd time around, and in shaa Allah not the last. 

No words needed on my part.
The Quran is Our Peace,
We just need to properly comprehend it,
And make an effort to understand it,
And live by it,
To the best of our abilities.

Love,
Eslimah

CHALLENGE: 1 GREEN SMOOTHIE A DAY!

I know I know.. Green smoothies look so yucky and scary to you. They did to me too a while back, and that is exactly why I have attached the before-and-after photo on this post (that, and come on...how pretty is the before-pic anyway - fruit is such an amazing creation of God that I simply cannot comprehend how can it get any better in Paradise..mashaAllah really) 

It IS possible to enjoy whole food meals that transform your body from the inside out. 

Here are the very simple rules regarding the smoothies you are about to make:

  • Has to contain a leafy base 
  • Fruit/Berries
  • A liquid base 
  • Optional Fancy Toppings 
 Green smoothies are:
 
  • A natural energy booster 
  • Aid natural! weight loss 
  • Allow you to stay healthy all-year-round
  • Full of antioxidants 
  • Best.Fast.Food.
 
I challenge you to take part in this challenge for your own sake, bismillah!  


 Here is one recipe to get you started:

CREAMY-MANGO-AVOCADO-SMOOTHIE
You will need:

  • 1 avocado
  • 1 - 1 1/2 cups of mango 
  • 1 banana 
  • 2 cups of spinach
  • 2 cups of water (can be milk of choice or even better - coconut water!) 
 Instructions: 
Everything in to za blender. 
Serve right away.
Enjoy.
Serves 2 (in my case, 1).

Can not wait for you to hashtag #teamhealthyeslimah and share your creations with me and sisters around the world! I am so so so happy like a little teenager. Why? Because so many of you have joined the health-team ALL AROUND THE WORLD, and wallahy, I feel like it is uniting us even further. God is uniting us by such a good cause! It's not like we are all getting together to...I don't know. Collect Sniker Papers. We are actually trying to make a positive difference and be more healthy and take care of ourselves! Today on IG I read a sister post, how instead of taking the bus, she decided to walk instead, as she remembered our health-challenge. She wrote how she was smiling and giggling the whole way, and all I was thinking was...I WOULD DO THE EXACT SAME THING. Sometimes when I am walking home, and there is noone around, I pretend to be a soldier or a bear or a ballerina, and do the appropriate walk/dance and slide home. I imagine she didn't do something as stupid, but the fact that she felt happy about the change in her life, and being part of such a loving sisterhood...made me so happy as well. Like many of you say, you do not have an ummah in the physical realm around you, and the online-based-sisterhood is the next best thing..And I feel the same. And actually. It is not the 'next' best thing. It is THE best thing. Ever. To. Have. Happened. To. Me.

Alhamdulillah ala kulli haal ya rabbi al-alamin.  

Share the recipes and share the love and stay healthy!

Love,
Your Eslimah


Soaked Overnight Oats with Almond Milk


Now that I am back to my healthy-life, this is an ideal breakfast for me, because here is how my typical routine goes these mornings: 
  • Alarm at 7:00.
  • Get my @tinyteatox ready, wudoo and then pray Fajr (yep, it's that late now in Europe..the wonders of wintertime).
  • Eat breakfast at 8:00, AND this way I can take my time in the morning as opposed to starting the whole process of preparing something..either my other family members are still sleeping, and I can't put my food processor on..and just slicing-dicing-frying is too time consuming at such a short time gap and at such an hour in the morning. The meal is very nutritious and the chia seeds add the protein and..it fills me up for my 10:30AM gym class, and I finish my breakfast just about 2 hours before the session, which is perfect in my book.
Now..I have only made overnight oats 3 times in my life now, and every time I sort of wing it according to what my taste buds are feeling like at that specific moment (I usually make it around 11PM or midnight, so at that moment I feel like eating it all up and it is a big challenge for me). You can make them, again, in a million different ways, and I suggest you explore all the ways and hashtag me again, so I can try some of them as well, but here is my current to-go version:

You will need:
  • 1 cup of oats (gluten-free if available)
  • 2 tbsp of chia seeds 
  • 2-3 cups of almond milk (or any other plant based milk, or if you have nothing against dairy, then go ahead!)
  • 1 tbsp of linseed 
  • 1-2 tbsp coconut flakes
  • berries of choice (e.g strabwerries, cherries, blueberries <- I would prefer the latter but never manage to find any)
  • 1 smashed banana
  • 1 tsp of maca powder (100% optional) I use it because I have it in my 'Eileen's healthy food department' and I would never eat it as-is, so it is a good supplement to add to foods as such. It is recommended to take a spoonful every day, especially if you have hormonal imbalance, which I do.   

Just combine all these ingredients in a jar, and let them soak overnight. In the morning - just add some optional toppings - I added coconut flakes, goji berries & a spoonful of homemade almond butter. 1 spoonful of sweetener would have worked nicely, or a bit of vanilla extract, but I did not have the latter, and having already added the nut butter and all...I didn't want to turn it into an extreme calorie-bomb with another spoonful of honey.  

Enjoy and tag me in your favorite oatmeal recipes!

Love!

Your Eslimah

My Favourite Ice Cream aka The Healthy Choco-Banana Ice Cream


This is very very hard for be to blog, simply because there are A MILLION GAZILLION amazing flavours that you can experiment with when it comes to banana ice-cream. But that is definitely a GOOD thing. Expect many more of these to come. I have done strawberry, cherry, mango, chocolate, peanut butter, grape, date, oh-my-God I can't even think of all the flavours you can experiment with. All I can say is that...You better start experimenting and sharing your inventions with me! 

This recipe happens to be completely vegan and GUILT FREE. Did I say guilt free already? Let me say it again - it is completely GUILT FREE. Now let me introduce you to a world where you can eat ice cream, every day, and eat your body to health. Now, I am going to give you two recipes.

On the photo (a bit melted already because missy here was trying to get a nice photo): 

1) Chocolate Protein Banana Ice Cream

2-4 bananas frozen bananas (they were cut into little pieces in my freezer, I am unsure)

1 scoop chocolate protein powder (I struggle to eat enough protein, since there is close-to-zero halal meat here, and protein shakes are just an amazing and delicious way to get that extra protein-intake and it's an ideal post-workout drink to just mix with milk or water, but this is mainly for my fitness-junkies out there!)

I blended these two together, and it was a tad too sweet for my taste, so I added:

1 tbsp raw cacao powder 
I added some frozen cherries on top and there you go. 

Now, I am going to go out on a limb, and assume that the majority of my followers do not have protein powders at home, so since I am already sharing a choco-flavor, then I will share with you my other favourite, the Healthy Reese's Ice Cream if you will:

4-5 frozen bananas
2 tablespoons raw cacao powder
2 tablespoons nut butter 

Add all the ingredients to your high-speed blender or food processor, or even a hand-mixer can work. Blend all together. I have a Vitamix, so there is no problem, but if you have a blender that is not that powerful, then it definitely helps to add either a bit of milk or water, and keep scraping the excess off the sides and scooping the mix around, so it would get right into the blade, as opposed to just running around and around and around without anything really happening. This happened to me with my old food processor whenever I wanted to add dates or nuts..round and round we went, and went, and went...and nothing. 

Serve right away. Enjoy!

Add whatever toppings you want (seeds, nuts, cinnamon...up to you) if you want any! 

Thank me later! Don't forget to #teamhealthyeslimah and stay healthy!

Love you,
Salam!