The Food of Ramadan
There we have it, Ramadan has come and gone and it almost flew right by with the exception of a few days when we though it would never end. (Most of us have been fasting even before we hit puberty.. our first fast being around the age of 6 or 7, some even younger) The first day was difficult.. as in I think I might die of starvation. After those first two days things got much better and I was in the mood to cook. M felt that after a long day of fasting dinner should be something special, like a reward.
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So we feasted. We added a glass of juice and finished the night with fruit or ice cream.
But as days went on my enthusiasm started to falter. It wasn't the hunger that was my problem is was mainly the lack of caffeine.. so I cooked some days and then days came were I went back to simpler meals and even leftovers camouflaged as new.
By the time we were into week three and especially week four, the finish line was within reach but the lack of sleep was catching up with us and we were just tired. In case you are wondering how sleep has anything to do with fasting.. well. We would wake up at 4am to have something for breakfast.. around 5am we would get up again for morning prayers.. and then the cherry on the sundae was that D would wake up around 6am.
By the time that last few days rolled around food, especially cooking food was the last thing on my mind.. but we enjoyed the yummy food while it lasted.
We devoured stuffed chicken breasts and corn, roasted vegetable rice and cheese stuffed jalapenos, chili burger and oven baked steak fries, grilled chicken and vegetables, stacked roasted vegetable enchiladas and a veggie pizza.
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Yum! This looks incredible and thanks for sharing a little background on this holiday. I didn't realize that children started fasting as young as 6-7 or younger. I'm going to read more about Ramadan.
ReplyDeleteGreat for you to complete another year of Ramadan. I'm sure it was all worth it. My husband just got back from Libya for work reasons, and he had to wait until 8p.m. to eat at the restaurant. The US embassy had lunch for them, so they wouldnt starve during the day.
ReplyDeleteAll of that looks absolutely delicious! Glad you could celebrate in the evenings, even though you were tired!
ReplyDeletethat looks sooo good!!! YUMM!!!
ReplyDeletexO!
www.thehautecookie.com
No coffee? What?
ReplyDeleteI would have failed miserably.
m.
people keep saying that.. it's not just no coffee.. no water no anything.. if you have a headache wait it out.. you can't have medicine either.. nothing.
DeleteYes, I wouldn't have been able to do it without water or caffeine - yikes! But the food looks like it was well worth the wait
ReplyDeleteI feel you. To fast is not easy but Ramadan is always a joyful period of time for me! Eid Mubarak! :)
ReplyDeleteP.S The food looks so yummy :)
Merrily Merrily,
Nini
http://ninilopette.blogspot.com
Thank you. Were you also fasting? Ramadan was always the month we always looked forward to when younger and when back home. But now it is usually less fun and more tiring.. and we just end up feeling home sick.
DeleteYes, I have been fasting. Sorry to hear you feel home sick :( You are right, it's so much better when everybody around you also is fasting otherwise it really is less fun.
Deleteoh gosh, this all looks delicious!!
ReplyDeletexo TJ
I would have to prepare months in advance for this if I had to give up coffee. I don't understand the water part though, is there an exception for people who live in the desert? When we give up things for lent we can have Sunday off. I like the Sunday clause.
ReplyDeleteAt least you had delicious foods at night and were able to wake up early enough to have some coffee. :)
It's hard the first few days after that your body gets used to it. And we didn't drink coffee in the middle of the night. We just ate because we needed to eat and then went back to sleep. It was all about the sleep for us.
DeleteWhat a commitment fasting is. I commend you! Very interesting, and beautiful pictures... not good that I'm reading this at 1 am, and hungry! :-)
ReplyDeleteThe food looks delicious, thanks for this really interesting post!
ReplyDeleteThe veggie pizza looks especially delicious! It looks like you came up with some wonderful foods - much more than I could have done without caffeine! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing - I liked this post!
Cooking initially made it easier.. something to look forward to. I have a friend who likes watching Food Network when she fasts.. it calms her..
DeleteThere is so much yummy food here, looks so amazing! I'm assuming Ramadan is harder to do in the summer as the days are longer? x
ReplyDeletehttp://www.jenventure.blogspot.co.uk
The longer days did make it harder.. on the bright side they weren't nearly as long as what our Canadian counterparts had to do. A cousin of ours said sunset was past 10pm in Vancouver.
DeleteYou definitely deserve that feast! and man does it look delicious. I'm always in awe of my friends who observe Ramadan. It takes such a commitment and sacrifice. Good for you.
ReplyDeleteYum that looks delish!
ReplyDeleteWow, that food looks incredible! Would you consider sharing some recipes? You are incredible strong for going without caffeine that long!
ReplyDeleteI am not a big recipe follower.. I usually have an outline and then just go with my mood.. but I do have the recipe for the burger here: http://henatayeb.blogspot.com/2012/03/green-chile-cheeseburger.html and the stacked enchilada's here: http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/stacked-roasted-vegetable-enchiladas/ though I have made some variations like adding avocado and such. If I ever making any of these again I will try to include a step by step.
DeleteWow the food looks delicious. My friend came to my house on Saturday and said she wasn't drinking because it's still Ramadan. She didn't mention the prayers. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThanks.. prayers are kind of a given.. every day irrescpective of month we are to pray five times a day.. while we may skip here and there on any other day out of laziness... we seem to become a lot more consistent during Ramadan..
DeleteI hope you had a good ramadan
ReplyDeleteDelicious :)
ReplyDeleteoh my, all of this food is making me hungry!!!
ReplyDeletexo TJ