Blackberries + Sunflowers + Tiger Bread: 23 August - 29 August 2014

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu!

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

 

Who is the happy one?
He is the one whose heart is connected to Allah.





"The best of people are those that bring most benefit to the rest of mankind".
Here are 10 tips to become a Productive Muslimah:
1. Have sincere intentions
2. Be proactive
3. Seek knowledge
4. Plan your time effectively
5. Be self-reflective
6. Focus on quality over quantity
7. Do your best
8. Be resourceful
9. Strive to benefit others
10. Put your trust in Allah
See the full article here!

Little Things that Made Me Happy This Week include:
Beautiful comments left by all you lovely readers - be sure to leave something // Fresh sunflowers // New candles and lanterns ready for autumn // Catching up with the cousins about baking and the like // Afternoon walk with the nieces // Sweet strawberries and blackberries // Baking with blueberries and cinnamon.

 Saturday: Snacking on fresh peaches and salted pistachios.

Cooking the spicy chicken for my Spicy Chicken Stromboli.

My mum was putting the finishing touches to her Aloo Gobi with a little fresh coriander.

Snacking on this giant, sweet watermelon!

Sunday: A spicy omelette with beans for breakfast.

My Spicy Chicken Stromboli going into bake!

Snickers is now one of my favourite chocolates because it contains peanuts - yum! When I was younger, I hated it for that very same reason. Just shows how your taste for food changes as you get older.

Tunnock's Tea Cakes have always been a favourite of my mum. You can bake them at home too with this recipe!

Fresh sweetcorn sliced off the cob ready to be made into a corn chowder - I'll share the recipe soon, inshallah.

Monday: I've never really been a fan of blackberries - the ones I had tasted were always so sour. But this box changed my mind!

More watermelon to snack on!

I didn't even end up drinking this cup of hot Indian tea or eating this Snickers bar!

Tuesday: Have you guys ever tried Tiger Bread?

I tried it for the first time this week and it was really tasty - soft in the middle with a crunchy crust.

I am in love with these sunflowers!

And, these flowers aren't too bad either!

The fresh flowers made a lovely setting to a beautiful Tuesday lunch.

I will be sharing the recipe soon, inshallah!
Update: Here is the recipe.

Wednesday: At my cousins' house, where she made this lovely Chicken Pulao.

Along with a salad of cucumber, tomato, lettuce and red onion (not my favourite, as it was raw, but the colour is pretty!)

And, a simple Daal.

Back at home, these strawberries were so sweet - they made the perfect snack. This week has been full of fruit alhamdulillah, as we make the most of the late summer produce.

Thursday: We have been having a lot of graze lunches recently. This is where we fill a platter with dividers (like this) with nuts, fruit, breadsticks etc. 
Here we had salted pistachios and granola with strawberry yoghurt.

Along with strawberries and blackberries!

Friday: I had a box of blueberries in the fridge and decided to bake with them - you can find the recipe I used here.

It was a simple sponge cake batter with blueberries running through it.

More blueberries studding the top.

And, finished off with a heavy sprinkling of cinnamon sugar.

It tasted so good - the cake was very light, the berries were juicy and the cinnamon sugar added a crunchy texture.

Perfect with a cup of tea!

Another grazing platter for lunch. There were apple slices, breadsticks, cheese spread ..

Strawberry yoghurt with granola, blueberries and blackberries - that would make a good breakfast too!

Black, sweet dates and salted pistachios!

Recipes Posted This Week:

Spicy Chicken Stromboli: Bread Week!

Lemon Drizzle Squares 

I hope you all have a beautiful week filled with little moments that make you smile, and thank Allah for His many blessings upon you.

Wasalaam!