Ready-made Masalas {Cooking}

Asalamalaikum Sisters :D

Growing up our mum used to take us along to South Asian dinner parties (Indian/Pakistani/Bangladeshi/FijianIndian/SriLankan) on weekends and we used to be sitting squashed on a couch next to two aunties listening to their conversations. One thing I learnt from most of them was that using ready-made masalas like "shan masalas" and "mdh masalas"  was an insult to cooking and a scar on the name of perfect housewifeness. We watched intently as they upturned their pierced noses and scoffed at those hopeless cooks who used them.

My generation is a little different. We tend to use them at the slightest chance. Cheating our ways to entrees, main meals, desserts and snacks tasting perfect every time. 
These masalas make Indian cooking in the kitchen a more youth-friendly experience. They save time, energy and although they compensate on taste and health, they save quite a bit of time. Alhamdulilah I am enjoying the extra time saved in avoiding the effort of grinding, measuring, roasting, frying, mortar and pestling etc. I am finding myself with alot more spare time on my hands to spend with my children, to explore more on blogging and most importantly to learn more about Islam.
The other day sister2 made a biryani without store bought masalas and there was a clear comprimise on taste. Nothing beats the real deal.
I am on two opinions in this issue. I am worried that there

As for the upturned nosed aunties, they all had Shan Masalas in their pantries - whether they owned up to it or not lol. 

Lot of love to my Indian aunties you taught me so much, 

Umm Maryam.

Cleaning Mirrors {Cleaning + Organising}

Asalamalaikum sisters :D

This week I'm mainly talking about bathroom cleaning since it's one of the areas of the house I've felt that needs the most attention.

I have always found it hard getting mirrors cleaned perfectly. Either there would be streak marks left over or lint and fluff all over the place. I would visit other women's homes and just couldn't figure out how other sisters managed to keep their mirror so sparkly and clean.

I went down to Coles with hubby (and his wallet hehe) and made him spend money on house cleaning products that would make it easy for me to clean with our big move on Thursday (inshallah). I think it otherwise will be too hard to be moving houses and looking after three toddlers (yes! my littlest is toddling now too mashallah!)

So for glass cleaning I went down to see all the product inventions (it was the first time I actually went and looked properly at cleaning products available out there - I have traditionally only used chux wipes and sponges for everything but today was a day of new discoveries).

Here was what I found and I love it :) Subhanallah it works beautifully. (This is not an advertisement and I am not being paid by Viva. Just a product I found that made my housewifing and mothering life easy so I decided to share.)

It's so easy and fun. You just wipe the mirror with the blue wipe and the white wipe all over and finished. No scrubbing or anything. Seriously streakfree and lint free. There are 10 reusable wipes in there which I think is pretty good value for the amount of work that is saved. 

As I mentioned in my daily routine bathroom post, making wudhu in preparation for prayer is made such a nice experience when bathrooms are nice and sparkly clean. 

I hope this post has helped you. All the best duas for your cleaning. May Allah help us purify our homes for his sake ameen.

Umm Maryam

Islamic Parenting in Beautiful Sydney :)

Asalamalaikum :D

Inshallah I intend to make a series of posts about how beautiful Sydney is and how nice the experience of being a Muslim parent in this city is. 

Image: http://news.travelhouseuk.co.uk

I honestly don't know where to start. My mind is so rich with childhood memories of this place, experiences through highschool, lessons i've learnt with my non-muslim highschool friends, stories of university and tafe students (what the MSAs are like), life as a working muslimah, working in the heart of Sydney city, giving up working for the sake of Allah, the south-asian community get-togethers, lots and lots of different sized south-asian aunties each with an interesting and unique past.

I could describe how Muslims get married here, the weddings and after-wedding celebrations, going through pregnancy, the experience of giving birth at Sydney hospitals, raising children here, Islamic schools, the Islamic centres and organisations -- the events they hold, the institutions, the stories, the controversies, the ups and downs and ofcourse the beautiful Muslims whom they bind together as one (if sometimes reluctantly) community. 

Muslims in Sydney can be described as one big puzzle put together. All the pieces are different sizes, colours and textures but put together - you get this amazing piece of art. It's not perfect but it sure is something interesting.

Regardless of how active one is within the rest of the community the fact remains that anyone who sets foot in this place becomes part of it - at least once a year at Eid if not anything else! Seeing Muslims on the street gives us so much happiness and we share this special bond even if we don't quite realise it. We still love every muslim and muslimah here alhamdulilah. Beard or no beard, hijab or no hijab, niqab or jeans our experiences are so similar subhanallah.

It's times like these I wish I had good writing skills because I just can't put the expressions and emotions in they way they deserve. I'll try by best though inshallah....make dua for me. And you have the skills do make a blog yourself and share your experiences of being Muslim in Sydney. Don't forget to share your link here so we can all find out inshallah. 

Umm Maryam

Bathroom {Cleaning + Organising}

Asalamalaikum dear sisters :D

The first place I start my cleaning is the bathroom. On my cleaning checklist the first thing is ‘wipe bathroom counters”. This is something I need to do every morning otherwise it can get pretty messy with the toddlers. Also they like to brush their teeth and wash their little faces by themselves so cleanliness is a must since they put their hands on the bathroom sink for support.

I use a sponge with a scrub and a spray ‘n’ wipe to clean the sink, taps, toothbrush holders, flower holder. I spray a little in a few spaces, then use the cloth to spread the product all over rather than spray everywhere. This uses lesser chemical but cleans just as well. Then I grab my watering can, fill it with the hottest possible temperature of water and pour it all over the sink to wash away the grime. Then I wipe it all down with a chux cloth.

If required I spray the watering can and give that a wash as well.

I find myself cleaning the floor and tub everyday subhanallah. I usually do this using an outdoor broom that scrubs the spray n wipe into the grout giving it a good clean and is also useful for guiding the water into the drain once it's time to wash away the chemical. 

The viva glass cleaning wipes are a great product for keeping the glass streak free. 

I went on an environmentally friendly expedition of using baking soda and vinegar on the tiles inside the shower area and alhamdulilah it seemed to work out well for me as I didn't have to stand there breathing in the fumes of the bleach that I normally use. I will write a blog post about this environmentally friendly technique inshallah for the bathroom and for the fridge. 

Mr. Clean bathroom wipes from Bunnings are absolutely wonder for the soap scum especially around the taps. 

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Beautiful and clean bathrooms make wudu a nice experience. Prepare for Salah in a beautiul environment inshallah. 

Inshallah this helps some of you who are struggling with managing housework and Islam. I was struggling quite woefully at one point especially having three babies under the age of three. Alhamdulilah! Allah is helping me and he will help you too. Make plenty of dua sisters and make your intention sincerely for the sake of Allah inshallah (I make dua for myself and my blog guests....all this cleaning is hard stuff!)

(Now 4 kids under 5 subhallah)

Umm Musk