Ihsaan Magazine May 2017 (Ramadhan Issue) | Page 56

PREP
Planning
& Meal
R
amadhan is the ninth month
of the Islamic calendar and
though the main purpose of
this blessed month is self-reflection
and improving one’s deen, it also
involves fasting or abstaining from
food and drink from sunrise to
sunset. One crucial factor to remember
when planning meals is to ensure
balanced meals are included.
Incorporating fruits and vegetables
with the right amount of protein and
carbs is important in ensuring your
body is properly nourished during
Ramadhan.
A typical day during the blessed
month of Ramadhan entails having
suhoor (pre-dawn meal to begin
the fast), heading to work and/or
doing regular daily activities, iftaar
(breaking of the fast at sunset)
and dinner, followed by attending
Taraweeh (prayer) in the mosque at
night. It is very important that you try
your best to stick to the schedule, to
prevent spending long unnecessary
periods of time trying to decide what
meals to prepare.
Many times, families and/or
masaajids prepare meals for
persons for the breaking of the fast.
However, this may not be done on a
daily basis and the women/men need
to ensure his/her family members
are properly fed and taken care
of. Between work, fasting, going to
mosque and mummy/daddy duties,
planning and preparing meals can be
tiring and difficult. Although tiring
and stressful, it must be done and
more importantly, there is much
reward/blessings to be derived
from providing a meal for a fasting
person.
Properly nourishing the body
is critical during the month of
Ramadhan. With many activities to
be done, time management is crucial
to ensure proper meals can be
prepared for you and your family.
With this in mind, I would like to
share with you, some ways that meal
planning and prep can become easier
during this blessed month.
PLAN MEALS IN ADVANCE
Article: Jenna Mohammed
See more from Jenna G at:
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54 | Ihsaan | Issue 2
Planning ahead can actually save
a lot of time on any given day. This
can be done on a weekly basis. For
example, each Sunday, during the
month of Ramadhan, you and your
family can get together and schedule
what meals should be prepared for
the upcoming week. Not only will
this give a clear idea of what menu
to expect over the next few days but
will also allow some quality bonding
time. See previous page for Ihsaan’s
one week meal schedule and visit
their website for a full one month
schedule.
For those with kids, you can include
two (2) or three (3) meal options in
addition to those decided upon, as
they tend to change their minds
quite easily. By doing this, not only
will it ease your mind, as preparation
for all meal options can be done, but
it may also aid in motivating young
ones who are now beginning to fast
in Ramadhan.
GROCERY/MARKET SHOPPING
After the week’s menu is organised,
you should head to the grocery/
market to ensure that all ingredients
will be stocked and ready for use
when required. Of course, now you
may be thinking ‘Grocery shopping
and market runs on a weekend
while fa sting? I’d rather just stay at
home and relax!’ Think about it like
this, you can take an hour or two on
ONE day to organise for the rest of
the week. This makes it possible for
you to get some rest and relaxation
over the next few days, instead of
wondering what to cook and then
having to head out after a long day
to get the ingredients. Getting ALL
of the shopping done after you make
your week’s menu plan will make
things so much easier.
Remember to pick up extras of
any ingredient to ensure you are
properly stocked. To make things
easy, there are some items that
can be bought ‘fresh’ or canned e.g.
lentils or red beans. For this month
you may want to grab the canned
goods instead to save on prep and
cooking time. Of course, health wise,
fresh is always better, but you can
adjust the other components of the
meals to suit (less salt etc to make up
for the sodium content in the canned
goods).
PREPARATION OF MEATS AND
VEGGIES
Once all the ingredients are
purchased, another huge time saver
during Ramadhan is organising
your meats and vegetables. From
the menu created, you can chop
vegetables, portion them out and
label for each day’s meal. The same
can be done for your meats, which
can also be seasoned in advance,
packaged and placed in the freezer.
Food prep always requires a lot
more time than actually cooking.
Additionally, fresh seasonings
such as chadon beni, chive, celery,
peppers, garlic, can all be chopped
and placed in small zippered storage
bags in the freezer until they are
needed.
One of the beautiful things about
cooking and being in the kitchen
is that the entire family can get
involved, so use this as a way to
spend some quality family time.
COOKING FOR MORE THAN
ONE DAY AT A TIME
This tip may be the biggest time
saver of all. Meals can be prepared
for two days at a time. For example,
on Sunday, enough food can be made
for dinner on Sunday and Monday.
If you do not want to serve the same
thing for two consecutive days,
simply freeze the required amount
to be used a next day. Always be sure
to properly refrigerate/freeze cooked
foods if you will be consuming it at a
later date. Some food items (e.g. dhal)
can be frozen for a couple months
until it is ready to be consumed.
The month of Ramadhan should be
used wisely. It’s a time of reflection
and self-development. Many
people spend long periods of time
cooking and preparing meals and
sometimes forget to concentrate
on prayer, Qur’an recitation and
other acts of worship. Let us make
the maximum use of the time we
have during this blessed month. In
Shaa Allah, following these steps
can result in more time to engage in
more meaningful activities that can
benefit you and your family.
May Allah (SWT) guide you and
your family, may He make it easy
for us during this blessed month
of Ramadhan and accept all of our
efforts and sacrifices. Ameen.