Ramadan: A Time of Fasting and Faith

Hey guys,

Sorry I have been MIA literally once again! I am moving to a town two hours away, to attend the university there, and life has been crazy to say the least!!!

So it's August already, and in the Islamic world, that means the month of Ramadan or fasting. What is fasting you may ask?





Fasting - Literally defined, fasting means to abstain "completely" from foods, drinks, smoking before the break of the dawn till sunset, during the entire month of Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic year.

So what does this mean? NO FOOD FROM A LITTLE BEFORE DAWN TILL DUSK!!! Crazy, maybe. Do I love it, yes.

You see the whole idea of the month of Ramadan is to become closer to God, to remember are real purpose here on Earth, which is literally to worship him, and him only; at least this is what Muslims beileve. It is to also feel with those who are less fortunate; who may not be able to eat three plus times a day.

The spiritual meaning behind this month is amazing:

1.It teaches man the principle of sincere Love: because when he observes Fasting he does it out of deep love for God. And the man who loves God truly is a man who really knows what love is.

2.It equips man with a creative sense of hope and an optimistic outlook on life; because when he fasts he is hoping to please God and is seeking His Grace.

3.It cultivates in man a vigilant and sound conscience; because the fasting person keeps his fast in secret as well as in public. In fasting, especially, there is no mundane authority to check man's behavior or compel him to observe fasting. He keeps it to please God and satisfy his own conscience by being faithful in secret and in public. There is no better way to cultivate a sound conscience in man.

4.It indoctrinates man in patience and selflessness, as through fasting, he feels the pains of deprivation but he endures them patiently.

5.It is an effective lesson in applied moderation and willpower.

6.It shows man a new way of wise savings and sound budgeting.

7.It enables man to master the art of Mature Adaptability. We can easily understand the point once we realize that fasting makes man change the entire course of his daily life.

8.It grounds man in discipline and healthy survival.

9. It originates in man the real spirit of social belonging, unity and brotherhood, of equality before God as well as before the law

10. It is a Godly prescription for self-reassurance and self-control.

So what is going to happen to my little blog during this month? Well I am going to be posting my thoughts, feelings, and progress during this month. I will also be posting pictures of the yummy feasts; yes you read that right, that my mom will be cooking for us to break are fast on every night.


One must not also forget; this is considered a holy month in Islam, so much of my time will be devoted to praying, reading the Quran (Islamic holy book), and remembering God.

Ramadan Mubarak to those who celebrate; and to those who don't Happy Monday!:)

Question:

Anything you want to ask about Ramadan or my religious views:)

The End is Near....

... that is for the Harry Potter series, of course. I have a confession to make, I am a Potter fanatic, and am not afraid to admit it. Anything that has to do with the series, whether it be the book, movies, even apps., you can bet your bottom dollar that I have read it, seen it, or downloaded it!



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I am so, so, so sad to see it finally come to an end, at least in the pop culture genre. So what have I been up to lately? Renting the movies in order of the series, watching it one after the other; only to realize the whole time I had been doing this, abc family was running their annual hp marathon! Ahh, it's ok, I guess lol. Anyways I am crossing out my calendar, day by day, waiting for Friday to come!


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Okay, now that I just introduced you guys to my inner nerd, lets move on to the non -magical stuff (although I will leave that up to your discretion ;))

I've caught the baking itch, and decided to go with it. I made my fav. chocolate cookies!!!


(Sorry for the half bitten cookie to the bottom left, I couldn't resist. :)

Recipe adapted from the back of my chocolate chip bag with my "healthified" modifications:

1 cup of butter, softened (I used a half cup of unsweetened applesauce and half oil)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 eggs
2-1/4 cup flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. of salt
2 cups of chocolate chips (not counting the ones you eat straight from the bag;))
(I added about a fourth of a cup of unsweetned cocoa, for the dark chocolate chip cookies.)

Beat butter, sugars and vanilla in large bowl until creamy. Add eggs and beat.
In a separate bowl add together flour, baking soda and salt; and gradually add to the "butter" mixture. Finally add the chocolate chips.
Drop spoonful sized cookie dough onto ungreased sheet, and bake 8 - 10 min. on 375'F. ( I bake mine for 8 mins., where there a little undercooked for soft cookies.)

Enjoy!

Question of the day:

What is your favorite type of cookie? (I am chocolate chip all the way!)
Are you a Harry Potter fan? If so, are you counting down the days till the final movie premieres?

And I'm Back....

Friends! How are you guys? Sorry for the stunt in blogging, I just had to take some mental time off. I had some crap to deal with unfortunately, and was not in the mood to blog until now, although I have been keeping up with all my favorite blogs out there!:) But seriously, the main reason I decided to post today, is when I came across Susan's blog over at http://thegreatbalancingact.com/.

I recently learned that she has been diagnosed with cancer, lymphoma I believe. As you all may know, I myself, am a survivor of cancer, and it affects me deeply when I find out that someone else has been diagnosed with such a devastating disease. I do all that I can to help and reach out, because I know personally, having people behind your back for support and encouragement, is one of the most crucial things a person needs in a time like this. So how can you help? Well the wonderful Janetha over at http://mealsandmovesblog.com/ is holding a fundraiser for the lovely Susan, to help with medical bills and the many other financial things that come with being ill.

On July 25, there is going to be auction held on over a hundred items over at Ms. Janetha's blog, and all proceeds are going directly into Susan's paypal account! How awesome, right?! So please try your best to make it there and help out a wonderful cause!!!




I'll see yah there!!!!!:)

(I pinky promise I will be back tomorrow with my regular posting's, full of food pics and what ever other crazy stuff I decide to write;))

Love yah,

Gigi

Im still alive!

Hey friends! (Yes I now consider you all my friends:))

Just wanted to let you know I am still alive! lol Just been really busy, working on the new bloggie design, about to start summer classes at the university, oh and also working, crazy I know:) My eats have been all over the place, but I will give yah what I've got.

For dinner a couple of nights ago, I had some organic spinach spaghetti with the complimentary marinara sauce:

Green Noddles!!!

Is it me or is colored food more fun to eat?

As the weekend went I on, I worked on my first sewing project ever! I am making a fifties style dress, by hand, no machines:) I am really into vintage fashion, and kind of hardly find anything to compliment my style, so I decided to take into my own hands, and create my own clothes:) I really have much more apperciation for clothes, semstresses, and the art of fashion now, so much work goes into them, it's crazy! I don't have any pictures now, because it's a work in progress, but I will be posting some soon:)

The other day, while I was at my friends mom's house, the lady who is teaching me how to sew, I had a cup of tea, that was really yummy. I asked what type of tea it was, and she said it was a variation of teas; lemon and black tea with peppermint leaves from her garden, with a little bit of honey. As we all may know ny now, I am a lover of all things tea, so the idea of mixing them sounded genius to me! So I tried to recreate the tea myself:

Attempt one

I used peppermint, vanilla caramel, and peach black tea for my variation, and have to say it was awesome!

Mixed tea! :)

I threw in a little bit of stevia, for some sweetness. Friends, you have to try this.

Well that's all for now, gotta get back to working, but promise to be back soon for a more lengthier post:)

Question of the afternoon:

What type of fashion do you gravitate towards?
Oh, and what you think of the new blog layout? (I wanted to make a more home like feeling:))

Very Berry Bad Day! :)

Yesterday was by far, what many people would consider a bad day. Lets start off with the begging. I woke up later than I wanted, so couldn't get my scheduled run in. It wasn't that bad, but I had another graduation party to get to, so had to get all dressed up, and not be sweaty, (although I was all for going in my running gear:))

The party was a nice and simple one. Good eats, that I did not take a picture of because didn't want the people at my table, to think I was a total nut. But maybe they do anyways :) On the menu was a spread of fabulous food. There was a spread of cheese and whole wheat crackers, veggie tray's with broccoli, baby carrots, and cucumbers! There was also some roasted chicken legs, sauteed beef and onions, mushroom soup, and Mediterranean style rice. I had a little bit of everything, except the rice, not a huge fan unless it's brown basmati!

Well my day went kinda down hill from there. When I finally got home, I decided to get my run in. Well in the middle of my run, my lovely grandma needed to b picked up from the eye doctor. So i stopped my run and went to get her, which I totally didn't mind. Well on my way out I decided to bring my water bottle with me to drink some water. Well I guess I left the cap a bit opened, and next thing you know it, everything is soaking wet in my purse! My camera, wallet, important documents, etc. I tried to save all that I could, but my camera, unfortunately was dead:(, and just when I start to blog! Huh Oh well, its just an excuse to get another one.

So for now, bare with me my friends, I will be taking pics via my iPhone, so they may not be of the best quality.

Now on too my eats:

Last night I had overnight oats for dinnah! You see they were meant to be eaten for breakfast that day, but since I was running late for the party, decided to eat them for dinner.

Very Berry overnight oties:)

This was a winning combination my friends.

In the mix:

1/3 cup strawberry greek yogurt
1/3 cup brown sugar oatmeal ( via oat revolution brand)
1/3 cup organic lactose free milk
3 organic strawberries
handful of blueberries
handful of black berries
half a nanner

The next day I added:

Some peanutbuttah
Spoon full of blackberry jam
handful of almonds

It was very yummy!

This morning I enjoyed an un-pictured nanner cause I was huungrrryyy, and another Clif Kid Zbar.

It was blueberry flavored, and very scrumptious.

So what I mean by a very bad to some people is, as a cancer survivor I try to brush the little things off, and look on the bright side; like getting a new camera. You see going through such a life changing experience, such as being diagnosed with cancer, has really made me step back and analyze whats really important in my life, and whats really worth getting upset over. When worst comes to worst, I know that I will get through it, and that the sun will always rise tomorrow:)

Question of the day:

How do you turn your frown upside down, when nothing seems to be going right?

p.s. sorry for the kinda picture less post, I promise I will try to get better at taking pics of my food:)

Random Eats and thoughts on the blog!:)

So I really don't know how I want to go about on this blog, with posting of my meals, of everything I eat, or just the main courses, but here are some random eats, form the past two days.

Yesterday was my cousins graduation party so I was running around all day, and really didn't have a chance to take pictures of many of my eats, but let me tell yah, they where yummy! Before I took off bright and early to help decorate, I had a packet of emeralds cocoa roast dark chocolate almonds and a chocolate chip Clif Kid Zbar, for some fuel. I love these bars, because there so easy to take along, taste delicious, and has a pretty much all organic ingredient list. Then it was party time, and I had a blast. On the menu was chicken fajitas, with spanish rice and kidney beans on the side, white tortilla, which I did not eat, and guacamole. It twas good! I also had a slice of graduation cake, hey its a celebration, right?;)

I did get a picture of dinner last night which looked something like this:

It was my mama's special Mediterranean chicken recipe, called shawarma. It consisted of green bell peppers and onions. She also made some organic brown basmati rice, on the side to go along with the meal. I realized that my veggie intake was on the low yesterday, so I decided to throw in a spring mix salad!

All mixed together
(Please ignore the date my camera has!)

After dinner, I was craving chocolate like none other, so I decided to have two pieces of Lindt dark chocolate. The two flavors that I had, are my personal favorite: chili and sea salt. I also threw in a cup of peppermint tea, cause for some reason I almost always have to have something warm with my chocolate, for the melt in your mouth affect!

Mmmm....

Now I am at work, enjoying yet another cup of tea, this time it's of the green sort, and catching up on blogs!:)
Be back soon for a more organized blog post of eats.

See yah soon!

Question of the day:

Do you have to drink something warm with chocolate? Whats your favorite type of chocolate?

Here goes nothing!

About chicslim. Well I get the name for trying to live a healthy and "chic" life, hence the name. I tried out the blog thing, a little more than a year ago, but gave up due to, too many life commitments and overall, just becoming frustrated with the fact of feeling, like I could not commit to it fully and that would not be fair to my readers. Well after much time off, and the very fact that I cannot stop reading health blogs, I decided to embark on my journey once again. To be truly honest, the blogging community is so wonderful, and supportive, that I want to surround myself with such people, who have a similar outlook on life; staying active, eating wholesome nutritious foods, and most of all being there for other bloggies, always encouraging them to be the best that they can be.

So I hope you find my blog useful and I hope that I may make an impact on somebody for the better, like all these other amazing blogs that have done the same for me:)