Incorporating Healthy, Sunnah-Inspired Foods & Habits This Ramadan | Sr. Ilham Malick - Dining and Cooking (2024)

There are many Sunnah-inspired foods we can incorporate daily into our suhoor and Iftaar, gaining the blessings of following a Sunnah and their health benefits, Insha Allah.

Registered Dietitian Ilham Malick shares practical insights on how and why to have a holistic diet in Ramadan and demonstrates a few easy Sunnah-inspired Suhoor and Iftaar recipes.

– More Sister Ilham Malick: https://mcceastbay.org/ilham

– Speaker’s deck: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gT-oMyClIi00–hMsa1LEHZoGnhJ-HPF/view?usp=sharing
– More talks on nutrition: http://mcceastbay.org/nutrition

About the Speaker
IlhamMalick has two Master’s degrees in Dietetics. She also has an Ijazah in Hadith and is a certified Health Coach.Follow her on Instagram @inspired_by_ilham

Everyone um alhamdulillah I’m back here again um just a little bit of introduction for those who don’t know me my name is ilha Malik and I’m a registered dietitian and um I have my masters in nutrition and dietetics and I also have Ana and Hadi studies and I um am really

Passionate about um giving information that is a combination of modern nutrition and um Sun nutrition just to understand that taking care of our health and our body and eating healthy is also one of the duties of a Muslim inshah so um alhamdulillah you know um during Ramadan is the time when we have

The most amount of uh you know talks about food uh and it’s a Time when we are fasting so alhamdulillah I think it’s uh you know this is a time that we actually realize how food is actually connected to our spirituality and that becomes like a Focus right I mean

Obviously we know that as a Muslim you know every action of our affects U our you know how we are seen as a Muslim and you know the rewards that we have and our connection with Allah subhana wa ta’ala whether it is you know how we go

To sleep like you know which side of the you know like how which side we are sleeping on you know how we waking up of you know what kind of clothes we’re wearing everything right so food obviously is such a big part of you know

How we are as a Muslim as well and what better time than Ramadan to you know get this message as a priority inshah so um the Quran in Surah Bak vers 183 says all you have believed decreed upon you as fasting as it was decreed upon those

Before you that you may become righteous so Subhan Allah you know fasting is a time when we refrain from food and drink and the reward for this is so great and Allah subhana tala has said in that you know all actions there is a reward but the action of fasting that is refraining

From food and drink is so great that only Allah will reward us on the day of Subhan Allah it’s so beautiful right so inshallah even you know now when we are actually eating what we’re eating is also insh going to have a reward right so um and we also have to understand

That you know what we’re eating and how we eating is you know is a very important part of you know being a Muslim again like I mentioned this is because for example the Angels right they they are not given a choice to eat right they are not given a choice to

Drink but alhamdulillah you know we as human beings Allah subhana wa tala has told us you know what to eat how to eat how much to eat right so this is a responsibility that we have as Muslims U so inshallah you know we should take this responsibility you know in its

Right form and make sure that we are using this Choice wisely because when Allah subhana wa ta’ala has given us this responsibility it becomes a blessing for us as well as a test for us right so if you don’t use this as a blessing and choose the right foods and

Then we you know it can become a test and we will be asked about this on the day of right what food did you eat how much did you eat so inshah we must make sure that we are continuing to think about our Foods consciously our food decisions consciously and Subhan Allah

Ramadan is such a beautiful month that obviously you know our primary aim is to you know get closer to Allah subhana tala increase our tawa but is but as you know from a physical point of view we also it’s such a beautiful time for us to reset our body and to renew our

Intentions right so we see that for example the non-muslims you know they don’t have this kind of you know opportunity so that is the reason why they you know they take the new year for example as a time to make you know um resolutions or you know kind of like

Change their eating habits but it’s mostly out of guilt right usually you see that oh I eat so much you know during the holidays and I partied and you know my like I need to reset my body but you know or sometimes it’s because their health or their doctor is telling

Them oh you need to completely change you know your you know the way you eat um for example I you know like I know someone um who’s a non-muslim who used to apparently wake up and drink a a can of soda every single morning like that

Was how she started her day and now she has come to such a point where she has such severe gut problems that you know she cannot have dairy she can not have gluten you know she has to be on like a you know a very restricted diet so you

Know we really should take care that we don’t abuse our body to such an extent that we need to be forced to you know go on such a diet right so um alhamdulillah you know every year we are given this opportunity by Allah subhana wa tala during Ramadan to actually to reset our

Body to renew our intentions to change the way we eat right uh when we are you know staying away from food and drink for so many hours we realize that we have the power right to make those intentions and to change our decisions about what we eating if for example if

We addicted to sugar if we are addicted to tea or coffee dur it’s during this month that you know we can give up our addictions or whatever we want to change we have the power inshah right so um and also Allah subhana wa tala has made this a priority

We know that you know whatever comes in the Quran and whatever is in thei is uh you know is something that we need to follow you know to the best of our ability inah and we have many many verses of the Quran where you know we

Are encouraged um and you know we are told to eat uh healthy right so uh just a couple of verses that I’ve you know presented here in Surah Bak verse 168 Allah subhana tala says oh mankind eat from whatever is on earth that is lawful

And good that is halal and and do not follow the footsteps of Satan so inshallah you know we we should make sure that we are trying to follow both these commands right Halal and because you know most of us as Muslims alhamdulillah you know we very conscious

About what we’re eating as Halal right as the meat halal is a hand slaughtered where are we you know like even like for example the enzymes we go to that level like you know is it Halal but how many times do we ask the same question when

It comes to T food right um for example is a por tart you know like are the colors in like the candies that you know the children are having almost every other day are T you know these ingredients some of them have you know been actually proven to C cause cancer

For example like sausages right they have carcinogens that are proven to you know uh cause cancer and increase your heart disease risk so so knowing that certain foods are bad like how you know we have to be careful to make sure that these foods are not part of our regular

Diet I know it’s like you know it’s obviously very hard for us to say okay tomorrow morning I’m going to you know cut out every single food that’s not good for me you know so how do we you know have this balance uh alhamdulillah and Subhan Allah Allah is so merciful we

All know that Allah himself has said that my Mercy is greater than my anger right and he has said that you know if the human beings you know stop sinning that I would replace them with another population because he loves to forgive so much right so we know that we do make

Mistakes We Do Slip sometimes and that is you know Allah Allah subhana tala knows that and understands that but at the same time we still encouraged and we are told again and again to be the best version of our so what does that mean we we know that

Regarding our food we should make the best efforts to eat healthy if we make mistakes if we slip if we you know obviously have like Foods that’s not good for us sometimes that’s you know that’s okay because that is you know what a human does but at the same time

We cannot never you know attempt to eat healthy right we need to continue making those efforts inshah um Allah subhana you know it it’s also a prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam you know in this beautiful Hadith says the strong believer is better and more beloved to Allah than the weak belov believer

Although both are good Subhan Allah so what does this mean this means that you know a strong believer is better and more beloved to Allah so we should make our health and our you know our physical health a priority because as you can see that you know every almost every um you

Know uh action that we are required to take in life as a Muslim for example our Salah our umrah our Hajj these are all physical acts right we need to be physically strong as well so uh you know we need to make sure that you know we

Are in a good physical condition that helps us to uh you know U worship our uh uh you know our God in the best manner possible inshallah so today my uh main topic is um tips to add sunna Foods in Ramadan so alhamdulillah you know we know a lot of

Sunna foods uh you know and U like many of us you know we immediately the minute I say sa food we say oh black seed and honey and olives right uh but alhamdulillah there are so many sunna foods all around us and you know we should make an effort to actually uh

Include these sunna Foods in our day-to-day life and what better time than Ramadan to stop that inshallah right so um some tips first on how to prevent overeating in suur so one thing we have to remember is that satiety is from Allah subhana wa ta’ala right there are no magic foods

That are there that are going to prevent us from U you know feeling hunger or thirst the whole day the whole point of the reward of fasting is so big is because we are experiencing some amount of hunger and thirst and weakness for the sake of Allah subhana wa ta’ala

Right he commanded us to fast and we are submitting our will for that and we are refraining from all Halal things which are usually Halal for us so first of all we need to understand that you know overeating to a point where we cannot then you know for example even lie down

After F Salah is not the point of suur suur has a different blessings so whether we are having you know a glass of milk or dates water to having a full meal but just make sure that even during suur we don’t overeat right and then the second is drink

Adequate amount of liquids now what do we mean by adequate amount of liquids make sure that you are hydrated well enough uh you know during your suur andar but also remember the Hadith where our Prophet sallallah alaihi wasallam told us advised us to have oneir of food

And one3 of drink so make sure that we don’t have you know that much of water that we’re not able to breath right we also you know need to make sure that we are able to breathe we are comfortable um so you know and not just going to the

Bathroom the next two hours after our suu right so drink adequate amount of liquids um and then the most important thing is eat smart not eat more right so there are certain foods um that will help uh to um know uh prevent excessive hunger and there are certain foods that

Cause excessive hunger and thirst right so certain foods which are better for you in terms of uh you know reducing your hunger pangs one is the soluble fiber so soluble fiber is present in oats and that is why it’s such a popular food for suu right everyone is having

The oronite oats or adding it into the smoothies and uh everything so there are other um you know options for Sol fiber as well uh such as barley you know Subhan Allah I’ll be talking a little bit more about that as one of the sunna food um and then we also have lentils

And we have um you know uh other um different fruits and vegetables as well that have some amount of soluble fiber uh so these have you know the chia seeds and the flax seeds hemp seeds all of these has have soluble fiber as well so

You can add them in your oats you can add them in your smoothies the next is protein so protein has high amount of satiety so again this is a food that is going to help you keep uh feeling full for a much longer time than versus having just for example just like you

Know like a plain Roy or like uh you know just rice and you know so having some amount of proteins whether it is lean uh Meats like you know fish or chicken or yogurt um you know all these are various forms of protein that you can add and finally healthy fats right

So avocados uh eggs you know all these are great examples of healthy fats that will help uh you keeping feeling full for a longer time so just U I’ve given some examples as well U you know that you can um have for suur that will keep you feeling full for a longer time

Inah the next is um how to prevent overeating in ifar now you have been uh you know fasting the whole day um and especially we all know the last one hour is you know definitely the most challenging one hour of our fast where you know we lay out the table we’re

Preparing our ifar and all we eating eating eating so you know inshallah just make sure that the first thing is to plan your ifar right so when you are in that last few minutes of hunger you know you just want to eat everything so you

Kind of like you know fill the table you want your samosas and your budgies and your your you know rice and your chicken and your fruits and your milkshakes so just plan your ifar you know like write it down so every day try to have like

You know one um you know soup or whether it’s like a milkshake and then one kind of like a snacky item that you your family likes and then after that proceed to you know having your dinner so always try to have like a menu um even if it’s

Not like a you know like a written menu It’s like a verbal menu would also work and the next thing is the swap method right so again you know inshah trying to be more you know conscious of what we are serving forar um you know so for example I’ve

Just U you know given a few examples here for example U you know vegetables in Hidden forms I feel like vegetables are you know that one uh poor food group that is always pretty much ignored during Ramadan U you know so some great ways of you know for example adding it

Is the in our like you know are like puff pastry filling or your Samosa or spring rolls right you always add vegetables so do the same for all other fillings too there’s certain vegetables that you know you can also um add in your you know like budgies for example

Like I’ll talk a little bit more about this coming uh you know inshah you know adding more like having more soups um you know and more broths or like the Moroccan harura right so you can add more vegetables there so trying to like plan that and making sure that you are

Including vegetables for example having spinach soups right so like trying to do like for example like paji right I mean it is a Indian dish that is made with like almost five to six different types of vegetables so it’s a great you know delicious dish that you can add in so

Trying to you know make sure that we do include all food groups right inah so now I would like you to you know just close your eyes for a minute and think of how a Prophet sallallah alam’s kitchen would have looked right you can immediately you know think of you know

Foods that are so simple and so fresh and you know uh foods that are nourishing right whether it’s olive oil or you know like your melons or you know your whole grains milk cheese and now think of your own kitchen and your own Pantry right how much of you know these

Foods are present in our kitchens versus how much of you know processed foods do we have do we have you know like Cakes and Pastries and cookies and processed noodles and fast foods right so inshallah you know let us make this intention that every day we try to make

Our pantry have more foods that our Prophet sallallah alaihi wasallam would have had in his own house insh so uh now I’m just going to talk talk about a few of the um sunah foods of inshah that we can make sure that we are incorporating during our uh Ramadan

Because like I mentioned you know most of us we tend to just go to foods that are very cultural and foods that we have been having all the time so you know trying to make sure that we do also incorporate you know these foods will be really helpful for us inshallah the

First one is whole grain the prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi was did not eat refined flour said he was asked during the prophet’s lifetime did you have white flour and sah answered no then he was asked did you sift The Barley flour he replied no but we used to blow on it to

Remove the chap right Subhan Allah so you know we need to make sure that having whole grains is you know a priority for us um during our you know not only our Ramadan but then moving onwards as well right this is because when we as you can see when there is the

Whole grain there there are three parts to it there’s the outer brand layer which has fibers and vitamins and minerals and phytonutrients like it has a lot of B vitamins and then the middle part is the endos sperm which has only the carbohydrates and the protein and

This is the one that is present on in your refined flour and finally the last bit which is the germ is is the the tiniest part but has the most amount of nutrients it has essential fatty acids vitamin E and the B vitamins and this actually because of the fatty acid

Causes the flour to get ranid very soon so that is the reason why they want to remove it and give you the white flour and the white flop products which then stay on for literally years right so um you want to make sure that you are having the whole grains um you know

These have antioxidants like vitamin E and selenium which are you know heart healthy they protect your brain from you know from getting diseases and like Alzheimer’s have essential minerals like iron magnesium and sink so what are some ways that we can include whole grains in our Ramadan so one is replacing all the

White noodles you know with the whole wheat noodles inshah you know this is an easy move um they might be some taste difference but then you know the most important thing is also trying to you know talk to your children and talk to your family about eating

Healthy when you know the the white flow or you’re having all these fast foods imagine these are multi-billion dollar Industries right they have people who are like one of the you know most clever and the most brainest people sitting there in their offices and their only

Job is to make sure that the products that they are making are the most you know uh they they are the most U they T tantalize you and you know like your your all your Sensations you know wanted more and more right that is their only job and they being paid

Thousands of dollars to make sure that they create products that are the you know the most delicious that you want to keep eating for example that is the whole point of like the ad for Pringles and chips right you can never just eat one that is what they do they try to

Have the best balance between the fat and the salt and the Crunch and the color to make sure that you can go back so when you move to healthier options you have to understand that they might not taste as amazing as those processed foods because obviously no one is going

To waste you know billions of dollars on trying to make sure that an apple tastes good or the whole whe pasta tastes good right so there might be some changes in taste and if you try to tell your children that or your family or even like your husbands or whoever you know

Is the one who’s objecting that I’m doing this change because it is better for us inshah then you try to get them on board and that is the whole point of trying to connect this modern nutrition with our Sunnah right we also have to understand that this is what our Prophet

Sallallah alaihi wasallam ate right so moving to whole wheek noodles whole wheat pasta whole wheat Roes and patas and you know a lot of people for example also know have the readymade Roes and patas and because it is convenient and you know obviously during Ramadan you

Know it is very difficult with your Teri and your you know like the mother has a hundred other things that she has to do she has to take her kids to school you know so you want to try to you know find the easiest option but we also have to

See are these options the best for our kids health whom we you know are doing this for in the first place right a lot of this readymade Ro that you find in the stores actually have hydrogenated fat you know which are you know one of the the most terrible

Ways of getting the trans fat into our body right so one thing to remember is always to read the labels uh sometimes these trans fats are not even mentioned in the ingredient uh sorry in the you know in the nutrition label because if it is below a certain amount they don’t

Even need to put this in the nutrition label so how you know this product has trans fat is if you read the uh the ingredients list and they say hydrogenated fat you know partially hydrogenated fat that means there is some amount of trans fat in that product

Right so U what other options you can have to instead of buying this readymade patas and does is uh you know a lot of people you know around your neighborhood you know usually sell them so you know order like 10 20 you know in bulk and

Keep it freeze it or if you are capable then you can freeze it it you know making it your own self or just bu the RO mic you know that is also a great option inshah you know where you have the fresh roties U and you know the

Whole wheat even like in the white sauce in your soups or in your pasta you can actually you know instead of using the processed white flour you can actually make that with whole wheat you know like alhamdulillah I have been using a whole wheat to make my white sauce for pasta

And for you know like the soups and you know the the sauce for years and no one has ever commented that this is this tastes weird it actually at least according to me it tastes better because it actually has like a better flavor deeper flavor profile um you know even

The french toast you know for my kids I actually make it with whole grain bread uh you know the whole wheat bread uh pancakes waffles you know I just replaced the the white flour with the whole wheat flour uh it might not be as soft and fluffy but it definitely still tastes delicious

And sometimes you also have to understand that if kids continue asking that no we want that we really want you know like the soft white thing the pancake that you were making earlier it’s important to understand that our NS wants things that are not good for us

Right that is the whole purpose of fasting to you know to control our NS and to make sure that you know we are the ones that are in control of it and it’s not controlling us so we have to also learn how to say no to children who

May demand you know things that may not be good for them as well as educating them as well right that why are we choosing the whole grains imagine starting your day you know a pancake for example is literally almost just like a cake right would you eat cake in the

Morning no so why is you know having a pancake with the same ingredient it’s white flour it’s you know it’s sugar it’s eggs it’s almost the same but just a different form right so um so this is you know the recipe that I use uh for my whole grain uh waffles and

Pancakes and uh you know alhamdulillah it comes out really really good um and I haven’t put exact amount of of the quantities because it’s uh you know it you can just play around with that but I usually use um like half a banana for this amount of flour um and you might

Just want to like adjust the milk and the date syrup U to just get the right uh consistency inshah uh the next um the next uh sa inspired food that I wanted to talk about that we can incorporate in during Ramadan is Bali we know that said that when a member of the

Family of the Messenger s alai wasam would fall sick he would order Bali soup that is Talina and uh they would be urged the invalid would be urged to have it and the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam used to say it strengthens the heart of the sad person and relieves the

Heart of illness just as one of you would wash dirt off a face with water so Subhan Allah you know we know that you know barley is so valued and you know these health benefits uh you know this Hadith is alhamdulillah you know quite well known and we all know about it but

Inshah you know we should make more of an effort to have barley in our daily life barley is you know has a very low glycemic index it has very high fiber content it’s rich in lenol leque and linolenic acids which are essential fatty acids for us we that we need for

Our heart health for a better skin for better digestive system for you know for our U brain health inshah and it also you know helps in the production of prostaglandins which reduces allergic reactions and inflammation U it has it’s a very good source of beta glucan which reduces cholesterol blood sugars and the

And it also helps in the product production of amino acids which are the neurotransmitters which are the one actually that help reduceing depression so there was actually a scientific study done as well where you know people who had clinical depression were given barley like one group and then the other

Group was given the anti-depression medications and they found that after a certain amount of time like when the at the end of the study that the group that had B actually doing better than the group that actually was taking the anti-depression medications this is because obviously not only are there no

Side effects right to Barley like the other medications have but Subhan Allah this is also like you know a sun and F food you know like our Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam told us about its benefits so obviously there are you know blessings of that as well inshah so

How we can include this is so you know what I would recommend is yall can you know like just boil barley in water and keep this in the fridge for a you know and this tastes good for around 3 to 4 days so and then you can use this in

Whatever you’re having like you know whether you’re putting it in your telina or your soups your salads your halem um you know whatever you’re want to add in just add in like two three spoons so you’re not you’re not having to boil the barley over and over every day so this

Is a very easy way to include barley so this is uh the H Bali right the whole grain Bley and this is not the Pearl B because the Pearl B again is the refin you know barley right so this is the one which has the is the whole green you can

Also you know make like for example like how you have overnight oats right so you have that in milk you just you know cook the little bit of oats and milk with your nuts your date syrup and then just add two to three spoons of barley so

Inshallah you know in the morning for suur like you know like I recently asked you know a lot of people like and you know there was another like influence on Instagram as well who was like okay what do you have for your suur and every single person was saying we have oats we

Have overnight oats we have you know so that was like the most common answer right so inshallah let us try to you know incorporate other grains in our diet as well uh you know nowadays there’s so much of um you know stigma on gluten you know that it’s bad for us but

The reason why is because if you’re going to just you know have excessive amounts of whole weed or oats which have gluten obviously it’s going to increase the you know the amount that it’s going to be in the body right but if we rotate between all the different grains inshah

Then you know we make sure that we are not having too much of that gluten right in you had a question I I got it on Amazon yes that’s my kind of like my go-to place um it’s the whole grain B uh yeah if you search for that inshah you should and

It’s organic as well so in you should be able to yeah find that um and another um you know way is of including barley in our daily life is even when you’re making roties just add a handful of barley flour in the dough right so in this way again like I mentioned you’re

Not having too much of weat but you are also kind of incorporating other group brains in your daily life especially barley which is a sun food inah so like I mentioned this is the recipe that I used for the Talina uh I just added also two teaspoons of uh like powdered oats

Or quick quicking oats U you know so that it thickens a little bit inshah or you can also add like barley flour um you know what like to just get the texture that you desire uh and during this time you can also add the seeds like the chia seeds the

The flax seeds the hemp seeds to increase your Omega-3s and your soluble fiber that I mentioned uh the next thing I wanted to talk about is pomegranates obviously yes oh yes yes uh this uh presentation will also be shared uh on the website MCC website in

So you you’ll get have access to all this uh the next um fruit that I wanted to talk about is pomegranates Subhan Allah we know that pomegranates you know are a blessed fruit they are mentioned in the Quran they are also you know uh during the time of prophet sallallahu

Alai wasallam the companions s Abdullah would eat every single arel inside and when asked why he explained that he learned that there’s not a single pomegranate tree on earth except it contains an arrow from the pomegranate of paradise which which is plac and sted to make it be fruit so

Subhan Allah this is a fruit that has many many you know um medical benefits as well it has you know um vitamins like vitamin B vitamin C it’s very high in antioxidants and again there have been studies that have been proven where it shows that having pomogranate regularly

Uh reduced uh heart disease in people who actually had some amount of high cholesterol and other symptoms of heart disease um and they also found that you know other phytonutrients in that protect the brain against Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s as well as it also actually reduces kidney stone risk so inshallah

We all you know like we usually eat these Foods at you know in our day-to-day life but when we start making the Nia that you know we are doing this because it’s a Sunnah food inshah not only are we going to get the blessings of following a Sunnah but the added

Benefits of following the sunna as well it like physically right so some ways of um including pomegranate in during Ramadan is making Anar milkshake so you know especially you know we all are you know favorite you know we we love the ruaba you know the sugary drink so it’s

You know like try to you know um reduce your sugar intake and try to avoid things especially ruaba and you know such sugary drinks when you open your right because it gives you a sudden you know like a spike in your sugar levels so try to have more natural you know

Milkshakes or um you know juices that will inshallah be more nourishing and healthier for you so an Aral Shake is you know like really delicious uh and this is actually one juice that is good for you that you can buy from the store um so for example we know that you know

Like orange juice or any other fruit juices these are actually not that good for you right because when you take U you know like for example orange juice and you make it into a juice two things happen right first you need to pasteurize this juice if you’re buying

It from store so when you pasteurize it that is you are exposing it to high heat for that few seconds you are destroying the you know the delicate phytonutrients the flavonoids and all the vitamins in that right and then they feel a little bad and then the company just puts in a

Little bit of vitamin C and calcium but it’s nothing compared to what you have lost you’ve lost hundreds of nutrients during that pasteurization process second thing is can we actually sit and have five oranges at one time almost none of us can have that much oranges

But when you take a glass of orange juice it is usually made you know dount of orange juice and that is up like that is got from five oranges so you are getting that much amount of sugar all of a sudden right so we need to have whole

Fruits you know uh because of the fiber and you know the other benefits but the pomegranate juice in the store is actually made with the whole pomegranate that is they just take the whole pomegranate and they crush it and they remove the juice so this actually you

Know the the pits and the the skin and the inner rind of the pomegranate actually has the highest amounts of antioxidants an toyins and you know the nutrients that are good for us so this is actually one juice that I would say you should buy from the store if

Possible because it’s actually really good for us um you can also add pomegranates and salads and your fruit chat right so try to incorporate more pomegranate inshah because this is a blessed frood no no yeah Al so this is there as if the you know having too much

Pomogranate is the seeds bad for you but no it’s not you know unless you you actually have you know like a diverticulosis or any other you know infection or something like that where you need to be off that uh inshah otherwise it’s fine so um another um you

Know vegetable that is like a sun inspired vegetable or beets so there is a Hadi where reported that there was a woman Among Us who would put beet uh in a pot and add it to some ground barley and used to cook them together and on returning from the Friday prayer we

Would greet her and she would offer it to us and they would have it right so they are a relative to chart and spinach and um you know obviously we all know again Subhan Allah has a lot of benefits they are very good source of folate and manganese which is important for DNA

Synthesis preventing neural tube defects in pregnancy and is also very high in antioxidants and fiber so some of the ways that we can U incorp operate beat during our ifar is having like you know including it in salads like I mentioned we can include it in poji uh you know

And you know like other uh forms of you know like vegetables where it’s not really discernable because I know like a lot of kids especially don’t like it and that’s including my kids so I always you know that’s how I usually uh hide it in

Um you know when I’m serving it to them you can make soups uh uh be beet soups um pink roties that’s another way of you know tempting the children to have this so just boil beets pury it and you know mix it with your whole wheat flour and

You can serve it to them uh I actually you know um also saw this really great recipe where you can you know like how you make the bug chees you can like instead of like you know dipping it dipping the onions and the potatoes you can actually have tinly sliced beets and

You can dip it in the pakura batter and then fry that right so you’re still getting your uh your vegetables uh even when you’re having your pakura and vaj so it’s kind of like a wind win right inah um You can also include that in the cutlets like you know the chicken

Cutlets so I just prepared you know to show you all that you know for example you can have um you know in like with your mashed potato you know add in you know grated beets and all your spices you can also add minced chicken which is

What I did last time not this time so you can even includeed in your you know your burgers or your you know your cutlets and it tastes really good so that’s a really great way to include that as well inshah yes like vegetables like beets so beets

Are you know a very like a tough vegetable so usually you need like cooking it actually softens the cell walls and helps us better digest it and actually helps us to uh absorb the nutrients better you know so certain vegetables like beets and carrots are actually really good you know either

Ways when you have it draw it provide more fiber and you know some of the nutrients but then when you cook it you know you’re actually also able to get more of the nutrient because the cell wall is softer so you just want to make

Sure that you don’t um you know cook it to such an extent that it’s really softened and then it kind of like starts disintegrating in the water and then if you’re going to especially throw the water when after boiling it then you will lose the nutrients so just cooking

It enough for example if you pressure cook it for 10 minutes then it’s soft enough that you can still grate it but it’s not like mushy you know you’re not losing that steaming yes you know or even like when you are uh even when you are also like you

Know boiling the beads for example you can use that water you know then to make the dough or you know like in the soup so you’re making sure that you’re not you know losing that nutrients as well uh so this is the recipe uh that I

Actually used uh to make these um be cutlets over here uh and then dates obviously you might be thinking that okay you know we all know this is a sunna food why are you even talking about it you know Subhan Allah in Ramadan we all you know

Muslims uh you know open our fast with the with dates alhamdulillah but there are certain things about dates that I wanted to share which you can incorporate more you know more and more into your life to gain the blessings of following a sunah right so um

Alhamdulillah again it is you know a a fruit that is mentioned in the Quran and alhamdulillah it comes you know with that blessing our Prophet Muhammad sallah alaihi wasallam also used to obviously love dates but you know over here you know the dates that are really

Common are the magal dates so what we have to understand is that they are three to four times more in calories than sugar right seven AA dates have 120 calories versus just two meal dates of 130 calories so if you are especially trying to follow the sunna of having

Multiple dates during ifar you are having three dates or five dates or seven dates you can see how quickly that’s going to add up just by the choice of dates that you’re going to choose right so try to make sure that you are not saying that metal dates are

Bad you know but um if you are having meal dates then make sure at least you are conscious of the fact that they’re really really sweet you know so you’re just restricting yourself to one but obviously AA dates have you know their own blessing because they were a favorite dates of prophet sallallahu

Alaihi wasallam you know so prefer AA dates or any other Saudi dates because those have lesser sugar in them uh they also are a very rich source of iron which is great for anemia they are a good source of magnesium which is great for the nervous system and reduces your

Blood pressures as well it prevents kidney stones uh due to its diuretic and antiinflammatory properties and compared to other types of dried fruits such as figs and dried plums dates appear to have the highest antioxidant content as well Subhan Allah so how are you going to incorporate dates apart from just

Eating them right this is uh my favorite way to incorporate dates right the dates syrup uh and you can buy this again on Amazon they have organic versions as well U you know where it’s just dates nothing else or you can even make this at home where

You just you know pury the date and then just cook it for 10 minutes and you um are able to get the date syrup so and you can use this in place of sugar and replace it almost you know 100% except when you actually don’t need color uh

Then you you know probably need to use sugar but otherwise you can replace it in any form and any time that you are you know having using sugar for example like you know in milkshakes and custards and french toast pancakes uh cakes you know you can just use this whenever so

This is a great way to make sure that you are having dates you know more often for example when I make you know pancakes or waffles it sweetened with you know the date syrup uh custards U even the chocolate milkshake you know this kind of like this pattern that you

Get on the last which you usually use the chocolate syrup you can actually just use date syrup and this is you know a chocolate milkshake that I make and it tastes really good um and I just feel like it actually even tastes better with the date syrup because it adds like that

Depth of flavor to that so uh this is a great way to make sure that you’re uh incorporating dates uh and a healthier alternative to sugar as well inshah and then obviously uh you know my favorite way to have dates is Naes uh so so this was um a favorite drink of our

Prophet sallallah alai wasam so how you uh take how you make this dates is you take 1 to seven dates preferably AA and or or you can also make nais with uh raisins but you should never mix them because they have different temperaments so you should not be mixing them so you

Can either use soak dates in water and have them or you can soak um raisins in water and have them don’t mix it okay uh and you can soak this up to 8 to 12 hours outside uh after that it’s better to keep it in the refrigerator because

Then it should not over ferment and become alcoholic right um and then uh you can drink as is like so for example U you know the dates do become a little mushy uh after a point of time you just get used to it and you can kind of like

Just you know have the dates but then there are many also different types of ways that you can have this for example um I can show you that you can take the you know like the the blender like the hand blender and you can just blend it

And it become like a really froy drink because it’s being fermented a little so it actually you can see the you know like the bubbles it become fro froy and you can add lemon juice to it and it becomes a really refreshing drink and this can replace again you know all the

Ruza and you know all the sugary drinks that we’re having so Subhan Allah you know we do know there are many Hadith where our Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam used to have NAB either in the morning or in the night so you know starting your day with you know your

Suur with this or even like having this in the evenings and when you’re opening your fast is a great way to make sure that you’re having one of the favorite drinks of our beloved Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam uh and this is also a really good way to reduce the heat that

Is built up you know because like as we know the uh the the dates are heating but but when you soak it like this it actually because of the the fermenting and the probiotic effects it starts cooling the body down it also reduces acidity so one of my aunt you know she

Always used to suffer with acidity during the during Ramadan to the point where she had to take you know the medications of every single day but the minute you know the day she started having AB bees after I told her Subhan Allah she actually you know could completely stop having those medications

For um you know indigestion and gas during Ramadan so this is a great way to also make sure that you don’t have indigestion so um you can like I mentioned you can use the dates in different ways so you keep it in the water right for 8 hours um and then

After that in the morning for example you drink the water and eat the dates like I mentioned it it would have become mushy but you get used to the texture after a few days or you can just blend everything the dates obviously make sure that you’re

Removing the seed you know you can just blend it and add you know lemon juice you know or honey and just have that or you can remove the dates and put it in your smoothie or your oats right and then just drink the water so there are

Different ways but make sure that you are having the water and the dates that is the whole essence of thees right inshah so there are many different uh benefits medically as well you know it’s a great detox increases energy uh uh improves digestion like I mentioned increases memory uh and also has been

Found to be helpful you know when you’re suffering from gout or arthritis so uh Subhan Allah you know so we’ve learned about a few of the sunna foods and a few ways to incorporate them uh this Ramadan and you know like I mentioned before you know we should

Strive to better ourselves every day right so trying to better ourselves in you know the way we eat what we eat and how we eat should also be one of our aims as a Muslim to you know increase our Iman and to get closer to Allah in inshah so the prophet Muhammad

Sallallahu alaihi wasallam said that verily Allah has prescribed isan perfection in all things so what isan it’s to worship Allah subhana tala as though you see him and if you cannot see him then indeed know that he sees you right so um you know the next time you

Know we are tempted to eat something you know like I mentioned you know sometimes slips happen but if you want to have that burger or you know like that fries or you know some something that’s bad for you every single day and you’re like so what you know I’m just going to run

It off then inshah know that the foods that we eat also affect our faith inah right um and how we do this is by making smart goals for us s right smart here means uh specific measurable achievable relevant and time based so you know try to like you know we it’s it’s difficult

If we overwhelm ourselves you know with everything we want to change so try to you know just have one or two goals that you want to make you know change for yourself this Ramadan inshah for example I want to start na right it can be just that you don’t you’re not taking away

Anything you know you’re just adding something to your day but then when you wake up and you begin your day in a way that our Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam has begun you will see that automatically you will try to be more conscious of the choices that you make

Throughout the day inshallah right so just having one or two small goals will start that um effect where you get better and better inshah right so um said that a prophet Messengers uh uh Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam said Do Good Deeds properly since sincerely and moderately and know that your deeds

Will not make you enter paradise and that the most beloved deed to Allah subhana wa ta’ala is the most regular and constant even if it were little so even if we have to choose like I mentioned just one or two things start with that and inshallah you’ll see the

Benefits of that in your life right and um another main thing that I would say about especially when we trying to eat healthy is to increase your knowledge right so whether it is attending Halas such as this where we talk talking about U you know the connection between sa

Foods and you know modern nutrition or whether it is also U you know having you know workshops on just the medical benefits of food but understanding you know and increasing your knowledge is one way to you know help say no to foods that are bad for you right how will we

Ever say no to foods that are bad for you if you don’t know what it does to us like for example if someone did not know what what harm is there in sausages you know they would eat that every other day for example you know um deli meat right

The the process the turkey slices and the other you know the processed meats that you get I mean it’s easy it’s convenient kids love that you know you just put it in between two slices of bread have a sandwich and that’s their lunch but again this you know these

Sauce these Del deli meats are also again you know have the nitrates in them that are proven to be carcinogenic so how will you know that if you don’t make attempts to increase your know right so um inshah make it you know like read you know about not only nutrition and also

The connection between eating healthy and our U you know sunah inshah as well and some more practical tips that we have U that I’ve put together inshah for you all to for this Ramadan that will help you to focus more on I inshallah and not on cooking because it’s a it’s

Always surprising to me that you know this month is such a precious month that we have uh it’s such a beautiful month and it comes you know after such a long wait uh but you know we actually this is the time that we use to cook the most

Complicated dishes the most number of dishes um and you know we are spending hours in the kitchen versus you know other days we would have just spent a few you know like 30 minutes or something so inshallah try to make sure that this is a time that you know we uh

Make it special obviously for our family you know it is a you know it is a special time for all of us to sit around the table and to break that fast and to you know enjoy that food together but at the same time make sure that you have

Started preparing for that before Ramadan so that you are not wasting too much time during Ramadan with that obviously you know some ways are if you’re prepping your food you’re constantly doing ziker you’re constantly listening to the Quran in the background so inah that is also you know you’re

Getting the benefits for that cooking for your family again you know Subhan Allah helping them break the fast you’re getting rewarded but at the same time like I mentioned you don’t need to make the most complicated dish you don’t need to make the Samosa wrapper and you know

Like roll it out and then fill it right so um some ways are you can cook one meal and freeze one meal beforehand uh you know uh freeze tomato based gravies for example you know and freeze it in flat packets in your freezer so on the

Day you know when you want to cook it you remove it you just add your chopped veggies and it’s ready in like 5 to 10 minutes again you can also you know uh freeze the to uh you know the cut and freeze the vegetables as well u in your

Freezer so it’s always ready so again literally it would just take 5 to 10 minutes to put this together uh you can make dlls you know lentil gravies and freeze it and just give the fresh TKA you know when you’re serving you can also marinate Meats right beforehand so

You’re chopping you’re washing the meat you’re marinating it and it’s all there so you know Subhan Allah by the time you’re just done with your Quran you know it’s already baked and it’s ready if you’ve already marinated that um you can also use the slow cooker U you know

For your stews soups halim th uh to make easier meals uh you can also like for example freeze your breakfast and suur for example U you know like the pancakes and waffles can also be frozen inshah uh having trackers and planners is also very helpful way um you know

Some of us really enjoy that um uh you know and we love having you know having a progress uh inshah in front of us so this time I would urge you all to add a column for Sunnah Foods as well right what Sunnah foods are you planning to

Serve that day right so uh like I mention we always have you know like our dates and other sunna foods but you know sometimes we forget like for example beats or you know we forget that those are sunna foods and it’s just part of a routine so having that reminder that

Okay I’m going to have the sunna food today I’m going to serve this you know that will serve as a really good reminder for not only yourself but your children as well you know and you know there’ll come a day when every day they’re going to ask you okay what’s

Enough food are we going to have today inshah right and uh one final reminder that I would like to give um you know during this Ramadan is to also remember our starving you know brothers and sisters and children in Palestine you know we just recently also heard about how you

Know there was the massacre when they were going to collect food right so inshallah during this time let let us remember you know that um not to serve excessive amounts of foods whether it is for ourselves whether it is in a party right as Muslim you know neighbors as

Brothers and sisters inshah let us learn to be moderate you know uh Allah subhana wa ta’ala himself says in Quran that he likes not Those who commit excess so let us make sure that we don’t waste food we are not throwing this food when you know our brothers and sisters are starving

Even in the Masjid right take as much as we need sometimes like I mentioned in that moment of hunger we’re taking so much that you know in the end you know like most of the times during ifar after you know with there’s excessive food so make sure that we are um you know

Remembering the where we supposed to eat only one3 of our stomach we supposed to drink only one3 you know liquids so inshah try to be moderate in our um in our food habits this year inshah um and um you know I pray that Allah subhana wa taala you know gives us benefit from

This talk any goodness in this talk was from Allah subhana wa tala and any mistakes Allah forgive me like uh this is my contact information over here as well um if any of you all would like to get in touch with me you can email me you can find me

On Facebook Instagram LinkedIn uh you can also contact me for personalized diet consultations or diet plans inshah right Mah so we have 15 minutes or so thank you for that beautiful presentation sir uh when we do Q&A and then do you want to do demo or is that

If have QA we’ll do Q so and raise your hand sisters brothers and I’ll come over to your M those that are watching online you can type in the chat box too sister my question for you is how do you sort of like get in the habit of

Like not eating in Access like you’re saying when you break your fasts right and like what are some habits that we can develop even help our family members to like stop like or like help them avoid eating in Access that’s a really good question right of how do we

Understand how much is oneir of our stomach right so first of all you know if we actually look at how much is one3 like our stomach is approximately like one liter it can you know so the stomach is a muscular organ so it actually expands as we eat so if you’re

Constantly eating more constantly eating more it actually keeps expanding right so Ramadan is a great time to actually you know get control of that because it’s actually there are you know you’re fasting for so long that it kind of tends to shrink back right so this is a

Great way to understand how much is one3 um the next thing is um we have to uh you know also be more mindful right so avoiding eating when you’re distracted obviously you know like this is um you know so common and so often you know know we’ve heard and read this but then

Inshallah once we start implementing it we’ll see and also don’t eat while you’re watching TV or reading a book because then you kind of mindlessly eat so being more Mindful and the next most important thing is knowing the distinction of stopping when you are not hungry versus stopping when you are feeling

Full okay so this is actually I think most of us and you know we as especially like women as mothers have to be mindful of this is uh when our child you know when when they’re small when when they say no we full you know we always as

Mother you like no eat more you know one more bite two more bites right so you are taking away their sensation of knowing when they need to stop so we this is very important for us that we are respectful or if of even a small child you know when they say no they

Shake their head they say we’re full we have to understand we need to stop so as adults how do you get that you know like for example put you know the amount of food that you would eat and then take a little instead of that take a little

Less you know and see are you feeling full or are you not feeling hungry so you need to stop when you’re not feeling hungry that means there’s no more sensation of hunger so that’s a great way of understanding um you know oneir eating uh and then the other thing is so

If our stomach is one liter then we need to you know have like one3 that would be around like 250 to 300 you know like three 330 ml you know so that would be like the size of this for example this bowl right so understanding that this is

The amount of food we need and then we need to have that much amount of water like like 300 mL of water right um and then also another great way is having a smaller plate because again uh scientific Studies have found that the bigger the plate the more you eat you

Know because you want to actually like finish that plate so if you actually take a smaller plate you tend to serve less and then you eat less also so these are some great ways and then finally is also when you take that first serving and you

Feel like you want to eat more wait for 15 to 20 minutes because that is the amount of time it takes for your stomach to tell your brain you’re full and after 20 minutes if you want to eat again you know go ahead that means you are really

Hungry but usually you’ll see that you actually you know don’t want to take anymore after that go ahead I guess my question is how do you define and is Hal to you just the slaughter is it the whole process of raising how do you define it so um again

That’s a really good question and that’s the reason why when we say t it becomes such a great area right Halal is very clear okay you know we know the process of Halal you know how we do it but with T it’s t is are foods that are good for

You right that are nourishing that are healthy for you so this would actually also include how that animal is even grown for example like even bread right so like if that animal you know has been given you know GMO feed and is in a cramped place and you know has just been

Under so much stress stress that it has constant high stress levels just make like then slaughtering it you know in the Halal way would not make that animal T right because T includes even how that animal has been you know has lived its life and how you have you know provided

It provided the living conditions for that animal so then that would also then extend and that is the reason why even like when the animal has eaten like naasa right we are not supposed to eat that animal for a few days until that naasa has actually left that body there

Is a Hadith about that as well right so that is a reason why you know we as Muslims should also try to make sure that we are having organic foods as much as possible and um you know whether it’s meat milk you know eggs you know that is

One of the way that we can ensure that it is T you know because that means that they don’t have the harmful pesticides or the GMO feed that is harmful for the animal which is in turn harmful for us um then again you know Foods T would

Also be foods that are proven like I mentioned for example like you know the foods with colors that are known to be bad for you or foods like sausages or you know things that are known to be bad for you now these foods for example if

You have it once a month for example right Subhan Allah even Allah has you know like given our you know such beautiful organs in the body like the liver and the kidney that can cleanse this right so we are it’s not going to cause us har in but what about if we

Have those Foods on a regular basis what about if we have the the ramen noodles every single day what about if we have like you know the Oreo cookies every single day then you are coming into this gray area where a food which you know is

Going to be bad for you you’re having it every day is it really t for you right like is it good for you because you know that it’s going to cause harm for you for example if you have diabetes right knowing that you have diabetes and

Knowing that you know sugar can harm you if that person is still wanting to have like the co*ke every single day is that food it the food is halal but is it for you is it like good for you right so this is the meaning of t we have to

Understand you know foods that can cause harm and try to stay away from them in I just had um as far as the water water and meals are concerned so how long before having a meal should we have water because I do understand that you’re not supposed to have water while

You have your meal correct so um they do say you know not to have excessive amounts but there is nothing that you should not have it uh I mean I feel like nowadays you know with the internet and Instagram everyone wants to become viral you know say they try to give out

Information that has the most shock value um and the most you know some amount of uniqueness to it because then you get more and more followers like oh my God what is she going to say right so uh I know that this information is out there

That you should not have water with your meals but you know there is no scientific uh information that says that having water is going to like harm your health right so if you want to have like you know just like sips of water it’s fine but obviously if you’re going to

Have like two glasses of water when you’re eating it’s going to unnecessarily like d utter enzymes you know fill you up and you’re not going to have enough of food but just having sips of water is totally fine okay thank you other questions oh there we go here use the

Mic so people at home can hear um I was hoping if you could please address how do you um a lot of people complain about having headache during Ramadan too and um despite the intake um I I’ve noticed like having energy drinks help but like they’re they’re also not

The best thing to have every day what are some Alternatives you can have to stay hydrated so um that’s actually a really again you know interesting um uh question is when why do you have headaches right so Subhan Allah one thing I would like to say is fasting is

Again you know like I mentioned is so rewarding and Allah subh has actually encouraged us to fast throughout the year not just Ramadan right so for us the first thing is let us first try to fast throughout the year right whether it is we’re doing the the

White days uh 13 14 15 or the Monday Thursday you know there’s so much you know rewards of fasting during the you know the the Mondays and Thursdays as well you know so first of all let us try to be used to fasting the whole time and

Then the second thing is fasting during Shaban right Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam fasted in Shaban the most during like apart from Ramadan the most in Shaban and this was his way of getting his body used to Ramadan right so that is so that one way is fasting

Prior to Ramadan so we you’re you’re basically you know not shocking your body when you’re fasting the second way is you know actually avoiding the energy drinks and understanding that having these headaches is a normal part of fasting when we fast the first couple of days we actually are going through a

Detox right so when we are detoxing we do have like excessive headaches we are having bad breath we having dizziness we having the dry mouths like you know those are actually all symptoms of you know going into ketosis right so like we actually Muslims are the experts on keto

Diet right we are the original you know like the people who did the keto diet so that is the way you go into ketosis um and that is completely normal after 2 days one your once your body has detoxed gotten rid of its excess sugars you’ll

Be totally you know you’ll get used to that the third is actually to avoid having the energy drinks because those actually are filled with caffeine and with sugar so they will cause unnecessary ups and downs um you know of your like blood sugar levels and the caffeine withdrawals which actually make those headaches

Works okay we’re pushing against um Isa here and we have quite people a few people coming inside so um wrap up yeah okay bless you for bringing your light again to MCC we really enjoyed your visit last time as we did this time we look forward to seeing you a lot more

And uh you have a contact information those watching online the deck will be in the description so you can look at that for you Somebody Allah allahar Allah Ill [Applause] f