We've been baking!

Salaam ya'll! As you probably know by now I'm a pretty decent cook with an adventurous appetite. However other than quick breads, biscuits and cornbread (along with the occasional cake mix) I have stayed faaar from baking. My first experiment with yeast in 2000 resulted in a dense loaf smaller than before I baked it! LOL I deemed it a monumental waste of time and never bothered again.

However Cap'n is a professional baker (not by trade any longer but by education) and I really wanted to try my hand at it. So yesterday we made nutty cinnamon rolls and today, empanadas! They are basically yummy little handheld pockets of meaty goodness.

Here are the cinnamon rolls; I showed most of the steps. I used a recipe I googled from the Betty Crocker cookbook; it's nice and basic and easy to follow. :)

My sis made this vinyl sticker for me; I love it!

Dough after first rise; it should keep indentions!

All rolled out and ready to fill!

I opted for sugar, cinnamon, cardamom (a small amount!) and nuts, glorious nuts! Toasted first of course. ;)

All rolled up and ready to go! Or you know, be cut. :)

Aaminah had her own dough and made baby ones ma shaa Allah. This is before baking. 

After baking

And above is the finished, ready to be devoured, product! It did take quite a bit of time but as I'm pretty much a homebody (with wandering tendencies) it works out just fine. :)

Now on to the empanadas! Oh em gee these are delicious! I started with my meat filling; I used about a pound and a half of ground beef. It doesn't really matter, a pound is good, but I had that much frozen together so I just used it all. :) Cook til no longer pink and add some frozen corn, about a half cup or so. Brown the beef and add some onion powder and smoked paprika. Then I added a good squirt or two of ketchup (I wanted to use tomato paste but I was out and I can improvise!) and a dash of Worcestershire sauce. 2 good tsp of pureed chipotle peppers in adobo sauce and you have some spicy goodness! I cooked it for another 20 min or so, stirring ever 5 to 7 minutes, just to help tame the sugars and caramelize it a bit. 

Oh and I added a tsp of unsweetened cocoa powder and a splash of coffee. Trust me, it will develop layers of flavors and your mouth will thank me! ;)

Spicy, beef, corny goodness!

So the super-yum filling was ready; now on to the dough! Lil Miss made me promise to wait until she was home as she is quite the fan of learning through play. Here are our pics:

I didn't show how I made the dough; I followed a recipe online for "yeast empanada dough", then rolled it out and we filled it with the meat and some chihuahua cheese. OK not a dog, it's actually a region in Mexico. :)

She's cutting the dough circles!

Before baking, brushed with an egg wash for crispy goodness. 

And voila! The finished product with a stunning door in the background! ;)

These are addictively delicious! Some came out smaller than others (I am a firm believer in letting Li'l Miss learn hands-on) so the bigger ones did have a better filling to pastry ratio but we are very pleased! Definitely a labor of love but isn't that why we cook for family anyway? :) Well, you know, when we have time and aren't exhausted and the baby isn't crying and the laundry is done up and, and, and... ;)

As I said above, I've been very homebodyish lately. When you have a chronic, severe illness things like parking distance and temperature really help make your decisions! Also we live in a smaller city and sometimes I just can't be the face of Islam for every person I meet. My home is my little cozy sanctuary and I'm so blessed to have it! So I like to busy myself with little projects; making the skillet handle cover, baking yummy treats, etc. It gives me a feeling of accomplishment without having to leave the comforts of home. :D

Oh I started at Amazon today! Yay me! If anyone reading is interested they hire work-from-home from several states (not all). Just log onto www.amazon.force.com and search VCC (virtual call center) or work from home. It will let you know the requirements. If you have a good internet connection, good pc (or Mac) with at least a 21" monitor and live in a participating state you are well on your way! It's a great option for hijabis who might have a more difficult time getting hired in conventional workspaces. 

But you need to be away from family noise and you cannot have your children running around; if they still depend on you to keep close tabs this wouldn't work. Li'l Miss is 8 now and can handle herself in the house but not necessarily the same room as I am. She will wander in occasionally and chit chat (if I'm free) but I take my breaks and spend time with her. 

Alrighty, I think that gets up up to date. Catch ya'll later; ma salaama!

Still here!

Salaam ya'll! It's been a tough week. My health, while pretty stable and really good for and end stage renal failure patient, still has its ups and downs. This week was a down; I had a really bad case of vertigo and felt super dizzy pretty much all week. I am just now getting up to snuff and I have a lot to tell ya'll about! Oh nothing earth-shattering just those little photo ops that go great on the blog. :)

Let's see...Oh I did a few crafts recently! I wanted to attempt hand-sewing again. Which basically means small little projects that are easy to finish. My favorite! ;) Here is a pot holder I made for Cap'n's morning coffee:

Oh you might notice mess in the backgrounds of my pics now. That's because I don't care! Crafting (and life!) is messy sometimes and I refuse to sanitize it. So there! :p I hand-sewed this and stuffed it with batting then hand-placed the French knots in a type of quilting. I'm just starting out again but I was happy I managed to hide my seam!

Then I decided to make a pan handle cover for my cast iron skillets. If you have one you know they get BLAZING hot! I had some fabric leftover from previous projects and a skirt I bought at Goodwill for $1 to use for the material so it cost me nothing out of pocket. It was a bit of a process and turning it inside out was the hardest! You can Google tutorials so I'm not gonna do that step-by-step stuff but here is my finished project:

The colors really look good with my curtains and door and semi-painted brick fireplace. :) We don't do perfection here, we just go for learning and growing.

Oh and I have some Eid pics! A lovely family in our community hosts a picnic type celebration after salaat and we are always invited ma shaa Allah. :) Her food is legendary and the decorations are fabulous! She has Arabic and Desi drums playing, bounce houses and candy table for the kids; it's really fun every year. Here are a few of the pics:

Li'l Miss and her friend

Macarons, cookies, and sweets oh my!

Pakoras! Some of the best I've ever eaten! And some little pinwheel canapes that have mustard seed on them; they are addictive ya'll!

So it was kind of a low-key Eid except for the picnic but I enjoyed that so much I'm not complaining! Aaminah went with her friend to spend the night in their 4 story mansion (I kid you not!) complete with indoor swimming pool and elevator! Ma shaa Allah blessings on her parents; they are lovely people and I am not in any way jealous just amazed by their new home. :)

I start work this week at Amazon.com (from home). Like I said, I've done it before so it's kind of old-hat but I'm excited to be earning money for our family again. We have been in a bit of slump since buying the house and I'm looking forward to digging our way back out! AND then getting some work done on our home. :)

Ma salaama ya'll!

Muscadines!

Salaam ya'll! There was a muscadine vine here when we moved in. They are indigenous to the southern US and are like grape's wild cousin. Most people here make jam or wine with them. I am going to try my hand at some refrigerator jam (doesn't have to be pressurized but only lasts a week or two) because the deer have eaten most of them! However I did manage to pick several handfuls today, about 3/4 pound I believe. Look how beautiful the colors are!

Oh and we have a voluntary tomato plant growing by our front door which has yielded 2 tiny tomatoes. :) It is a miniature tomato plant apparently and it either grew from the previous owner throwing a tomato out by her door or she planted it. Either way, there are several more ready to ripen and they are totally organic as we use no fertilizer or pesticides. Aaminah was in heaven! 

This is from a couple of weeks ago; it's much larger now! I would say please forgive the state of my little garden but I'm sick and can't handle weeding, etc in this heat so we are waiting for cooler weather to get out there and weed the flower beds. :) 

Oh I'm about to start working again also! Amazon.com hires work-from-home representatives to help out with their holiday rush. I worked for them from Nov. last year to March of this year but quit when I needed to start getting things ready to buy the house. This time I am doing the reserves which means I pick what days I want to work instead of being locked into a schedule. With my health issues it makes much more sense for me. I can work anywhere from 1 hour a week to 30 and up to 60 during the holiday season ma shaa Allah. I worked a LOT of hours last season and it was hard but I can do anything for a short while. And I really want to get some work done on our house. :)

It was built here in the 40s for the Manhattan Project (nuclear warheads) during WWII. It was called the Secret City because it was kept a secret from everyone until after the war! There were tens of thousands of employees here and the first residents of Oak Ridge. My house was built for an engineer and his wife and 2 sons; the wife just died this past year and the sons were selling it. So there is loads of history in it! We have these old-fashioned awesome glass "crystal" doorknobs throughout:

And these super cute, retro handmade curtains which I adore! The blue matches the color I am painting the doors. :)

And we have hardwood floors throughout EXCEPT... the living room was covered in old carpet. The first thing we did was pull up the carpet but unfortunately the padding had stuck to the floor so we have to have them refinished. Le sigh... we haven't had the money yet but that is one thing I am working for because I really want to get the floors finished and the living room painted. I'll def show pics when that happens in shaa Allah. Just not sure exactly when! Maybe early next year. 

Alrighty, well that's all I've got for now. Li'l Miss is home and I had to do a few things to prepare for my job and thought I'd pop on for a quick post. If I make it a habit I'm less likely to slack off again. 

Salaam!

I know, I know, 3rd post of the day!

I totally forgot to upload some recent pics of Li'l Miss. She is my heart, my sunshine, and one seriously funny girl! Her passion is cats and social justice and anything water-related. She's just a joy. :)

I'm not even gonna caption them (mostly because I'm lazy!) but I think her personality speaks for itself. I will say I think all of these were taken at the old apartment not our house. Anyway this is her, beautiful and sassy and sweet, all rolled into one awesome girl (say ma shaa Allah!). Catch on the flip side!

Haterz 'n debaterz, please read:

Salaam ya'll! I just saw my old post where someone criticized me thinking I was saying I only loved Aaminah. So let's clear one thing up in this Trump-riddled, xenophobic world we find ourselves inhabiting:

I.don't.care.

I don't care if you like me. I don't care if you hate Muslims. I don't care if you think my crafts are horrible and my recipes crap. I just don't. I'm in a zen-like place called "Being a Grown Up" and your hate and vitriol do not concern me.

So post your typed refuse if you must but know I will delete it without reading it. Yes, I have that gift. A super-power, if you will. I can read things, see where it's heading and quietly hit "delete". So you won't get any "air" time here on my blog and you won't get any head-time in my brain. Just letting you know it's a futile, futile path you are traveling that will literally take you no where.

Carry on! :D

Salaam ya'll!!!!

I'm back! Kinda, sorta? I know I have not updated in literally years but my health has stabilized and I have a lovely all-in-one desktop ON a desk so I feel like I can commit again. Updating on a phone is for the birds!

So let me try to catch ya'll up. I'm back on dialysis, number one. I went through MULTIPLE surgeries but Alhamdulillah I finally have an access I can use. I dialysis at home as well (yup! It's great!) and I stick myself with MASSIVE needles 4 to 5 times a week. My numbers are excellent and I'm feeling better. I also am just about to get listed on the transplant registry (in shaa Allah!) so please make dua that is successful. The typical life span on dialysis is 5 years and I've been trudging along for 2 now. :)

Second, I bought a house!!!! Yes I'm so excited! It was a dream of mine, growing up in a trailer and living in apartments my entire life. So I finally just took the plunge and found out I could get approved and the rest is history! I live in Oak Ridge, TN now which is a small city close to Knoxville. Although it's pretty diverse for a small southern city it doesn't extend to hijabis; I've seen exactly 2 others and they were wearing dupattas so the locals really have no idea they are Muslim. To them black hijab=Muslim=potential terrorist. But that's a post for another day! We moved here to be closer to family, for the EXCELLENT school system and our money went a lot further. I'm in love!

Front of my house. :)

I painted our front door this teal color called "Connor's Lakehouse". I'm doing all the exterior doors and the fireplace in sha Allah.

Our house was built in 1942 and it has a lot of the older characteristics. Love my door!

Our backyard!

Part of our kitchen

Third, yes I'm happy to report Cap'n and I are still married! ;) He's adjusted nicely to life in the US Alhamdulillah and we are going strong. Every relationship has ups and downs, peaks and valleys. Luckily we are in a peak and things are going smoothly.

Fourth, I've been crafting again! So I'll share my crafting and cooking escapades with ya'll. This will pretty much be the blog you've always known and loved (and if ya don't, well....don't let the door hit your butt on the way out!).

OK so that was a short-ish update. I'll be back at least a few times a week now, in sha Allah. Salaam ya'll!

A belated update!

My hijabi shadow with Li'l Miss :)

Salaam, peace, and a great big howdy from East Tennessee! Cap'n did, indeed, make it here as did H. We have been living the family life and LOVING it, masha'Allah!

I cannot say enough good things about having our family complete and all under one roof. H is acclimating to the US but of course the chilliness is hard for both of them to get used to!

I am feeling faaar too lazy to blur faces so there will not be any pictures today but soon, iA, soon, I will. :) Cap'n is THE most private person I know so I'll have to see what his comfort level is.

Oh on a culinary level we are really enjoying exploring southern food together! Cap'n is a definite southern food aficianado! And masha'Allah he cleans after I cook so it's a total win/win! Biscuits and gravy, beef bacon omg yummmm!, and chili have all made appearances much to his delight. H is also LOVING my way of cooking which is nice, too. :)

We went to the dollar store to grab some helium balloons to make the occasion festive and look what we found! Jamaican flag colors AND an American flag balloon. Fitting!

Li'l Miss is absolutely adoring having her Daddy here, someone to wrestle with and dote on. It's been so sweet seeing them together and knowing she feels like she has a full family. :) Right now she coloring little shapes on paper and cutting them out and presenting them to us as gifts, mA. I love her little heart!

Feeling blessed beyond blessed, happy my husband is FINALLY here and just alhamdulillah at ease for the first time in a long time!

As for my health, my kidney function had declined yet again. :( Creatnine at it's highest at 5.41 and I just did a 24 hour urine; today is Christmas so the doctor's office is closed so iA I'll get the results tomorrow or the next day. I'm hoping the 24 hour test will show it's actually higher than the daily result so duas, please. :)

Oh Sis Umm Ibrahim at Old School Hijabi does a feature on covering muslimahs and I submitted my "story". A lot of time us plus-size sisters aren't shown on websites, etc. because our style is more dowdy or less exciting or whatever. :) I wanted my other larger-than-life sistahs to know you can be modest, on budget, and not look too shabby with a few tips and tricks. :) Mostly long khimars, cheap sundresses, and tissue tee cardigans. :D

Alright, iA I'll be back, I needed my "honeymoon" time (please no naysayers from the haram brigade telling me it has pagan roots, blah blah blah... just a phrase) and now we are settling into our routine alhamdulillah.

Ma salaama ya'll!

This is the day!!!!!!!

Salaam and peace ya'll! What a lovely lovely day! Cap'n and H are on their way as I type. :) On a bus to the airport then straight through to Atlanta. My best friend's husband (who, as you know by now, is Cap'n's best friend) is driving to get him. It's about a 3 hour drive from here and it's just too much for my body to handle. :)

So I am going to spend my day being excited, making a cake, cleaning the kitchen and bathrooms. Whew! Li'l Miss needs her room straightened again too, Allah help me! :)

But I am so happy there is very little which could dampen my mood today. I feel so blessed today, ya'll. :) Ma salaama!

...and then there were...

THREE days til Cap'n and H arrive. :D Alhamdulillah, subhanallah, allahu akbar! Tickets purchased, details co-ordinated, bags packed. It's been a long 2 years but sooo worth it.

We cleaned out Old G :)

Old G is what Aaminah named our 1998 Pontiac Grand Prix Supercharged GTP. Yes it's a muscle car of sorts. It's fast. It has an all-leather interior. And she was OLD. Past her prime with a cracked dash, cracked windshield and cracked heads. ;)

But we loved Ol' G. She was pretty dependable but of course her issues were many. No a/c, heat works but the blower wasn't connected to the duct work so it didn't blow out, bad struts and shocks, overheating, etc etc etc. Oh my, it was a lot of work to keep her running!

I wanted a new car but I had a few issues. One, Muslims are forbidden from usury or interest and being sick and two, on disability did not make it easy for me to save up money for a new vehicle so we were stuck. With Cap'n and H coming we really wanted a bigger car, definitely not 2 door Old G. Something not threatening to break down every couple of days.

Then I found it. My new vehicular love. :) Look isn't it purty? And a GREAT price! It's a 2002 Isuzu Axiom, a 6 cyl SUV that seats 5. I wouldn't have minded a 7 seater but the price on this was unbelievable! I really feel like Allah swt blessed us with the opportunity to get this car:

Sweet ride! ;)

Alhamdulillah it does not look 10 years old and it drove great! I get it on Tuesday; we had to wait for the man's daughter to be able to come and sign the title. Make dua it does, indeed, go through, because I am really looking forward to having a nice, comfortable vehicle for us as a family iA. :)

I think we might save Old G for a secondary car for Cap'n to use if I am out and he needs to run somewhere. Never bad to have 2 cars when you live where we do and it's not easy to access things without a car. Speaking of Old G, look how purty she cleaned up:

Aaminah's booster on the left and her friend J's on the right. :)

She doesn't show her age too bad, huh?

Aaminah was a great help! We detailed Old G, rubbed her plastic/rubber parts with lemon oil wipes (gave it a great shine!) and cleaned the windows, too. We even took her and vacuumed her out! I laughingly told Cap'n I sure wouldn't have spent an hour in the freezing cold detailing the car if I thought we were gonna keep it! ;)

We were going to sell her but to be honest, we couldn't get too much out of a 16 year old car and decided it was probably better just to keep it for Cap'n to drive as a second car. I did put an ad on craigslist but only got a couple of replies and one of those wanted it on payments! lol I think my exact reply was, "I need cash in hand up front. If I were wealthy I would not have been driving a 16 year old car!" LOL

So make dua for us this is good for our family. Oh tentatively, Cap'n and H should be here on Thursday, Thanksgiving Day! The tickets are cheapest that day so it makes sense to travel then. Unsure yet though because he is still waiting on his passport/visa to be delivered. It was officially issued on THURSDAY and H's was on FRIDAY so of course the weekend was wasted time. Praying for them to be ready tomorrow or Tuesday so we can buy 2 tickets!!!

PLEASE, make dua for us that they arrive here safely. Ya'll all know how long we have waited, how patient we've really tried to be and I really feel Allah swt is blessing us for our constantcy.

Insha'Allah he will be here this week!!!!! ma salaama ya'll!

Still no Mr. Ummi of Aami :)

Salaam and howdy, ya'll! :) Still waiting on Cap'n's passport to be returned with his visa stamp. This long, arduous process is almost over and I.can't.wait. :D This part is sooo hard though because we know we are at the finish line and just waiting on the embassy to send his passport back via DHL.


Le sigh... ;)

On a slighter gloomier note, my kidney function dropped down a bit again. On a brighter note, I am responding well to the procrit injections and thus my H&H (hematocrit and hemoglobin) have risen a bit. Alhamdulillah! I feel stronger, less out of breath, just better. :) So a little give, a little take and insha'Allah khair for it all.

I have been making preparations for Cap'n and H's arrival. My stepson has requested...wait for it... corndogs! If you are from the southern US or midwest you definitely know what these are! Hotdogs dipped in a slightly sweet cornbread batter and fried. Decadent deliciousness dipped in mustard. :) So we have a brand here made with chicken meat and H is very excited. lol Kids are so cute!

Aaminah is prepared to share her room until we are able to get approved for a 3 bedroom. H will take the bed and Aaminah will sleep on a pallet on the floor or a large bean bag we have. Hopefully we'll get to move in 2-3 months so it's a temporary situation. :)

Cap'n is finally letting himself get excited now and make plans. :) I always make plans I love to think about what we'll do when he is here, etc but Cap'n is a bit more pragmatic and after our past denials and heartache, has tried to not let his hopes get up. Now he is finally feeling confident and iA before too long I'll be on here tell ya'll about it!!!

Oh Li'l Miss and I made homemade granola for the first time. It was insane! Pretty basic recipe; I culled it from many different sources but was originally inspired by an episode of Guy Fieri's "Diners, Driveins and Dives" where a lady made some.

We used oats, chopped almonds, and coconut mixed with coconut oil, butter and maple syrup. Bake it at 300 for about 30 minutes, stirring every 10 to ensure even browning. After you remove it from the oven, let it cool then add your chopped dried fruit. We had a mix of cranberries, cherries, and blueberries. Amazing! I keep my empty peanut butter and pasta sauce jars (clean them of course!) to store leftovers in and that's what's keeping our granola nice and comfy. :)

Think I'll have some now. :) Ma salaama ya'll!

"Anonymous" strikes again :(

Salaam and peace, ya'll. :) So I had this in my comments today:

Anonymous said...

I just want to say that I read your profile and I am horrified that you said 3 of your children were created from birth, and one from love. I hope your 3 older children never read your blog and see that there was no love involved when they were created and born. You may not like your ex, but there is no reason your children should ever think they were born from anything but love. You are a horrible HORRIBLE person for saying, thinking and believing that. You are a sad excuse for a mother, after saying that about your children God will NEVER allow you to enter your Jannah.

November 12, 2013 at 9:34 AM

Umm Aaminah said...

Anon, you are an idiot. I have 3 children by birth that I gave birth to so they are indeed my children whom of course I love. I have another child that is a stepchild so we are not blood related but only by love. That is one way people say stepchild instead of saying "step" and making them feel less. Idiot. Pure and simple.

November 12, 2013 at 1:38 PM

 

Now, is my little "About me" blurb on the side really confusing? I assume Anon thinks I am talking about Aaminah as the one from "love" but they would be wrong. I gave birth to her, just as I did my two sons whom I also love. My stepson, Hamza, I love also but he is only my son through love ie the love I have for his father and now of course for him.

 

I thought it was a sweet way to say I have 4 children but only 3 are my born children from my blood. I don't like the term "step" because to me it denotes less or different from the others. I was trying to be sweet. I said "four great children" so how does that make them not loved??? I swear, some people make my head hurt. And they weren't brave enough to put a name with their comment. AND... said I was a horrible mother and didn't deserve Jannah

 

Are you freakin' kidding me?? Subhanallah, who says that to anyone, but especially to ANOTHER Muslim??? Allahu rabbi, it really shocked me. I don't wish that on anyone, even people who have done me wrong. I sincerely hope Anon reads this and realizes their ignorance. I mean, what part of me seems like I don't love my kids? I don't talk about Zack and Alex as much because they are teenagers now and don't like to have their business spread around; Aaminah is still small alhamdulillah and doesn't have an opinion.

 

And if God forbid Anon really thought I meant that, why wouldn't they kindly say, Sister that isn't correct. I mean, wth? OK so that's that and alhamdulillah. Ma salaama ya'll!

Allahu akbar!!! Yes! Score! Woo hoo! :)

Salaam ya'll! Can you guess? Do you know? Have you EVER read my blog??? Yes you are right, Cap'n has his approval!!! Subhanallah, alhamdulillah, wa Allahu akbar! It's been a LOOOOONG two years and not without its bumps.

*Being apart

*Being sick and hospitalized and in treatment

*Being a single parent

*Being sad and lonely but reallllly trying to stay positive and trust in the mercy of Allah swt

And then the topper... he was denied. Temporarily, on his interview Nov. 1st. We were devastated. Gutted. I mean, how, why, What???? It turns out our application was awesome, he had a great interviewer who totally understood we were in love, we were in a real relationship...

But India. Oh India, you came back to bite me in the butt. :( They had an issue with my divorce paper from Mumbai. From 2009. Seriously??? Because at this point, we had turned in that SAME paper to the USCIS twice and ti has been accepted. They considered me divorced for purpose of remarriage so I thought we were all set. How could THAT be a problem?

It went to the embassy and someone there said, Huh, this doesn't look like a standard divorce decree. Well, its not. It's from India, the land of twisted bureaucracy and inept officials. Come on now, you all know it's true. Our divorce was officiated by a Qazi, the head Qazi in Mumbai. He had letterhead, for Pete's sake! And a stamp, there was a stamp! You don't get more official than that in India.

So I sent an email. Then another one. I quoted the State Department website which said they accept foreign divorces. Oh the wating was so hard! A week of tears and prayers, trying to stay strong and make plans "just in case". Alhamdulillah our steadfastness has paid off!

He got a call yesterday to come back and bring his passport! Oh yes, thank you Allah! I cried, all I could say was "Alhamdulillah, Allahu akbar!" over and over. It's been a long time and we have been patient. We have kept ourselves pure for one another. We have trusted in Allah and He as NOT failed us. He never does. We plan and Allah plans and He is the BEST of planners.

Has it been a long journey? Yes. Has it been hard? Definitely. Has it been worth it? A 1,000 times over! It's hard to find osmeone you love so much and are so well matched with. I am grateful the waiting is almost over.

Please, remember to keep us in your duaa. iA Cap'n should be here by December. :)

Procrit 40,000 units...yes!!!

So happy to have you, my sweets

Salaam ya'll! I'm a happy happy mama today. I finally got my Procrit injections started. Yay me! It is cray-craz expensive (over $4000 for what you see here) and it has to be shipped overnight in a cooler with an ice pack. Subhanallah. I am so grateful I have the opportunity to start these injections again.

This is a synthetic form of epoeitin alpha which is the hormone that tells your body to make more red blood cells. We have to constantly replenish our RBCs as they get damaged and die off; they typically have a "shelf life" of 100+ days so our bodies are always in the process of making more. When you have kidney failure your epo production slows down drastically and you can no longer make enough red blood cells to get the oxygen to all your parts and pieces.

This type of anemia can't be treated with iron or B12; I have all the components just not the catalyst. So iA now, within a couple of weeks, my blood count should rise and I am looking forward to feeling much stronger again. Right now, I get a lot of headaches and feel "fuzzy-headed"; not cause I need to brush my hair ;) but due to the lack of oxygen. Also in kidney failure toxins build up so there are a lot of factors.

Anyway, headaches and confusion, memory loss, cold especially extremeties, shortness of breath (panting) and extreme lethargy and exhaustion. I have nothing wrong with my breathing just that even though I breath, I can't get enough oxygen simply because my body cannot transport it to my cells. So my body tries breathing deeper and faster which normally works but not with anemia of course. I also have a condition called acidosis where my blood is acidic due to yes, again, the kidney failure, so with each breath my body tries to right the base/acid balance by breathing out more CO2 except it's a temporary fix and keeps me panting subhanallah. I take a different med for that but together they make my life difficult, to say the least.

Mimzy keeps walking on my keyboard and interrupting me. :) She's the black and white kitty, not our bobtail kitten. Anyway...

So here is how it was packaged:

They asked if I wanted signature required for delivery; uh yes please!

And inside it has 2 big ice packs:

I actually saved them and the cooler. :)

I also had some paperwork, syringes, alcohol preps, and a used sharps container. Sweet, all set up now just waiting on Li'l Miss to come home and help out; she loves all this stuff. :)

Oh Cap'n's visa appointment is on THIS Friday, please please please please please make dua for us that Allah swt brings him here and unites our family soon. Amin!

The Best Darn Butternut Squash and Black Bean Chili Ever : )

This was like a symphony in my mouth ; )

Salaam ya'll! Just wanted you to know that I made THE best chili ever today. Seriously. I don't know what exactly I did differently this time exact possibly add an extra dose of AWESOME, mA! ;) Seriously, this is the first time I ever ventured into the land of non-summer squash. I had been thinking about using butternut squash in a recipe when I found a nice vegetarian recipe at Cookie + Kate's blog. This gave me the idea but from there I just branched out in all kinds of directions!

That's what's nice about having years of experience; you finally know (usually!) what detours you can take and what results to expect. I didn't know it would be this delicious, tho. :D



The players :)

Here is a line-up of my ingredients. I'll be honest, I started heating my pan before I got my stuff out but I totally wanted to do a real-deal recipe photo shoot so I had to turn the heat down while I got it all set up. :) See that pretty squash? It was only $1.29 at Aldi! I just discovered the store and it was really nice! I saved about $4 on my squash alone which I consider a major score. :) If you are wondering if the cocoa powder is an error it is not. It's a very common ingredient in Mexican cooking and I love the depth of color and flavor it gives the chili. :) Also in the bowl with the red lid is pureed chipotles in adobo sauce. A little goes a long way so I just keep it in the fridge to use as necessary.

 

 

Hmmm onions...

 Dice your onion and throw it into a pan with a bit of oil. Fry it for about 5 minutes then add in a tbsp of cumin, 2 tbsp of chili powder, about a tbsp of onion powder and a few good shakes of smoked paprika. If you don't have all the ingredients (like smoked paprika) of course go ahead and make it but really, all of these ingredients just add layers to the flavor. :) Add a nice hefty pinch of salt and fry for about 3 minutes to release the full flavor of the spices.

The ground chuck is NOT necessary but we enjoy meat : )

 I added about half a pound of ground chuck; it would be good without it but I decided to go ahead. Next time we'll just make it totally veg and see how we like it. Brown the beef for about 5 minutes on medium heat til cooked through.



The tomatoes look pretty ; )

 Add a can of petite diced tomatoes. I prefer petite dice but of course feel free to use what you have/prefer. It's important to cook this stage well to temper the acidity of the tomatoes. Cook for about 5 more minutes.

The squash was a pain to cut but look at it!

 Then add the squash. Now, butternut squash is NOT easy to cut. I ended up briefly microwaving it (for about 5 minutes) while I was doing the beginning of the recipe. Then I proceeded to peel it while the mixture was simmering. It wasn't easy but not too hard either. I used a knife to peel it as my peeler isn't up to the job. It took several minutes to peel and chop. I only used half of a good-sized squash; we used the leftovers in another recipe.

See how nice it's looking?

 Mix it all together well and cook for about 10-15 minutes to soften the squash. Now if I had my 5 qt pot I would have cooked it all on the stovetop; however I lent it to a friend so while this was simmering I put a can of drained, rinsed black beans in the crock pot to heat up; I put all the mixture in there to finish cooking.

Chipotles, how I love thee!

 Secret ingredient #1: the pureed chipotles in adobo sauce. I added a scant tsp; it's pretty spicy. You can always add more but you can't take it away! Mix it in well.

This stuff is yummy

 Secret ingredient #2: This is super-concentrated beef flavor. It's also salty hence the hefty pinch of salt earlier and no more. I add about a tsp of beef base and stir it in well. It smells sooo good. :)

All happy together

 Carefully add the hot squash mixture to your crock with the black beans in it. Again, use whatever bean you like but the black beans were super tasty! I let it cook on high for about an hour and half; just check the squash for tenderness. :)

The humble cornbread

 I decided to whip up a skillet of cornbread; my cast iron skillet is small so my pan was really full. I prefer it thinner but it was good nonetheless. I added half a tsp of the chipotle puree here too, to carry the flavor through. :)


Baked butternut squash

I had about 2 cups of squash left so I tossed it with 3 tbsp melted butter, 3 tbsp brown sugar, a pinch of salt and a shake of nutmeg. It cooked alongside the cornbread but it did take longer. It was really good!

Again, the final product. Yes it's good enough to be shown twice!

 I hope ya'll decide to try this sometime. It is so delicious, it will freeze well, and with the squash and black beans it is a guaranteed healthy home run. Aaminah loved it, I obviously enjoyed it, and I'm already looking forward to leftovers! Ma salaama ya'll. :)