[Dishes] Spanish Tortilla

This one is so easy and gives you a great result in the end. I love potato dishes, they're always easier to make and the most delicious ones. This Spanish Tortilla makes an excellent breakfast, it's quick and tasty.

All you need are these two ingredients.. 

The Recipe:

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 2 pounds baking potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch slices
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 onions, sliced into rings
• 6 eggs
• 1 roasted red pepper, drained and cut into strips
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley

Directions

1. Heat 1/2 cup olive oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add half of the potato slices, and cook, stirring occasionally, until just tender, 15 to 20 minutes. When done, remove potatoes to a large bowl, leaving oil in the skillet. Cook the remaining potatoes in the oil until tender, then add to the bowl, leaving oil in the skillet. Gently toss potatoes with salt and pepper to taste.
2. Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in onion rings, and gently cook until soft and golden brown, about 15 minutes. Spoon onions onto a plate, and allow to cool while the potatoes finish cooking.
3. Whisk eggs in a large bowl until smooth. Stir in cooled onions and roasted peppers. Gently fold in cooked potatoes.
4. Heat the skillet with the reserved oil over low heat. Pour in the egg mixture, and gently cook until the sides have started to set and the bottom has turned golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Loosen the tortilla with a spatula if needed, then carefully slide onto a large plate. Turn the skillet upside down and place onto the uncooked side of the tortilla. Turn the skillet right-side-up, and remove the plate. Return the skillet to the stove, and continue cooking until the tortilla has set in the center, about 4 minutes.
5. Slide the tortilla onto a serving plate and allow to cool to room temperature. Cut into six wedges and sprinkle with parsley to serve.

You would want to make sure that the potato cubes don't turn out as fries, just fry them till they're soft and tender. Not crunchy! 

[Dishes] Chicken Tikka Masala

Hello all, this has been such a long summer. I finished school and I'm still waiting for uni to start. I spent most of my time watching tv shows instead of reading. I also started learning how to cook so I won't starve when I live abroad :P In the next series of posts, I'll post my amateur attempts at cooking. I love looking for a new recipe everyday, then watch it on YouTube and try to come up with something edible and presentable.

Here's my recent dish, Chicken Tikka Masala. 

Now, this was a fun and easy thing to do. Simple steps to perfect it; seasoning the chicken breasts well then grilling them so that the chicken pieces are tender and finally, working on thickening the masala sauce. You could easily use the basic seasoning of salt and pepper and the other ingredients mentioned in the recipe but I think using a masala curry mix which comes in boxes will do the trick. Most important part, my parents totally loved it.

Click here for the recipe!

Sunshine Award

Even though I've been MIA in the blogger scene for sometime now, both Maria and Rummy were generous enough to nominate me for the Sunshine Award.

Rules

1.) Include the award logo in a post or on your blog page.
2.) Answer 10 questions about yourself. These are below.
3.) Nominate 10-12 other fabulous bloggers.
4.) Link your nominees to this post and comment on their blog, letting them know about the award.
5.) Share the love and link the person who nominated you

Questions

1.What would you most like to change about yourself?
The ability to let things go. I tend to get very fond of holding onto the little things.. Things that don't matter and it gets me into so much trouble. Also to stop procrastinating. A very very bad habit of mine.

2. What is your theme song?
Find A Way ~ Tyler Blackburn

3.One part of your life memory, action, etc. that you wish you could surgically remove from your brain?
Nothing really, every little thing taught me a lesson.

4. What generation do you wish you had been apart of?
The Victorian Era. Take a look at their fashion style.

5. What was your favorite childhood toy?

The stuffed Minnie Mouse my uncle got me. I still have it somewhere around the house.

6.What's your favorite housecleaning chore?
Washing the dishes, the easiest too.


7. Do you Tweet?
I do, @_Vera45


8. Any goals?
Open up my own library, publish novels.

9. Since I'll be nominating muslims I'll alter the question to "Do you really drink coffee all the time?"

Not as often as I'd like to.

10. What is the ugliest car you've ever driven and were embarrassed to be seen in?

I don't drive.

I nominate whoever's reading this :)

The Journey [4]

A series of posts inspired by a line in a nasheed that says;

والله مافي هذه الدنيا الذ من اشتياق العبد للرحمن

It is about a journey that I went through and would like to share it with you all.
-----------

My previous post was about the purpose in life, so what is yours?

الآية 56 من سورة الذاريات:

وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالْإِنْسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ

(51:56) I created the jinn and humans for nothing else but that they may serve Me;

We usually keep that in the back of our minds when we are so wrapped up in earthly matters. People commit suicide, steal, kill others all simply because they were faced with circumstances they couldn't deal with, they saw no point of living afterwards.

It is really sad. I know a few who say that and it hurts me deep inside. Allah is great. Your life isn't yours, He gifted it to you and only He can claim it, you do not have the right to take your life by your own hands just because something went wrong. Have a strong Iman, a faithful heart that rightly knows things happen for a reason, that these are merely tests so He can see who will thank Him for the good things and pray for His mercy in the bad times.

I have went through something so horrible.. I thought I lost who I was but it only took me a moment of deep thinking to realise I need a new definition to who I am, and here it is; I'm a Muslim girl who would go through many patches in life, I would not give up, I would not lose myself just because something went wrong, Allah is merciful, Allah is kareem and he loves his 3ibad.

I became too attached to my new thoughts, my perspective of things, my beliefs and el7amdellah I feel so secure and safe when I utter the name Allah :)

الحمدلله الذي هدانا وجعلنا مسلمين

The Journey [3]

A series of posts inspired by a line in a nasheed that says;

والله مافي هذه الدنيا الذ من اشتياق العبد للرحمن

It is about a journey that I went through and would like to share it with you all.We often hear people say that they have no purpose in living. It gets frustrating hearing it coming from a Muslim.. It saddens me more than anything when someone loses hope just because life have treated him unfairly in a way, that he lost something so dear to him that he can't see the point of living. We all go through that. We know how everything can turn gloomy in a matter of seconds and we are left bare and twisting in the dreaded agony of our mishap. Some choose to rise above it and some just get drowned in it, in the thought of having lost 'The Purpose'. So ask yourself this, what is your purpose in living?

If it was for pleasing people, what if they are never pleased no matter what you do?

If it was for reaching a certain goal, what if you realise you have absolutely no chance of getting there?

If it was for being there for someone, what if they leave?

Does your life stop here? Will you wake up everyday wishing you didn't?

It is at this point in time that you have to fully have a bigger meaning in life, a higher purpose than earthly matters which you cling to so that once they fade away, you are still here.

I will discuss more on this topic in part 4 inshAllah.

The Journey [2]

A series of posts inspired by a line in a nasheed that says;

والله مافي هذه الدنيا ألذ من اشتياق العبد للرحمن

It is about a journey that I went through and would like to share it with you all.

When you're feeling down at the end of the night, when the world seems to be spinning so fast, you are left to get all these depressing thoughts.. Despair is engulfing your heart and you could barely breathe above your silent cries.. What do you do?

الاية 28 من سورة الرعد

الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ وَتَطْمَئِنُّ قُلُوبُهُم بِذِكْرِ اللَّهِ أَلاَ بِذِكْرِ اللَّهِ تَطْمَئِنُّ الْقُلُوبُ

My heart felt heavy.. It felt weak and troubled because of all the negative thoughts I was having.. I felt like I needed a blanket, I needed to wrap my heart with something so it would be whole and intact again, to place it back properly instead of having it shaking and turning.. The answer, my readers, was perfectly clear.

أَلاَ بِذِكْرِ اللَّهِ تَطْمَئِنُّ الْقُلُوبُ

Why do we lose ourselves to our darkest of times? Why do we feel so troubled when we have the solution right in front of us? Yes, ithkir Allah, pray to him, listen to Quran and just lay back and relax الله هو الحفيظ الرحيم You will be amazed at how easily your mood has been lift up, you no longer feel lost, you no longer surrender to your weakness, you will rise above it all with the help of Allah. You have trouble sleeping? Read a few verses of the Quran, the mu3awithat, put your earphones on and listen to the recitation of your favourite Quran reciter, smile and be content for we have a solution to all of our ordeals yet we act like we don't. When you turn to Him in time of your need, there's something joyous in that. There is the deep knowledge that He is going to help you. He will be there for you. He will answer to your prayers. Don't give up hope like some did.

إن الله كريم مجيب الدعاء

I think reaching to this level of realisation makes life easier for you. You know that whatever you'll go through, there's a way out. There is a way to bring joy to your heart, a way to feel peaceful and whole again. Words can't express this amazing feeling, keep working on your faith, on your connection to Him and you will definitely reach there inshAllah.

The Journey [1]

A series of posts inspired by a line in a nasheed that says;

والله مافي هذه الدنيا الذ من اشتياق العبد للرحمن

It is about a journey that I went through and would like to share it with you all.


A few nights ago I sat with my little sister and made her listen to هي جنة لحمود الخضر She was fascinated by the idea of living in Heaven eternally and the description in the nasheed made her eager to hear more about Jannah and how to get there..

It made me reflect on how far I've gotten with my own faith, with my connection to Allah. I haven't been the good Muslim so to speak for a long time, I used to go on with my prayers as a routine and never fully get into that calm state of serenity.. Until I desperately needed to reconnect with Allah. It was at this particular time of my life where I felt so alone, like I needed to know who I was and what I was in order to go about my day. Something bad happened.. It left me weak and vulnerable and plain sad. It dragged me into the hallways of depression and I thought to myself that I'd forever stay there, that this is it for me.

During many sleepless nights, I couldn't help but wonder if what I was doing to myself was rational, because I knew the way out of all this was to get back to my senses and think straight. I began to understand that everything happens for the reason, that Allah had this written for me so there is a good thing coming out of it eventually.. I learned to look at the bright side, I learned to accept the situation, embrace it even. I began feeling peaceful when I was in the darkest stage of my life and on the sound of the athan, I'd make the wudu and spread my sijaada on the floor and start praying.. It calmed me down completely, it made me realise how beautiful it is when you turn to Allah in your time of need. Whenever you feel down or hurt, just turn to the one who will always be there, who will listen to your prayers because he's السميع العليم

Sub7an Allah, no matter how far away we drift from him, He will always be there for us.

يقول عز وجل في كتابه الكريم في سورة البقرة، الأية رقم 186

{وَإِذَا سَأَلَكَ عِبَادِي عَنِّي فَإِنِّي قَرِيبٌ أُجِيبُ دَعْوَةَ الدَّاعِي إِذَا دَعَانِي فَلْيَسْتَجِيبُوا لِي وَلْيُؤْمِنُوا بِي لَعَلَّهُمْ يَرْشُدُونَ }

And when My servants ask you, [O Muúammad], concerning Me – indeed I am near. I respond to the invocation of the supplicant when he calls upon Me. So let them respond to Me [by obedience] and believe in Me that they may be [rightly] guided.
Surat Al Baqarah, verse no. 186

This is a da3wa from Allah to us; whatever you need, pray to Him.

I took comfort in the 5 daily prayers. I began to look forward to them because they were the only times that I would leave everything else that didn't matter behind me and fully be there, in mind, body and soul, focusing on what's important, on why I'm here and that's nothing but to worship Him. It gave me a sense of utter peacefulness, to feel that Allah is watching over me.. He made this happen for a reason, and what better reason than to reconnect with him?

GG's Fashion

With only a couple of episodes left of Gossip Girl for me to watch, I can't begin to express my fascination to the outfits of the show. The sense of fashion is simply sophisticated and modern, if only I had half the wardrobe they have. Blair Waldorf's wardrobe caught my attention, not only because she never (or rarely) wears jeans or sweatpants but because her mini dresses are to die for. Blair's style is classic, very Upper-East-Side and she goes for skirts, dresses and longwear. When it comes to accessories, there's always HEADBANDS! (For most of season 1 and 2, that is) Although her style seems easy to pull off, it requires a good and classical taste.

I'll leave you with my favourite looks:

Look #4 on the right, if you know me, you'll definitely guess that it's something I would wear. I adore mini dresses! Especially those with a belt under the chest. Even if it wasn't part of the dress, I'd add it as an accessory. You can never go wrong with belts, I recently had a look at H&M's collection of belts at Dubai's City Centre, gorgeous ones!




Look #2, so chic and simple, I can see myself in it with a pair of leggings instead. As you can see above, there's a quite collection of coats and suit jackets in the 2nd picture, I've always had a thing for suit jackets.

Beginning of an End

What can I say about June? It's the month that I sat for my final exams at school, the month that set the beginning of a new life and the end of an old one. It was a hectic month, one that took everything away from me, my life, and freedom yet gave them back to me at the right time. There are times when I just couldn't take it anymore, I felt so vulnerable and weak but going down that road is never easy. I decided to reflect upon the good things I have left, the great people I have in my life who wouldn't give up on me so why would I? In order to get through things you wouldn't dream of surviving, have a big amount of faith that you can. That you'll get the strength you need from prayers and a keen heart that knows Allah will always be there for his 3ibad.

Thankfully, what I perceived as the darkest point in my life was merely a glitch in the way, a stopping point to realize good things must come to an end, you might as well enjoy them while they last. You will live a certain period being in denial, afraid of what you know will happen, there's nothing wrong with that, I should know. Live as ignorant as you want to be, have high expectations, hopes and dreams and build a fairytale and decorate it with whatever lies you want, it'll eventually collapse and you'll be crushed. Don't worry, you'll get over it. Even though it seems like it's the end, that you're never going to get out of the mess you helped create with your wishful thinking, time heals everything. You won't forget or forgive, but here's this promise: You will move on.

This last year of school wouldn't have been great without my friends, we went through so much together as we've been friends for 9 years.. It's a very long time, during this time we've grown so used to each other that it would feel different having to make new friends, but like all things, we learn and things will be easier el7amdellah. Results came out on Friday and I couldn't be happier, I broke the circle I intended to break. I just hope the bigger reward is getting a scholarship in the upcoming days inshAllah. Allah kareem.

One last thing: You make your own choices. Sure, there's fate that controls everything in our life, but you have the choice of changing certain things. Like choosing to move on, not to suffer, whatever it may be, you always have a choice (except when people make the decision for you, even then, you can choose to accept and walk away) What would life be without failing, without getting to know the truth about people, without disappointments and heartache after all?

I'm Done

I should come off the shell I'm trying to delve in, I've started carving my way in so hard trying to keep things in tact, trying to perfect the bigger picture, forgetting the small person on the far corner, that's me. I neglected the things that matter most, things that make me who I am all in the hopes of having a better option, a choice I thought I was able to deal with..


P.S. I finished school today. Feels so liberating to finally say that.

Not Anymore

أليس مصيرُ ذلكَ للزوال؟

"أيا من عاشَ فى الدنيا طويـلا *** وأفنى العمَر فـى قِيلٍ وقـالِ
وأتعبَ نفسَه فيمـا سَيَفْنَــى *** وجَمَّعَ من حـرامٍ أو حـلال
هَبِ الدنيا تُقاد إليك عفــوًا *** أليس مصير ذلكَ للزوالِ ؟"



~ أبو العتاهية

We Meet Again!

What does a person say when he've been so out of it for the past year that none of the things he will say will ever make up for the things he did not do?

^

I missed babbling like that. Like there's something important I will say if you just read along.. I forgot how good this feels, to write for the heck of it. Not because you have a 2-pages-long essay you have to submit the next day. No, this feels good. Really good. To be writing as if there's a point you'd like to make, a doubt you'd want to clear out, an uncertainty you'd like to make sure of. Whatever it is, there's an odd sense of relief you'll feel after reading the letters you spread across a page.

This have been a crazy year for me, I don't know what or why I am where I am but I'd like to think I'm taking it slow, to figure it all out. I just hope it won't be too late when and if I do.

School's going to be over in a month. How frightening and exciting =)

What's been recently added to my wish-list, this amazing vintage typewriter I found on ebay. I'd love to have one someday.

Take care all,

M.

Marina Bandar Al Rawdha

Photos taken by me.

Mute

A quote from my current read, Perfect Match by Jodi Picoult

This is what Nathaniel knows: He talked, and the bad man grabbed his mother's arm. He talked, and the police came. He talked, and his mother got taken away.

So he will never talk again.

Page 262.

This struck a cord with me. I shall go mute.

[HBBC] Guilty Pleasures

Welcome to The Half-Baked Bloggers Consortium‘s (HBBC), where we voice our opinions about a weekly topic chosen by any HBBC member. This weekend’s topic is Guilty Pleasures.
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I have a long list of guilty pleasures. First comes cookies and my exceptionally overrated cravings that I have for it. But I like to think that I deserve having them for being the goody-two-shoes that I am.

Second comes reading prose on Tumblr as a bedtime story. I seriously and wholeheartedly feel guilty about this. When I'm supposed to be sleeping, I log on to Tumblr to read what those word-players wrote. They really make my day, though. I try to convince myself that the sole reason why I do this is to give myself a push into writing something as wonderful as that.

Here's one of my favourite posts:

MY DIRGE - Written by R.A Casilao

If I wrote you a verse, would you notice me? The stanza would talk about my feelings for you. I would not put it so blatantly. I would hide it in metaphors. I would expertly conceal them in the poetry. If I told you the verse was for you, would your mind open and figure the riddle out? Would you look at me and smile, or would you simply thank me and turn around?

If I wrote you another one, a sonnet this time, would you see past my face? Would you peel away the shroud of society’s vanity from your eyes and see my true form? The sonnet would talk about how I see your soul. The rhyme and measurement would detail why I lust you. The words would be more romantic this time, invoking the promises of lovers of old. If you knew I wrote it for you, would your mind entertain a possibility? And if it did, would you give in or rebuff it?

If I wrote you a villanelle, labored in an hour or so, detailing your attributes, your accoutrements, your adeptness, would you accept my invitation to dine with me? Would you recite the villanelle in your head in the midst of dinner and find it familiar? Would you stop and consider my soul instead of the body I loathe to the core? Would you drink my humor and eat my wit? Would you devour my spirit? Would you see past the external and notice the beauty that emanated from inside?

If I wrote you a longer piece, free verse, where every line resonated with passion, where every word described you in elaborate seduction, would it sway you? Would you finally hunger and lust me in the same manner as I do you? Would you long to own me like I want to be owned? Would you become aware that you’ve heard the words before and recall how they had tasted?

And finally, if I wrote you a sestina, bled for it, sacrificed part of my soul to finish it, the best sestina ever written, a piece that contained every single word that every single couple have told each other in the annals of time, in literature and history, every vow in a wedding taken right from the moment when the couples who uttered them meant every word utterly, would this be enough to make you love me? Would you abandon your wants, your standards, your desire for fleeting earthly things, and know that your soul belonged with mine?

Would you realize, at last, that I am your soulmate and that the world had punished us with time and prejudice? That it had caged my soul in an ugly, distasteful shell so you won’t recognize it? Would the words I wrote for you ring truth in your ears and would your eyes open to compensate it?

Maybe I should stop asking these questions. Maybe I should risk the answers and just… start writing the poems.

Brilliantly written, right?

I could go on about my guilty pleasures but I'd have to include blogging-when-I'm-supposed-to-be-studying if I did. So that's it for today.

Till next time,
M.

Disjointed

What you're gonna get from this post is a bunch of random rants .. Ones without a link to the other.. Put the dots together to see how my train of thoughts is these days..

*

The thing with exams approaching is that you have no time for freaking out, try doing that, and you're left with a coupla hours to revise and cram. Believe me, I should know.

**

2011 ended, 2012 is a big year for me, I might end up depressed at home for not working hard enough or I might be studying abroad somewhere, who knows..

***

I've stopped writing and that has made all the difference.. Wish I'd go back to it, without needing another source of self-relief that might lead me to things I'm not sure I could handle.. Things were easier back then. My pen was my best friend. My words were my only solace. And I loved things that way.

****

Nothing's constant. Time changes every single little thing.

*****

Remember how I said numbers don't make sense to me? That I prefer words, since they speak loud and clear? Well. I've changed my mind. Numbers won't change, add 1 and 1, you'll always get two, there's no way that there's a deeper meaning to that. Words have that freakin deep meaning. To get that, you gotta read between the lines.. Go over them again and again till you're caught in between this and that, not knowing what you should do next.

******

In order to revive Omani Book Mania, I started a series of posts with the title of 2011 in Books. If you're interested, email me your top 11 books that you've read in 2011, or review your favourite one. (Check Omani Book Mania to get an idea and email me at omanibookmania@gmail.com)

*******

I have gone through many different stages this year, but I managed to came out stronger than I thought I would be. And that have helped me shape my conclusions and take better choices the next time.

********

What I have learned from this year though, keeping aside my negative thoughts up there, is to count on myself. Because I remember that one time that I lost my cool and realised that I can't be around anyone at that time but me. It made things clear; I can depend on myself, I can get myself out of the mess I helped create, I can fix things the way I want without the interference of others. I can do what I want if I believed I could.

And I have to believe I could pass this year too.

*********

I'd kill to go on vacation. I want to run-away somewhere. A faraway island, preferably.. All I need, I guess, is a timeout. I'm afraid I can't get one till the 31th.. Then a trip to somewhere would do it for me, I don't care where, as long as I get a plane ticket and I'm not 'here'..

**********

Anyone seen Elvis and Annabelle? The cliche in that movie was both of them trying to commit suicide at the same time. Looking at their lives, one can't question that they have lived differently yet they didn't believe they actually lived life in the true sense.. I understand Annabelle more, she have been under the spotlights ever since she could remember thanks to her mom always managing her life.. But I don't get Elvis'.. I mean he was happily taking care of his father but then again, once he passed away, he didn't find a reason to live any longer till the miracle happened.

**********

I have been thinking of Heathcliff lately. More than I should, I have to add.. How can someone stand him? How can his actions be justified? Is it love that turned him into the monster he became? Or jealousy?