My husband & I have made a major lifestyle change this year. As we head into our mid thirties, our bodies are changing on us. We were always night-owls ever since college. He would workout at night- the gym is less crowded- less fitnah. Then work on his paperwork til the wee hours of night. I would even do my grocery shopping at night since taking 3 kids to the store during the day was pure torture. As a result, I’m ashamed to say we would miss our Fajr a lot.
This year with LF#3 in pre-school and LF#2 in school until 2:12, leaves just LF#4 at home and he hasn’t hit the terrible twos yet. My husband’s work schedule has Alhamdulillah become somewhat ‘normal’, with the 2:00 am calls diminishing as the hospital’s overtime budgets shrink.
As a result of all of this, we now go to bed by 10:00 as opposed to 2:00. The other reason for making this change was I am salah-training my LF#1 and frankly it was embarrassing when she asked me all too often why I had not woke her up for fajr.
This poster courtesy of OJS- my brother -in-love
Here is a motivating article on the dawn prayer.
Another how-to for the Fajr showdown
Now waking up before dawn breaks, he still fits the gym in – less fitnah that early in the morning too. My kids haven’t been tardy once since we started. The best part about it is LF#1 and I are bonding during prayers. It’s quiet in the morning – we talk without her younger siblings interrupting after every word. I know that there will be days when it is not perfect so pray for me.
I am including the yummy breakfast recipe we are making together now that we have time to enjoy them.
LF#1 Fave: Omlette a la Mama
7 Organic Free Range Eggs -one for every person in the family plus one
1 medium brown onion
Olive Oil (for the Sunnah)
Pepper jack cheese- I use the Tillamook brand, its creamy, halal certified, rennet free and the enzymes are microbial/ vegetable based AND made with milk produced without rBST. I love this company, its a cooperative of 110 dairy families.
Here is the link- Tillamook answers cheese questions.
- Buy the big block from Costco , shred it, put it in small ziplocs and freeze it
Red Chili powder- a pinch
Sea Salt
Fresh crushed black pepper
Fresh cilantro or parsley (whatever is available)
- Grate the cheese
- Cube the onions.
- Beat the eggs well in a large bowl. The longer you beat it the smoother your omelette will be.
- Season as desired.
- Warm your pan (use cast iron) and coat it lightly with olive oil over medium heat ( don’t use too much oil it will make the omelette soggy & greasy)
- Saute the onions until translucent
- Pour the eggs into the pan and cook until the bottom starts solidifying
- Lift up the pan edges so all the runny eggs flow to the side of the pan
- Fill the middle with onions, herbs and cheese and fold the omelette.
When we are in a hurry then we just add the onions to the eggs and fry the mixture, flip the omelette and just sprinkle the cheese on top.
Grown up version- add mushrooms & green bell pepper for the hubbie.
