Amanda Mouttaki
Amanda is a curious world traveling, mom of two busy boys, foodie at heart, addicted to social media and lover of all things Moroccan. She blogs about Moroccan food and living in a bi-cultural Muslim family at MarocMama Her contributions on American Muslim Mom will focus on, being a Muslim mom working outside the home, raising Muslim boys, recipes and kitchen hints and tips. You can connect with her on her website, Twitter or Facebook.
Four Tips to Balance Extra-Curricular Activities with Work
Cub Scouts, Girl Scouts, soccer, gymnastics, flag football, language lessons, horseback riding, birthday parties, school PTA events–the list goes on and on. I’m talking about extra-curricular activities. For parents who are working outside the home, these enrichment activities can be one massive headache. We all want to give our children every opportunity possible, but sometimes [...]
The Lunch Meeting – Navigating Workplace Responsibilities
Note from Ponn Sabra February 2013: This guest post was published and approved by my editor, while I was away. My family and I do NOT agree that it is ever allowed in Islam for one single non-Mahram male and female to meet alone. Work is not a life-death situation, such as on the war-grounds [...]
Raising Muslim Boys: Obedience
In English (and especially American culture), obedience is a word loaded with negative connotations. Honestly, I can’t think of another word that is so riddled with negativity. To obey is seen as a derogatory comment, that the person who is obeying is inferior to the one they are obeying. We must strive to show obedience [...]
5 Tips to Help You Keep a Clean Home When You Work Outside the Home
Summer is winding down, and the kids are on their way back to school. At this time of year, I look forward to having a more structured day for me and the kids, with fewer demands on finding child care or running to activities. However, the school year brings more challenges. Things around our home [...]
Summer Ramadan Meal Ideas
We have been having a long heat wave and chances are you have been to. As the temperatures started to rise, I started to think about Ramadan meal planning. When the temperatures are so hot I hate turning our stove on (maybe because we don’t have central air!), and you can only grill so often. [...]
Raising Muslim Boys: Handling Gender Stereotypes
I never imagined myself as a mom of two boys. I wasn’t the “girliest” girl, but I was certain when it came time for me to have children, I’d have girls. Apparently Allah (swt) had other plans! When my oldest son was born, things were easy until he was old enough to make independent decisions, [...]
Four Reasons Why Allowing Your Children to Spend Time Overseas Alone is a Good Idea
As a mom today there is a lot of advice and criticism given to us by others. One of the topics I have heard a lot of criticism about is my decision to let my children, on different occasions travel and stay overseas without me. Mind you they were not hitch hiking Europe solo at [...]
Balancing Life While Preparing for the LSAT
Last month I had the opportunity to fulfill one of my dreams. For some people that dream might be taking a special vacation, having a child, getting married or another major life event. However, for me that dream was to take the LSAT (Law School Admission Test) exam. Ten years ago as I entered university, [...]
Breakfast for the Working Mom: The Most Important Meal of the Day
I am the first one to admit that I rarely eat breakfast. Between getting my boys up, dressed, and backpacks organized and having to get myself dressed and ready for work it usually doesn’t happen. In November I challenged you to create a family calendar and commit to cooking and eating a home- cooked meal [...]
Raising Muslim Boys: Sensitivity
A Sixth Sense My oldest son is very sensitive, and he has always been this way. Somehow he has a sixth sense that picks up on pain and sadness in other people. I can remember when he was only a year or two old he could always tell if I was sad or upset, and he [...]
Feeding Your Family With Less Stress
Where did summer go? It seems I was just thinking about summer beginning and now here we are ready for winter! Personally I love falling back into a routine (even if it is crazy at times!). The one challenge I always face is feeding everyone when we are all running in 10 different directions, not [...]
Raising Muslim Boys: Creating a Helping Tradition at Home
Cultural Differences One of the hardest things to overcome when I married my husband was the cultural notions of gender roles. Having been born and raised in the United States by parents who were products of the equality movement of the 1970s, I always assumed that boys and girls everywhere were doing the same things. [...]
Halal Potluck Meal Recipe
It’s always fun to get together with family and friends for a fun lunch or dinner. It’s even more fun when you’re only responsible for one dish instead of the entire meal. Check out this recipe for a halal potluck meal to share at the next potluck you’re invited to! The Community Potluck Our masjid hosts a [...]
Why I Blog and You Should Too!
When I started blogging it was not because of some pipe dream of internet stardom. It was out of pure annoyance. Way back in 2007 my sister was calling me at least once a week to ask me for my Moroccan recipes. Every week I had to think back and try to tell her all [...]
Ramadan and Moroccan American Cuisine
Blogging has brought me a lot of new opportunities that had never crossed my mind in “life before blogging”. One of these ideas was publishing a cookbook. On my website I blog about food, specifically but not limited to Moroccan food. All of my recipes are halal though I do not market the site as [...]
