Barley Benefits and Recipes
Eating Healthy with Barley
Since Barley is rich in fiber, it’s a great staple to add to your kitchen for your family’s Regularity, Lower Cholesterol, & Intestinal Protection...among other health benefits. There are numerous varieties of barley, and the one readily available in 2 local grocery stores was Pearl Barley. But, just like all grains, the more they are in the kernel the healthier it is; so we’re still on the hunt.
While there are dozens of barley recipes offered on this great website (that I’ll try soon, inshaAllah, God willing), I just added a cup of barley into a Moroccan stew-spiced-up-and-turned-into- a-soup-recipe below.
This easy, healthy, pot of soup helped sooth a couple of our sore throats this week, so we were very satisfied.
Peppered Chicken Barley Soup
Ingredients:
- 2 chicken quarters (thighs & legs), skinned
- 9 cups of water
- 1.5 large onions
- 7 cloves garlic
- 2 chicken bouillons (preferably Maggi)
- 2 teaspoons ginger (substitute fresh ginger if you have)
- 1 teaspoon paprika (preferably Turkish spicy paprika)
- 2 Cherry peppers
- 2 carrots
- 1 medium sized potato diced
- 1 cup of pearl barley
Instructions:
- Cut the chicken quarters to 2 legs & 2 thighs.
- Add water, chicken, onions, garlic, chicken bouillon, ginger and paprika. Boil for approximately 45 minutes until chicken is nice and tender (but not shredded). We boil with a pressure cooker for a steam time of about 20 minutes.
- Take out the chicken bones and and cut the chicken to bite-sizes.
- Slice the cherry peppers into slivers, with the seeds.
- Slice the carrots into bite-sizes.
- Add the cherry peppers, carrots, potatoes, and barley. Boil for approximately 45 minutes. Pressure cooker steam time was about 20 minutes again.
Serve hot with pitas, French or Italian bread and salad.
I made this as a light late lunch meal, much to our amazement we were stuffed that everyone thought it was dinner. Hubby and the girls convinced me that because they were filled, alhumduililah, Praise be to God, that I didn’t have to make dinner, and they would have a cup of soup and some more salad if and when they were hungry…just as long as they could have a big ice cream waffle cone for dessert.
Undoubtedly, I agreed! Yum, yum. 
Have a great barley recipe to share? Please comment below. Or, if you know where we can buy other varieties of barley please let us know.
Homemade Soft Taco Dinner
When I asked my girls, what do you want with ground beef tonight for dinner one chimed, “we haven’t had tacos in a while”…hmmm, “Not since I made our own tortillas, right!?…(eyes waiting for my next phrase)…okay, I’ll make the dough”.
Now, tacos has always been a family-fun dinner night because its fast, healthy and everyone, hubby included, helps to prepare the nearly dozen bowls of add-ons, such as tomatoes, avocado dip, sour cream, lettuce, etc.
Now, the girls help roll and fry our own tortillas too.
Tortilla Bread Machine Recipe
We started out with this recipe, and made the following adjustments:
- We do not grease the pan
- We do not wait for dark brown-black burnt marks.
- We flip only once.
- We set our gas stove at medium high, 5 out of 6 on our dial.
- We made this recipe the third time with corn flour and it was delicious. It was just much harder to roll them into nice circles with rounded edges.
Homemade Taco Seasonings Recipe
Considering we have almost hundred different spices in our cabinets, literally, we actually had everything on this list except onion powder.
- This recipe lasted 3 (1.5 pound meat) dinners.
- Storing it in a sandwich bag worked perfectly fine as well.
We added half a jar of medium or hot salsa to our meat, and yum-yum our tacos were done!
Taco toppings
So, what do you put on your tacos?
We always have the following dishes for everyone to fill their own tacos themselves:
- lettuce
- tomatoes
- medium or hot salsa
- sour cream (we put this on last as the “glue” to hold the rolled soft taco together)
- avocado dip (one avocado with the juice of half a lemon or one full lime, both are delicious!)
- shredded cheese (we prefer white or orange cheddar rather than ‘taco’ or ‘Mexican’ shredded cheese mixes)
- fresh or pickled jalepeno peppers
- Tobacco sauce
On ambitious days, we make chicken and beans dishes too.
So, what do you add in your tacos? We always have room for another topping or side dish, so please share below.
Banana and Strawberry Milkshake Recipe – By Kids For Kids
Here’s a fast and easy-to-make, healthy, sweet, yummy and delicious dessert that me, my sisters, and parents been making for many years. It’s an easy recipe that I think I have it mostly memorized (because nothing has to be exact.)
Banana and Strawberry Milkshake Recipe
Ingredients:
3 cups strawberries
2 medium-sized ripe bananas
1 cup sugar
2 cups milk
Directions:
Cut strawberries in half or quarters to approximately one-inch wedges or slices. Cut bananas into approximately ½ inch slices. Freeze the fruit until ready to prepare.
Whenever we bananas that are getting soft and ripe, or strawberries that are getting too ripe and juicy, we slice them up and freeze them in a container. Therefore, we’re always ready for these milkshakes.
When you’re ready to prepare and drink, put all the ingredients into a blender and puree to desired thickness.
This recipe makes 5 8-ounce glasses, that’s not to sweet, not to watery and not to thick.* But, you are welcome to make the necessary adjustments to the amount of any of the ingredients to suit your taste.
Serve with a straw & Enjoy!
We’d love to learn more recipes made by kids, so please share in the comments below!
How to Wash Fruit And Vegetable
How To Wash Produce
I am frequently asked how to wash produce and remove pesticides. Washing produce in plain tap water has been shown to be as almost as effective as the special sprays that are available in the produce section of your grocery store. It is important to wash your produce well before eating, even if it says pre-washed or organic.
Make Your Own Fruit and Vegetable Wash
Make your own produce wash using a botanically-based dish washing liquid. One small drop in a gallon of cold water will help to remove pesticides. Wash fruits and vegetables quickly by rubbing the outside with your fingers then rinse and dry with towel. Do not soak your produce in the soapy water.
Another technique which has been shown to be more effective than commercial produce washers is lemon juice and/or vinegar washes. Make your own wash by dipping your produce in vinegar or lemon juice, followed by rubbing for 5 seconds, rinsing with running water, and drying with a paper towel.
Washing Vegetables and Fruits
- Before working with any foods, wash hands with soap and water.
- Under clean running water, rub fruits and vegetables briskly with your hands to remove dirt and surface germs.
- Wash produce just before serving but not before storing. Washed produce spoils quicker.
- Remove outer leaves of leafy vegetables before washing.
- Always wash bananas, melons or squashes before cutting even if you are not going to eat the rind.
- DO NOT wash produce with conventional detergent or bleach solutions.
Eat More Fruits And Veggies
In order to maintain a healthy lifestyle everyone should eat 8-10 fruits and vegetables a day. Visit the Wow You Are Really Lucky, healthy living blog for more fruit and vegetable recipes and tips from Deb Bixler.
Holistic Health and Wellness columnist, Deb Bixler is a natural diet and lifestyle educator who focuses on small daily choices that add up to big results. If there are any specific topics of interest that you want her to cover, please contact us and let us know.
Past articles written by Deb Bixler include:
Homemade ‘Awamee Recipe – Deep-Fried Sweet Balls, or Boobahs – Slightly Changed
‘Awamee – Deep-Fried Sweet Balls Recipe
Ingredients:
2 cups flour
4 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon instant dry yeast
1.5 cups warm water
1 quantity sugar-water syrup (qater): 2 cups sugar, 1 cup water, 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, and (optional) 2 tablespoons rose water or orange blossom.
~ 2 cups cooking oil
Directions:
In a large bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch, and salt; then pour in the yeast and mix well. Add the water and stir until the mixture resembles the texture of pancake batter and cover and set aside for 1 hour [or overnight in the fridge--the longer the better. It never made it past 1 night at our house. ]
Meanwhile, prepare the qatar as follows:
Heat water and sugar in a medium pot on medium heat. Watch and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Set aside. While off the heat add the lemon juice and optional rose water or orange blossom.
Add the cooking oil in a pan and heat it on high. Once heated, reduce to medium-high heat and add a teaspoon of batter sporadically in the pan.
If you like to make small ball shapes, you need to fill your pan full of cooking oil, make sure it’s very hot and drop less than a teaspoon of batter. The oil will fry it up on all sides by itself and float to the top of the pan. This is the typical way it is made with much more qatar as well.
However,we like the deep-fried crunchy on the outside, soft & chewy
inside. It takes less oil and a lot less qatar (sugar water). So, while this is not the healthiest dessert, our version is a bit healthier, if that’s possible
Once they are a nice crispy fried color, turn over to the other side and you’ll have funky shapes resembling PBS’s beloved Boobahs! 
Take the balls or Boobahs and set them on paper towels to soak up some remaining oil.
The traditional way is to soak the deep-fried balls ‘awamee in the qatar until it it sinks to the pan. The taste is good, but extremely sweet, that when you bit into the ball the qatar squeezes out from inside.
As I explained above, we like the crispy sweet taste on the outside alone, and the fluffy, airy test and texture in the inside. So, we hold a fork and slotted spoon. Drop in the ‘awamee, flip quickly so it is coated with qatar on all sides and quickly take it out. Place it on a plate and eat it hot.
If made the traditional way, it’s more like a candy and can be placed all together in a clear cellophane baggy and stored in room temperature. Beware that they are drippingly-sticky and usually eaten at room temperature. Our new way is eaten hot, fluffy and just enough sweetness to say “Yum, I want more!” But, by the time the plate is done you’ll be saying “Alhumdulilah, Praise be to God. That was enough sweets for the night.”
Children Need More Dietary Fiber – Fool Recipe
Kids Need More Fiber
Today, most children are not eating enough dietary fiber on a daily basis. American children are lacking in fiber because they are consuming so many processed foods. A diligent Mom must make every effort to add fiber to her children’s daily diet. It is not hard to add fiber to your diet with some small simple choices each day.
Foods With Higher Fiber
Many Middle Eastern and Muslim foods are naturally high in fiber. Grape leaves, brown rice and of course beans or legumes are an excellent sources of fiber. Sometimes sticking with traditional recipes is the best choice you can make for your family.
Legumes High Fiber
When you cook legumes on a daily basis your children will benefit from the added fiber in a longer and healthier life. The fava bean is one legume not often found on the average American dinner table. A traditional Middle Eastern dish using the fiber rich fava bean is ful medammas. Fava beans, which originated in west or central Asia, are a staple breakfast food in Egypt and are frequently used in preparing for Ramadan due to the stick-to-the-ribs ability of the filling bean.
Fava Beans = Fool Medemmas
The traditional Middle Eastern dish is spelled many ways but Fool Medemmas basically means fava beans. In the US they are sometimes called broad beans. Either way the buttery flavored fava bean may be found canned or dry in most grocery stores. Progresso makes canned fava beans. This is a simple recipe that is fun, fast and high fiber. Get your children back into the habit of eating high fiber foods.
2 cup cooked fava beans (canned or dried)
1 large onion, chopped
1 large tomato, diced
1 Tbs. olive oil
1 tsp. cumin powder
2 Tbs. fresh parsley, chopped
Juice of 2 lemons
Salt
Red chili pepper to taste
Pita bread (please get whole wheat)
- Bring all ingredients to a boil.
- Simmer for about 5-10 minutes or until onions are tender.
- Eat with pita as is.
- Or puree into a spread in your food processor or blender.
Learn more easy food switcheroos that you can make in your every day family meals to add more fiber to your children’s diet.
Holistic Health and Wellness columnist, Deb Bixler is a natural diet and lifestyle educator who focuses on small daily choices that add up to big results. If there are any specific topics of interest that you want her to cover, please contact us and let us know.
Past articles written by Deb Bixler include:
Kids Healthy Eating Test
I teach many classes for kids healthy eating at area schools, churches, the Jewish Community Center and more. [Ponn: We'll have to get you into the Islamic community too, inshaAllah, God willing ] Frequently the organization is using grant money to pay for the healthy eating class for the children. When that is the case we offer a pre-test and a post test so that the results can be used for future grant funding.
Children’s Healthy Eating Test
Can you pass the children’s healthy eating test without taking the class? (The answers are found at the bottom of the page.)
- Which foods that are whole grains? organic flour, whole wheat flour, brown rice, rye flour, oatmeal
- What does organic mean?
- My breakfast cereal is probably whole grain: True or False
- Dessert is good for you: Always, sometimes, never
- Fat is good for me: True or False
- Which Fat is better for you? olive oil or butter
- Should I eat the skin of organic apples?
- Which of the following are processed foods? Sponge Bob Macaroni and Cheese, Apples, Raisins, White Flour, Mom’s home made macaroni and cheese.
- Which is better for you Captain Crunch cereal or Kashi Crunch cereal?
- Which foods are are vegetables: celery, cherries, cabbage, broccoli, peanut butter, steak, cupcakes
- I think it would be better for me to eat white bread instead of whole wheat: True or False
- Which foods are protein: chicken, broccoli, lemons, fish, peanut butter, grapes
- Which foods are carbohydrates: oranges, oatmeal, ice cream, barbecued chicken, eggs
Cooking For Kids
If you got more than 5 incorrect answers and are cooking for kids on a regular basis you may want to learn a little more about your foods. Kids who cook before they are twelve will live a longer healthier life. When you get your children involved in cooking healthy good-for-you foods at a young age you are investing in their life long health. The passion of cooking is a gift for your children that will las their whole entire life.
Natural Foods For Healthy Kids
Kids who eat a natural-high fiber-chemical free diet have a lower risk of many diseases. Research has shown that high fiber diets and natural foods reduce your chances of diabetes, cancer, heart disease and more. Your children deserve a long and healthy life. Learn more about natural foods to fight cancer, hearth disease and keep your kids healthy.
Healthy Cooking Test Answers
- whole wheat flour, brown rice, oatmeal
- grown, harvested and transported pesticide, herbicide and synthetic fertilizer free.
- False
- sometimes
- True
- olive oil
- yes
- Sponge Bob Macaroni and Cheese, White Flour
- Kashi Crunch
- celery, cabbage, broccoli
- False
- chicken, fish, peanut butter
- oranges, oatmeal, ice cream
Holistic Health and Wellness columnist, Deb Bixler is a natural diet and lifestyle educator who focuses on small daily choices that add up to big results. Learn more about her holistic health and wellness approach to life with this COOL reminder chart on how to live a healthy life style. Deb provides a vast resource of healthy recipes and ideas on how to speed up your metabolism naturally at her healthy living resource center. If there are any specific topics of interest that you want her to cover, please contact us and let us know.
Past articles written by Deb Bixler include:
Healthy Children’s Eating Habits Last A Lifetime!
Children Need Good Habits
Children’s fitness and eating habits start in their childhood and will be carried out their entire life. When you teach your children how to lead an active life you are investing in their future. Statistics have shown that children who watch to much TV have a greater chance of becoming obese. TV/Video games contribute to obesity.
Healthy Food Choices For Kids
Your children’s food choices today are impacting their life forever. Most parents do not realize how many chemicals that they are feeding their children. Chemicals have no nutritional value and they are addictive which is why the children today are coming down with adult type diseases in their teen years. You can change that for your children by studying and learning what chemicals are in their food. For example many brands of macaroni and cheese are almost all chemicals and no whole foods. Learn what chemicals are in Macaroni and cheese so you can make better food choices for your kids. When you make macaroni and cheese from scratch using a healthy recipe, you will give your kids the gift of good health.
Improve Your Kids’ Health
You can improve your kids’ health by the choices you make. Teach them how to cook and enjoy real food and get them away from the TV!
Holistic Health and Wellness columnist, Deb Bixlet is a natural diet and lifestyle educator who focuses on small daily choices that add up to big results. Learn more about her holistic health and wellness approach to life with this COOL reminder chart on how to live a healthy life style. Deb provides a vast resource of healthy recipes and ideas on how to speed up your metabolism naturally at her healthy living resource center. If there are any specific topics of interest that you want her to cover, please contact us and let us know.
Please share your thoughts and experiences below!
Creative Cost Cutting for Eid Shopping
As a growing homeschool family of 3 daughters ages 9, 8 and 6 year old, with Ramadan just days away, we already begun our shopping for decorations, clothes, foods, etc. When asked how could we cut costs for holiday shopping, we just began to think how do we holiday shop–period. Below are some frugal, fun, creative, and very personalized gifts and decorations that we do during this blessed time of year:
- Our Kids’ Gifts For Others: This is a perfect time when we go through all their art work that has been piling up all year, and start determining which ones will be sent to which family member as gifts. The girls personalize each art project, sign and date them, then decorate fancy envelopes as well.
- This is my attempt to keep our closets and shelves from overflowing with all the “you-must-keep-this-I-made-it-for-YOU-Mommy” hand-made home-made gifts. Fortunately, my parents (now, just Daddy) and my one sister (aka “Super Auntie”) actually frame their work and hang it up in their homes. Therefore, I always explain that their art work lives longer as gifts for others, rather then in Mama & Baba’s file cabinets. This is Mama’s persuasion at its best
- Because my family is non-Muslim, this serves as an act of dawaa (introduction to Islam) by educating them of our lifestyle and way of life. So, my girls take great pride in gift-making and gift-giving.
- Cards – Since they can pick up a crayon, we’ve been making home-made cards. We started with easy construction paper, and now as they grow older we’ve graduated to more scrapbooking materials.
- This is my attempt to keep our closets and shelves from overflowing with all the “you-must-keep-this-I-made-it-for-YOU-Mommy” hand-made home-made gifts. Fortunately, my parents (now, just Daddy) and my one sister (aka “Super Auntie”) actually frame their work and hang it up in their homes. Therefore, I always explain that their art work lives longer as gifts for others, rather then in Mama & Baba’s file cabinets. This is Mama’s persuasion at its best
- Clothing Gifts For Our Kids: My girls are shop-o-holics who love a bargain and LOVES clothes. In the past 2 years, they prefer when they search for clothes with me, then they get to wear them for Eid. Shopping is a blessing (for my pocketbook and the joy of family time together) with my girls because they want a deal just as much as I do. They know, with every dollar saved, more dollars to spend on them–like games, toys, accessories, etc.
- Gifts For Our Kids: I take one day off, which hubby watches the girls, and I go on my bargain hunt for books, toys, software, etc. I buy steals and deals, but my goal is to make a “shopping list” for hubby so he can find them online much cheaper. We did this for ice skates, educational games, laptops, etc.
- Eid Clothes: For our Eid Days (since there are only 2 Eids a year), my girls have always worn bridal gowns. Because our girls were flower girls to my sister and brother’s wedding; it only seemed to be a logical excuse to wear gorgeous expensive dresses again. After all the hadith says “wear your best clothes…not ‘new’”. In keeping with the theme, we look at Bridal dress shops online, discount stores like Burlington Coat Factory (they have “Cinderella” brand that JCPenny sells for a fraction of the cost), search for clearances, and make sure we get a bargain on bulk shipping costs. It’s about dressing one’s best, and with a little research you can find $100-200 gowns for less than $40! We always accessorize too.
- Food: Because we have a huge breakfast in the morning before our fast and extra huge “break–fast” (get it?) dinner after the fast; we go to the closest metropolitan Arab community (Detroit, MI before and New York City now) and stockpile of wholesale, bulk packages of canned goods (pickles), special spices, specialty foods (e.g. quails). Then for the Eid celebration (3 days for Eid al-Fitr and 4-days for Eid-al-adha) we go to a local livestock or butcher to slaughter our own lamb or goat and stockpile at least a month’s worth of fresh meat, and give at least a third to the poor. Fresh meat–yum! At penny’s a pound–even yummier
- Decorations: Arts & Crafts, Party, Dollar Stores and Department Stores: clearance bins. For “Eid specific” we make our own. There are some online stores available, which I just discovered and may search their close-out bins too. But, every year visitors marvel at our creative, classy, and ingenious decorations. Last, because we’re off-season, we can always buy white lights during after-Christmas sales and store them for our holidays.
Hope this Creative Cost-Cutting Eid Tips help you spend more time with your family, making personalized gifts and memories which will last all our your lifetime rather than resorting to spending hundreds of dollars for the next-best-thing advertised in billboards and TV…which will never satisfy our inner peace and remembrance of Allah (May He be Glorified). We must not succumb to commercialization, and dedicate our actions and intentions to our beloved Creator the Only One Allah (May He Be Glorified).
If you have frugal, fun tips to share, please comment below!
Recipe: Homemade Halal Pizza; Pizza Sauce
We varied a book-recipe and was pleasantly surprise with how delicious this pizza sauce was compared to a more expensive jarred “homemade-recipe”pizza sauce.
Our recipe was so flavorful that we tasted the distinct sauce along with the cheeses and toppings; rather than the jarred sauce being a mere “paste” to keep the cheese and toppings in their place :-/
- Happy Note: The sauce recipe is SO easy. It only took the 10-minutes to make, while the first pizza dough was in the oven cooking, and ready once it was time to top the dough!
- Helpful Tip: Cut vegetables, open your cans and jars with utensils ready, before you put the first dough in the oven. We rushed, and made a mess of the kitchen. While a bit stressful (for me), all they remembered was having tons of fun. I actually forgot how stressful it was when we enjoyed the tasty dinner, but quickly remembered once I walked back into the kitchen. Since I was desperately stuffed, I waited until they were fast asleep before I started to clean.
Halal Pizza & Pizza Sauce Recipe
- Pizza sauce:
In a medium saucepan combine two 8-ounce cans of tomato sauce, one medium-sized finely-chopped onion, 2 cloves of garlic, 1 teaspoon of oregano, and 1 teaspoon of fresh basil. Bring to a boil, then simmer.
- Pizza dough:
Store-bought ready-made 1-pounders from the bakery.
One Italian family who I know LOVES to cook, never makes their own pizza dough. When you find a brand or bakery you like, stick with them. They informed me never to waste time and energy experimenting with the dough, it’s the toppings & sauce that makes the pizza. Interestingly, even one Food channel cook recommended the same. An Italian says whenever she goes to Italy and has a good pizza, she simply asks to buy a pound or 2 of their dough and brings in home to cook from. She has never been denied.
* Thin pizza: Sprinkle cornmeal or flour on the baking sheet, we used flour. Put the pizza dough (without letting it rise) in 425 degree oven for 112 minutes or till browned. Spread pizza suace over hot crust, sprinkle toppies, 10-15 minutes or till bubbly.
Our turned out exactly how we like it…not too thin, not too thick like a Sicilan. It was also like a pan pizza.
- Toppings:
- Cheeses:
- We are a whole-milk family, so I tried whole-milk mozzarella, chef style low moisture, part-skim mozzarella cheese, and a 2-cheese pizza cheese. We liked all four-cheese equally distributed.
- Pepperoni-substitute: Since the girls never had pepperoni before, and I did not want to try Turkey pepperoni, I bought Bresaola, Dried cured Beef, 3 oz. in the organic section of the grocery store and paid probably the most expensive part of the pizza: $4.99. But, we only used 4 pieces of the 12 pieces. It was absolutely delicious! We sprinkled just a bit of the 2-cheese pizza cheese on top of the Bresaola. Yummy!
- Olives:
- If you like black ones: California rip olives, sliced & canned
- Green ones: Spanish sliced manzanilla olives with minced pimientos (we took out the pimientos)
- Sliced hot jalapeno peppers, jarred.
- Fresh green bell pepper. Sliced in slivers. After the Bresaola, this one was everyone’s 2nd-choice topping!
- Cheeses:
This was a fun, fast dinner to make (timing is critical) with the girls. It was delicious and healthy…and we have left-overs for tomorrow’s lunch.
Enjoy and share your experiences below.
