Recipe: Breakfast Berry Quinoa (Welcome Kiran!)

HijabMan’s Note: Please welcome our new guest blogger, Kiran. She’ll be posting healthy recipes and whatever else she feels like writing. She also blogs at 400Degrees

Salaams, Greetings & Hello I’m Kiran!

HijabMan and I have been friends for some time, but I didn’t really get to know him until he photographed my wedding two years ago. At the time I was living in Indiana and have since moved to Connecticut. After getting married I had to face several adjustments: I was beginning a masters program (I’m a librarian by training), I was moving to some strange unheard of state, and after so long, I had to share my space with another person. Fortunately he likes books and I like shelving them (not that a real librarian would).
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Why I Concern Myself With Frozen Breast Milk

Disclaimer: I totally respect women’s abilities to make their own decisions about their bodies, and I’m not trying to argue that men taking an interest in these issues means that any man should have the final say on any woman’s decision.

With the very real chance of widespread power outages due to Hurricane Irene, a note on Facebook explaining the safety of refreezing breast milk was passed around. I posted it and within a few minutes, a woman asked why I as a man should be so concerned with breast milk.

Multiple reasons with the simplest first.

1. I’m a human being, and I like learning about everything… so that I can be a resource for people who don’t know.

2. Most of my friends are female. And I care about half of the human population.

3. I have a wife who travels a lot. So frozen breastmilk or breast milk sharing (yes, I am familiar, and a proponent) will eventually be a reality for me.

4. Most importantly, I believe every man should know about women’s bodies — form and function. It makes men better fathers, partners, lovers, and friends.
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My Hate-Turned-Love Relationship With Running. Part 2.

Obi100 + Router + Cheap Phone

In Part 1, I described how much I hated running and papayas. And then I told you about how my super-athlete in-laws got me to sign up for an 11 kilometer run:

“[They are] so athletic, in fact, that they took advantage of my newly married, I-don’t-speak-metric, willing-to-do-anything-to-impress-you self, and suggested we all split up into teams and participate in Malaysia’s Powerman competition. This involves each of us finishing either an 11K run, a 64K bike, or 10K run.

Long story short, I’m running my first-ever 11K in a little more than two weeks. In order to prepare for the event, I promptly read dozens of articles on barefoot-running, bought a pair of Vibram FiveFingers, and laid down on the couch. 11 kilometers. That’s 1/2 mile, right?”

Well, I did it. I ran 11 kilometers (6.835 miles) non-stop, with a time of 1 hour and 9 minutes, in ‘barefoot’ shoes’. And it felt like nothing. I actually enjoyed it!

See, I’m the kind of person that lives off of small, happy interactions. In fact, I get so much energy from someone smiling and wishing me a good day that I feel like bouncing around for hours afterwards. That’s exactly what happened during my run. I started waving and smiling at everyone standing on the street watching– the race officials, food vendors, and little kids.

It didn’t feel like work at all, and before I knew it I crossed the finish line way ahead of my competition, my sister-in-law Lin!

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My Love-Hate Relationship With Papayas. Or My Just-Hate Relationship With Running.

Every few months, my parents pick one particular type of fruit and eat it all the time. Papaya was the fruit of choice a month before I left for Penang, and every single time you opened their fridge, you’d see the same uncovered, rectangular-shaped tupperware brimming with the stuff. It truly is the way to my parents’ hearts, and one very special person unknowingly discovered that fact. Believe it or not, that papaya-filled piece of plastic is the reason I’m married!

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LGBTQ Muslims Are Our Brothers and Sisters

A gay Muslim’s acceptance by the community or family is dependent upon many factors outside of religion. On the one hand, it may be easier to come out in North America, Europe or Australia, where there is a larger gay support network as well as a secular culture pushing for gay acceptance. While in many Muslim countries, the practice of sex segregation has given rise to a kind of “homo-culture” — where one’s first sexual experience is with a person of the same sex, simply because the opposite is unreachable.
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Holy Cannolis! …Or Just A Recipe For Atayef

Note: This Is A Guest Post By Taiyyaba

Ameir, my husband, is of Syrian descent. He also grew up with a lot of friends from India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh whose mothers fed him while he was in college. (I like to think he hung out with Desi, or South Asian people because he was preparing himself to marry me.)
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Cooking With Amer & Jasmina: Hamburger Buns

These hamburger buns are so easy to make and so delicious. Once you make them, you won’t be able to buy buns at the store again!

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