Ramadan 2016/1437: Last Minute Prep

I've had a busy weekend cleaning the house and making food for Ramadan.  My lovely neighbours came round to help make samosas.  I could never get the hang of it before and mine were never proper triangles with sealed corners that didn't leak.  My neighbour showed me a really easy way to make them and once I got the hang of it, we were off and made a good batch to freeze.

Over the weekend, I ended up making chicken and potato pasties, chicken spring rolls, lamb mince spring rolls and lamb mince samosa's (the chicken filling is my favourite and the recipe is here.  The lamb mince filling is my mums and is really moist and soft, I will share when I get a chance insh'Allah).

I also popped out briefly to buy my Ramadan dates: Zaytoun Fair Trade Palestinian Medjoul Dates - yum!

Whilst picking up the dates, I also found these apple cider vinegar capsules.  I have heard so much about the benefits, but struggle to take the apple cider vinegar, so thought I'd give these try.  The shopkeeper also suggested they are beneficial when fasting...I should have asked him more about how, next time insh'Allah.

I used the cheaper dates that are sold everywhere locally and some that have been sitting in my cupboard to make date and nut slices.  These taste awesome and are so nutritious, I have them every day as part of my suhoor (morning) meal, the recipe is here.

They also make nice gifts, the tubs of date slices and almond stuffed dates below are for my parents and both neighbours.

I also printed off the meal planning worksheets from my Ramadan and Eid Planner for 2016/1437 to try and plan ahead, I created an A3 planner so that I can plan across the whole month and then the weekly sheets to break down what I need.  Still working on it, but definitely found it helpful.

What Ramadan preparation have you been doing?  What practical things do you do to make the most of the sacred month?