Rama-lama-ding-dong....

I've decided this is my favorite new term for Ramadan. 

I've also decided that they might as well arrest me now. Come get me Ramadan Cops. 

No, seriously, I suck at Ramadan. I keep forgetting that I'm not supposed to drink or eat in public. Scratch that, I keep forgetting that it's ILLEGAL to eat or drink in public right now. 

This is a picture of my conversation with my friend Jessica. I'm the one on the right...

Yesterday I was driving home from the grocery store and Caden was hungry in the backseat. (Children are allowed to eat and drink as usual). So, I handed him some cashews, and as any good mom would do, I had to make sure they weren't "poisonous" first and ate a few. I stopped mid-chew and froze in place with what I'm sure was a 'scared out of my freaking mind' look on my face. OH CRAP. 

I looked to my left (of course I was at a stoplight) and the Muslim man next to me was given me the look of death, he had caught me mid-chew. I wanted to just open my mouth and spit out the cashews, what else could I do?

 I'll tell you what I did; I just sat there with half-chewed cashew in  my mouth, pretending they weren't there, trying to act as innocent and nonchalant as possible. Not easy to do with half-chewed nuts in your mouth. I could still feel his stink-eye on me...he KNEW. After what felt like for-ev-er the light turned yellow then green (as they do in Bahrain) and as soon as I could, I took off. Initially I couldn't decide if it was better if I sped ahead of him to get away, thus leaving him able to write down my plate number, or just stay right beside him as he glared at me, avoiding showing my plate number. I decided to take off. I couldn't stand the half eaten cashews any longer. Not like I was fooling him anyways.

The Navy has done a good job of scaring the crap out of us about what would/could happen if you violate the laws, so I was PARANOID to say the least. 

A few miles down the road a car sped up and was tailgating me, my heart dropped as I JUST KNEW that it was the Ramadan police coming to get me. 

It wasn't. 

BUT STILL...this is stressful. I definitely spent the rest of the drive home looking over my shoulder. All over a few nuts. 

Today I was SO THIRSTY in my car while running errands, I ducked down to sip some water. FYI: trying to drink water out of a water bottle while hunched over trying to hide in your car is not easy. I felt like a water ninja. I just had to do it. Caden asked me why I was drinking like that. When I explained to him that I'm not allowed to drink water and eat food in public during daytime right now his response was, 

"MAN! THAT IS A PAIN IN THE BUT!"

Yes it is buddy, yes it is.

Also, the whole long pants and long-sleeved shirt thing. Seriously, I might as well paint a BIG AMERICAN FLAG on myself! The clothing rule is mandated by the big kahunas on base....so aside from Muslims, we are the ONLY people dressing like this. In my grocery shopping adventures yesterday Jessica and I were the ONLY non-Muslims wearing long pants and long-sleeved shirts. All of the other ex-pats were in sun dresses and shorts. Even a lot of the shop workers were in short-sleeved shirts. 

Heck, I'm PRETTY sure that the guys jet-skiing in front of my house wearing shorts are Muslims that live across the way. Meanwhile, I'm afraid to go out on my porch without long sleeves.

The story in Andrew's command is that last year one of their guys was sitting on his front porch eating during Ramadan and the police stormed his apartment and arrested him on the spot. Yep...let's avoid that at all costs. I guess, it is what it is, and I'm better safe than sorry. Though I would LOVE to just wear a short-sleeved shirt. Do you know what it's like to sweat ALL THE TIME?! 

In other news....look at how cute my nephew Cash is! He is 3 months older than big D. Steph and I compared notes today, and they are the SAME length, but Cash has a 5 pound advantage. Chunk-a-lunk...or maybe Davis is just long-a-long-a-ding-dong?! . Nevermind, I'll stop trying to rhyme now. 

I can't wait to see this little guy in 2.5 months. Not like I'm counting or anything!

 Here's a picture of D today. I think they look alike. Brothers from another Mother. Sorry - I had to do one more rhyme. Deal with it. 

 

 And YES, he is playing with a whisk. It's his new favorite toy...what else is he supposed to do while I'm in the kitchen cooking ALL DAY LONG. 

Yes, people - we are going strong on our Whole 30! Initially we had decided to do the Whole 30 during Ramadan because we figured that everyone will be miserable for this month anyways, so we might as well be miserable too. Well, now I think we were so smart to make that decision! All of the restaurants and coffee shops, snack places, everything is closed - so that pretty much eliminates temptation. Genius! 

I've been having a pretty easy time with cravings and such so far. Though I've been SO tired. The reason I didn't post anything yesterday is because I was too tired to even think straight. According to the Whole 30 timeline, that meant I was right on track. 

Caden, however - I'm pretty sure he is getting cravings BIG TIME. All day today it's been, 

"Mommy, let's have (insert unhealthy food here)"

Grilled Cheese

Doughnut

Sandwich

Burrito

Candy

As Andrew put it, I'm "knocking it out of the park" with our meals so far. Seriously, it's all been so delicious. I hope I stay motivated to keep cooking such great meals and not fall into a grilled chicken and vegetables every day trap. 

So here is our roundup from the past two days. I'm sharing this as I sincerely hope that some of you join us in our journey or at least try these amazingly delicious and healthy meals!

DAY 3

Breakfast:  Homemade Beef Sausage.

I had a pack of ground beef, or 'mince' as they call it here, and wanted to prep some breakfast meat with it. Andrew found THIS recipe and it was so wonderful. We honestly couldn't tell that it wasn't pork. We made a bunch of little patties and have frozen the rest for the future. I served that up with some roasted veggies. 

Lunch: Salad with left over Bruschetta Chicken, Avocado, and homemade dressing. 

This was really wonderful. The best part was that we used the left over bruschetta mix as a topping on the salad. Oh - So- Good!

Dinner:  Mustard Lime Chicken with Roasted Carrots and Salad

I found the recipe for this HERE

Somehow I didn't get a picture. Sad, sad day. It was beautiful. 

We roasted the carrots in coconut oil and sprinkled some salt, pepper, and parsley on them. 

Day 4

Breakfast: Bacon, Eggs, and Roast Carrots

That's right folks, I've found Whole 30 compliant bacon in Bahrain!!! It was an adventure to find it, a hot, sweaty, miserable adventure. But I found it, and it was so so so worth it! We also ate up the rest of last nights' carrots. 

Lunch:  Salad with Avocado and balsamic vinegar and some of our beef sausage patties. 

Not too exciting here, I realized I didn't have anything quick to make today, so I grabbed a few of the sausage patties. It worked. I got my protein and my veggies in. Andrew had the leftovers from last night and Caden asked for more eggs. Mishmash day. 

Dinner: 

Obviously, I'm not a great food photographer. This dinner was out of this world though!

Thanks to one of my favorite Paleo food blogs, Everyday Paleo, we enjoyed

Steak Dry Rub with an Avocado Salsa and Chopped Broccoli Salad

SO SO SO good. We didn't even miss the mayo in the broccoli salad. This is going to definitely be a go to meal from here on out. 

You are probably sensing a theme with all of the avocados. Well, they are SUPER cheap here. Strangely. Broccoli costs a fortune and avocados are cheap. Of course. 

According to the Whole 30 Timeline tomorrow is the, "Everything Must Die" phase where you hate everyone and everything around you. Wish me luck. Hopefully my husband survives. 

And just because these pictures are WAY too cute to NOT post - and you deserve a reward if you've read this far:

All horribleness aside - at least my boys are cute!

and That's 'Watts' She Said...

Let's Get Ready Toooo....RAMADAN!!!!

Okay, that's as catchy of a title as I could come up with. I'm really trying to force my excitement about the start of Ramadan today. So far, it's not working. 

What is Ramadan you ask? Well...according to trusty Wikipedia:

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. In this month Muslims observe a time of fasting and is considered to be one of the five Pillars of Islam. The only people that don't have to fast are the ill, diabetic, travelling, pregnant or those with menstrual bleeding. The fasting lasts from sun rise to sun set and during this time they have to refrain from food, liquids (even water), smoking and sexual relations. Supposedly the rewards of fasting during Ramadan are multiplied.

What does that mean for us you ask? Well since we are here with the Navy, it is ordered by the head hauncho that we have to observe their customs and rules during Ramadan to show our respect to our hosts. I get it, I do. It's just interesting, I'll leave it at that. 

Not only are we clean eating for the next 30 days with the Whole 30, but now we are also NOT ALLOWED to eat, drink, or even chew gum in public during daylight. This includes our front porch or in our car. As soon as we step out of the house we have to follow the rules. Oh, and when we DO dare to step out in this intense heat we have to be VERY modestly dressed. I'm talking skirts or pants well below the knee; your knee cannot show when you sit down, and your shirts must go past your elbow. 

SO, imagine this with me. HEAT, I'm talking extreme heat our low is like 90 degrees and the high is near 110, oh and did I mention the HUMIDITY, it feels wet outside...now add in being fully covered. That in itself spells misery. Okay, now add in the fact that when you are parched or starving because it's so f'ing hot out and you are sweating your butt off in your full length pants and shirts it's just too damn bad...you can't do ANYTHING about it. 

Restaurants are closed, shops and malls have crazy hours. Open from 10-4 and then again from 8PM-1AM. Obviously they have to close at sunset so everyone can go eat something. I mean...they must reach a whole new level of HANGRY!!!

How serious is this? Right, I mean what's going to happen if I'm seen in a tank top eating a pork sausage in the middle of the day? Maybe nothing, but also maybe I can get thrown in jail for a year. 

This was a message from the local police's Facebook page. (because you know, everything is on Facebook!)

"POLICE will be on high alert from tomorrow to ensure people do not breach a ban on eating, drinking or smoking in public during the fasting hours of Ramadan. Patrols will be stepped up across the country to catch violators, who could be jailed for up to a year or fined BD100."

So...wish us luck!

We are definitely going to need it. We tried to go on a Family Walk after dinner tonight. 

HA! That was a JOKE!

First of all, my sweet husband is so sore from yesterday's CrossFit WOD that he could barely walk Second of all, IT. IS. HOT!!!!! My long sleeved shirt was drenched in sweat after about 3 minutes. Caden even said, "Mom...you have sweat running down your face" Ummm...yeah, no kidding? It was painful and not nearly the fun I imagined. So Note To Self: No more walks outside until this Fall. 

Pretty much we are all around miserable today. Day 2 of the Whole 30 and WE ARE FEELING IT! I am extremely exhausted and the pounding in my head is out of this world. I am definitely going through some sugar withdrawals. It sucks. Big Time. Yep, I'm ready to start feeling good, but supposedly that won't happen for a while longer. 

Here's our daily roundup!

Whole 30 Day 2

Breakfast:  Mexican Frittata. I used our leftover meat from last night, sauteed up some onions and mushrooms and spinach. Mixed the meat, saute mixture, and 6 eggs together, poured it in a cake pan and baked it. Delicious!

Lunch: Grilled chicken and avocado salad with balsamic vinegar and a little olive oil as dressing. Delicious!

Dinner:  Bruschetta Chicken with Zuchinni "Pasta", recipe from Everyday Paleo. 

IT WAS DELICIOUS!!!

http://everydaypaleo.com/bruschettachicken/ 

I would love to elaborate on Ramadan and such, but honestly, my eyes are closing on their own right now. 

Good night all - and please enjoy those tank tops and shorts....and sitting out in the sun eating...and drinking water. 

I'm jealous. 

AND...this is why we will be spending Ramadan 2014 in the good 'ole USA!!!

and That's 'Watts' She Said....