Smile! You are a beautiful soul.
Fret not where the road will take you. Instead concentrate on the first step. That is the hardest part and that is what you are responsible for. Once you take that step let everything do what it naturally does and the rest will follow. Don’t go with the flow. Be the flow.” – Shams Tabrizi
This dip is called ‘Asal Eswed Bel Tahina’ which literally translates to ‘Black Honey (Molasses) with Tahini’, and it’s an awesome dip as it acts as a full meal, which includes around 25g of protein (as much as a can of tuna), healthy fats, and calories. I would especially recommend it to those who do weight training and want to grow muscles (check out the ‘get ripped guide’ if you are interested in that), and I swear I have muscles growing out of no where when I eat this! Molasses is extracted from sugar cane and it’s a staple ingredient favourable to many Egyptians. Tahini is sesame paste, which is flavourful and nutrient dense and used in Middle Eastern cuisine.
The ingredients below act as a guideline only, so you can try it out and add more tahini or molasses, as much as you prefer.
100g of tahini (sesame paste) – you would often find it in the international section of a supermarket, or any health shops
35g of molasses – usually found at health shops
Your favourite bread (preferably pitta)
Pour the tahini in a bowl, and gradually add the molasses so it twirls on top and mix very gently until the mixture has pretty brown patterns or if it’s a light brown colour. Dip in some bread and see if you would like more or less of any ingredient to suit your tastes. Alternatively, if you would like a lighter dip, you can add some water to the tahini and mix it well first, so it’s less concentrated.
Below are some benefits of molasses and tahini (sesame paste)…
Molasses:
Good for hair – One serving (two tablespoons) of blackstrap contains approximately 14 percent of our RDI of copper, an important trace mineral whose peptides help rebuild the skin structure that supports healthy hair. Consequently, long-term consumption of blackstrap has been linked to improved hair quality, hair regrowth in men and even a restoration of your hair’s original color! Click here for more information about blackstrap’s hair benefits.
Safe sweetener for diabetics – Unlike refined sugar, blackstrap molasses has a moderate glycemic load of 55. This makes it a good sugar substitute for diabetics and individuals who are seeking to avoid blood sugar spikes. Moreover, one serving of blackstrap contains no fat and only 32 calories, making it suitable for a weight loss diet.
Laxative qualities – Blackstrap is a natural stool softener that can improve the regularity and quality of your bowel movements.
Rich in iron – Two tablespoons of blackstrap contain 13.2 percent of our RDI of iron, which our bodies need to carry oxygen to our blood cells. People who are anemic (including pregnant women) will greatly benefit from consuming 1-2 tablespoons of blackstrap molasses per day.
High in calcium and magnesium – Blackstrap molasses contains a mineral profile that has been optimized by nature for superior absorption. For example, two tablespoons of blackstrap contains 11.7 percent of our RDI of calcium and 7.3 percent of our RDI of magnesium. This calcium-magnesium ratio is ideal, since our bodies need large quantities of magnesium to help absorb similarly large quantities of calcium. Both of these minerals aid the growth and development of bones, making blackstrap a good safeguard against osteoporosis and other bone diseases.
Additional mineral content – Two tablespoons of blackstrap molasses also contains 18 percent of our RDI of manganese (which helps produce energy from proteins and carbohydrates), 9.7 percent of our RDI of potassium (which plays an important role in nerve transmission and muscle contraction), 5 percent of our RDI of vitamin B6 (which aids brain and skin development) and 3.4 percent of our RDI of selenium, an important antioxidant.
Tahini:
It’s rich in minerals such as phosphorus, lecithin, magnesium, potassium and iron.
It’s a good source of Methionine, which aids in liver detoxification.
It’s one of the best sources of calcium out there.
It’s high in vitamin E and vitamins B1, B2, B3, B5 and B15.
Helps to promote healthy cell growth.
Prevent anemia.
Helps to maintain healthy skin and muscle tone.
It has 20% complete protein, making it a higher protein source than most nuts.
It’s easy for your body to digest because of its high alkaline mineral content, which is great for assisting in weight loss.
It is high in unsaturated fat (good fat!)
Source: http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-6997/10-Reasons-to-Eat-Tahini.html
Visit www.sokanu.com
I finally found a careers website that asks you various questions about your personality, what you enjoy, what you definitely want or don’t want in a job, and then it finds you the right careers for you, according to your persona. It’s great if you have no clue what you want to be/what you want to study, as with each job, it gives you how compatible you are with it in percentages.
The only disadvantage is that it asks so many questions, so it takes time. And, it’s more focused on America rather than the whole world (as you can see above). But, seriously, made my day (and my exam results too). :p
I finally have sugar cane, been waiting for them for a long long time! In Egypt, we usually have sugar cane juice in super fancy cups so you would drink it and peer at all the beautiful stray cats around you… *nostalgia*
But here, I would just peel it and chew on it like an angry person…
Here are some benefits of sugar cane:
Source: http://lifestyle.iloveindia.com/lounge/benefits-of-sugarcane-1882.html
It isn’t really a pie, but it kind of looks like one and it’s made with yams (not to be confused with sweet potatoes) that are full of antioxidants, increases the absorption of nutrients, aids digestion, and full of carbohydrates to give plenty of energy (apparently Usain Bolt says yams are his secret for being so fast).
Fry one onion and one clove of garlic in olive oil in a non-stick pan until they’re golden brown. Next, add mashed yams and stir it all together. Finally, slap the yams against the pan so it flattens out and the side facing the pan turns into a lovely golden colour (should take about 10 or so minutes). Place a plate over the pan, flip it (careful!) and serve.
I wish the world didn’t have any labels. If there were no countries, we would just call our world ‘Earth’, we would just call all living things ‘creatures’, so we’re all equal. We wouldn’t place names we can’t pronounce on people with health issues, because they’re just fine. We would stop judging people based on appearance and start discovering each other. We would view the killing of anyone to be unjust, not based on where they live. But the world wouldn’t work without labels because humans like to give labels to everything, in order to feel more secure. Humans work on a basis of ‘good’ and ‘bad’, ‘beautiful’ and ‘ugly’, ‘right’ and ‘wrong’, hence one of the first things you psychologically do when watching a movie is give these labels to the characters. But how are we as humans understanding each other if we all label things differently?
Labels may be a way to be more ‘civilised’ (another label), to put rules in society in order for us to live ‘correctly’ (not do ‘bad’ things). The government has the label of ‘power’ because without it, we’d be so barbaric. But guess what? We already are barbaric. I feel that ‘society’ is built upon image – people with black suits and glasses who look smart, it’s nothing. If we lived in a lost world with no labels, in my opinion, it would be a much better place, rather than to live in a civilised world that isn’t civilised in any way. A world where smartness is labelled upon the person with a PHD or someone who can use big, complicated words is superficial. A world where innovation means manufacturing new weapons that can kill more people with as little effort as possible is wrong. A world that does have money but chooses to spend it on being so technologically advanced rather than to feed its own people and then complain of an ‘economic breakdown’ is barbaric. A world where people are so ignorant of each other, they create barriers between each other due to race, religion, sex, gender, age, colour, whatever is not civilised.
But I was wrong, I used ‘world’ in every sentence above and it’s not the world, it’s individual people. In fact, it’s not the individual people but it’s their individual choices because we’re all born innocent. I sometimes seem ‘anti-human’, but I know the world is full of beautiful souls (sounds cheesy, but true) and I love them. I just want to see more unity, warmth, understanding, care, tolerance and above all, love because every one of us has the energy to do that. It’s those little things you do when you go out and help someone who’s lost, give up your seat for someone, give charity (not to ‘overcome world poverty’, but to be the cause of someone smiling), and to greet people with pretty smiles.
I feel so blessed as I honestly have everything I want. Sometimes it strikes an inner fear of losing what I have. I could have been located in war zones, unsafe, hostile places with hardly any human rights. Do we ever forget that we’re actually so blessed? Yet, I just want to be really humble and when I think that I’m so blessed and get these little butterflies from inside, I think “it’s too much for me” and I start to feel guilty as there is so much power in my hands.
Then, I get people who think I’m waaaay too lucky, a girl with a nice house, rich, beautiful, has cool, young looking parents and no siblings (always a plus). And I’m like wait… Half these things are not even true. They say “your life is so perfect, I wish I had a mum or dad like you” “I can’t believe you wear make-up, you make me feel so ugly because you’re already beautiful” “I want your life, I want your body”. All these comments make me feel so guilty and I’m constantly being labelled upon how I superficially look like. You should actually be me to really know what my life is like, but then I think, wait, maybe they’re right. My life really is perfect, and if anyone looks in it, they wouldn’t find a flaw. In fact, the only flaw in any life is the person, because the person is the one who chooses how to see their own life.
Everyone on earth gets something if they actually seek something. We all come to this life with a certain amount of gifts and blessings, whether it’s a piece of bread or a giant palace. Don’t look at what others have, not because you can’t properly judge their lives, but because you should be busy enough with yours. No matter how much you compare yourself to someone, nothing will change, but the time that passes away in which YOU could have changed something in your life. Time is not just money, time is energy, time is growing, and time is learning. It’s all about the actions you take, if you want money, Google ‘how to start my own business’ NOW, if you want to change the way your body looks, stop researching and start moving your body. If you want to become an inspiration, live genuinely and honestly and seek to improve yourself, not others. Because the truth is, everyone’s an inspiration, and I learn something from every single person I’ve met and always will.
I didn’t make this blog so I can be labelled as an ‘inspiration’, or to ‘change lives’, I made it to express my inner feelings as I grow. I am a normal person who isn’t perfect, who makes mistakes, and can be mean (sometimes). So in no way should me or my life be labelled as ‘perfect’. Yet, I am thankful for myself and everything I have.
Mix together coconut oil, ground coffee, sugar, cinnamon and vanilla essential oil, leave for 40 minutes to set… Smells yummmy!
You can apply it on dry or damp skin to get your blood flow going for glowing skin, get rid of dead skin cells, and even improve cellulite as it contains caffeine from the coffee which is effective! What’s better is you can store it in a massive jar to use at another time.
Warnings:
Don’t put too much cinnamon, as it can irritate your skin, so only a sprinkle!
Use it on your legs and arms as it might be too strong for more sensitive areas of the skin
I find it surprising that whenever I look for something, I find it. I wrote about it before as it all relies on intention and your intention is exactly what you find. Like one day I’m thinking about the significance of our eyes and why they are labeled “the window of our souls” and the next day, my mum was watching a short documentary on specifically that topic. It happens to me all the time, it’s crazy. I think it’s the type of focus and clarity you give something, it gives you focus and clarity back.
In addition, if you have aims you want to reach, having the intention of ‘what I seek is also seeking me’ will inevitably get you closer to your goal. Whether it’s an academic desire to get better, get fitter, or become the strongest version of yourself.
What are you thinking of, and simultaneously find around you?
Our Beautiful Souls 