As a diaspora, the story of the margarine tub has done the rounds, right? The surprise lasagne or cake sitting in the faded tub? I’m sure I need not enlighten you…we save and we don’t waste was a common theme in our home growing up. As an adult now, much of my ‘hacks’ and ‘money-saving’ come from my mother who would make sure there was no waste at the table and the kitchen, with the end of dinner times feeling like a motivational talk that we could indeed finish the last morsel of food. Even potato peelings or the outer part of cabbages find their way into meals and on to plates…there is something to be said about those small acts, rooted in an appreciation of every blessing, which is often unseen by the many…perhaps they are only to be seen and fully appreciated by the most-high?

I feel a sense of graduation from a daughter observing this, to a mother myself now embarking on money-saving in and around the home. Pomegranate peels now turned into a fine blush pink powder which I use as a body scrub occasionally or root ends of spring onions left to grow again and used as a garnish for bowls of soup. It all often feels like sprinkles of barakah in daily acts.

Whenever these acts are performed in the home I do feel a sense of ibadah personally, as if I am appreciating the blessings that little bit more, like mum. No doubt this pandemic has made us all realise the importance of every little thing, even my children have been finishing meals in an effort to make sure none of the barakah escapes. More time in the home over the last few weeks has encouraged me to try more ‘hacks’ and I’ve shared some below. Whilst it’s less about the ‘how-to’ and more about ‘how you feel’ sometimes the ‘how to’ is the start. I hope that these tiny changes can encourage us all to be mindful of our consumption this Ramadan. May they be accepted as small moments of worship as well Insha Allah.

The Prophet ﷺ said, “The most beloved of deeds to Allah are those that are most consistent, even if it is small”. [Bukhaari and Muslim]

“But waste not by excess: for Allah loveth not the wasters” (Quran 6:141)

“Actions are (judged) by motives (niyyah), so each man will have what he intended.”[Bukhaari and Muslim]

We don’t need to shop at Wholefoods to save the planet, we can start where we are and refine what we do. Acts of ibadah can be tiny but great in intention, this is how we amplify them, it’s something I’ve learned over the years of not being able to fast due to pregnancy and periods, ensuring that intention was central to all I did, even in the mundane. The hope is, it will transcend into every act we perform Insha Allah, beyond the kitchen tops.

Citrus peels

We save orange, lime and lemon peels, although I do find orange peels dry better. We’ve had candied orange peel and popped some dry peel in with the fish marinade. It can also be used as a cleaning ingredient!

Cleaning product

Candied peel (I used less sugar than most recipes, we haven’t got sugar like that to be wasting!)

Lemon Peel preserve

Rice Water

Rice is a staple for us and the leftover water I found out can be used as a hair treatment.

Vegetable peelings

This is more of a week-long project as you need to save up all your peelings and turn it into a vegetable stock to use in whatever you want or as a base for soups.

Bread

We have always turned stale bread into breadcrumbs that are frozen and used at a later date for coating chicken or vegetable burgers, croutons for soup or a savoury bread and butter pudding works well.

Date Seeds

This is something I haven’t tried but I have had others confirm they have tasted date seed coffee before and I reckon to get a decent cup of coffee we may need to save every seed from Ramadan iftars! I have lots of seeds that I wash and dry in the sun but have yet to use them for coffee, at the moment we use them for the kids counting lessons! You can also simply plant them too, I’ve had a few take-off and grow into plants indoors.

Spring Onion

This is a lovely experiment for children to do and saves you the odd pound here and there too, you can do the same with celery too.