Arabic Chicken Shawarma

The thing that shocks most people is I LOVE Arabic and Indian food. I very rarely eat "American" type foods. If I had my way I'd live on daal (lentils) and chawwal (rice) but my husband insists on eating something else at least once or twice a week. 

I found this recipe the other day and it was AMAZING. I'm pretty picky when it comes to shawarma. I've had the real thing and it's pretty much impossible to duplicate in the home but this recipe was fantastic. The chicken isn't the consistency of real shawarma but the taste was out of this world. If you're looking to spice up things, you have to try this. 

Author: The Wanderlust Kitchen

Serves: 8

Ingredients

For the Marinade

• 2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 4 large breasts)
• ¼ c. extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tsp. cumin
• 2 tsp. paprika
• 1 tsp. allspice
• 1 tsp. turmeric
• ¼ tsp. garlic powder
• ¼ tsp. cinnamon
• Pinch of cayenne
• ⅛ tsp. salt
• ⅛ tsp. black pepper
• Nonstick cooking spray

To Finish

• 6 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil, divided
• ½ tsp. cumin
• ½ tsp. paprika
• ¼ tsp. allspice
• ¼ tsp. turmeric

Instructions

1. Pour the ¼ cup of olive oil into a large plastic zipper bag. Add in the marinade spices, then seal the bag and shake to combine.
2. Cut the chicken breasts into sixths, then place the pieces into large plastic zipper bag. Seal the bag and use your hands to work the marinade into the chicken. Place the bag of chicken into the fridge to marinate 8 hours or overnight.
3. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit, then prepare a baking sheet by lining it with foil and spraying it with nonstick cooking spray. Arrange the chicken pieces evenly on the baking sheet in a single layer.
4. Bake for 8 minutes, flip the chicken pieces over, then bake for another 8 minutes.
5. Remove the chicken from the oven and let sit until cool enough to touch. Slice the chicken into thin pieces using a sharp knife.
6. Heat 2 Tbsp. of the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
7. While it is heating, mix the remaining spices together in a small bowl and set it near the stove.
8. Once the oil is hot, add one third of the cooked chicken into the pan along with one third of the spices next to the stove. Cook, stirring, until the spices are spread amongst the meat and the chicken is heated through (just a minute or two).
9. Repeat this process with the remaining oil, chicken, and spices so that it is cooked in three batches (or, if you have a really, really big pan you could do it all at once). Serve warm with Tabbouleh salad and pita bread.

 

Mania=Weight Gain

I've been running on manic for the last few weeks. And as usually happens I've gained five pounds. I'm not sure why. Well that's not entirely true. I've not been exercising regularly. Normally I exercise daily but the weather sucks. I don't want to go out and walk. It's cold. And I'm manic nine ways of Sunday which doesn't help. I can't concentrate and I've had days where I've not eaten entirely as I should. 

Even though I know all of this, I still can't seem to get back into my old routine. I was doing really really well until the middle of November. I can't even blame Thanksgiving turkey. I've just been down right LAZY. 

I need to snap out of it. I'm trying hard but the weather doesn't want to cooperate. I walked the last two days and then it rained all day today. So I did nothing. 

I know I could exercise in the house. I have an exercise bike and elliptical. But I HATE machines. I get bored after five mins and I don't do enough of a work out on them to even count so why bother?

Ugh I'm so frustrated with myself. I've lost 35lbs since Sept 1st. I do NOT want to gain it back. But I'm seriously unmotivated. I need to tape this to my computer. It's so freaking TRUE!

 

Running and Not For Cake

I could seriously eat all of this if I wouldn't need a forklift to get out of my house

I recently decided I'd start running. Or at least try to. I've been walking 5k (or 3.2 miles) every day for the last three months. The reason being I want to lose weight. Walking is about the only exercise I can do consistently. Mostly because I get bored and don't want to exercise as much as I should.

But with walking I'm outside, got my tunes on, and it's not as boring as staring at a wall on a machine. 

So I downloaded a couch to 5K app on my phone. For the first five minutes you do a warm up walk. Then for the next fifteen minutes you alternate running and walking. You walk for one minute then run for one minute. Then you do another 5 minute cool down walk. 

I started this on Sunday Dec 15th. My goal is to do 3 days a week of run/walking. I don't expect to be running marathons or anything soon or ever for that matter. But I just want to boost my metabolism a bit. 

I've been dieting since Sept 1st of this year. Although I hate using the word "diet" because I don't diet. I eat whatever I want. And I truly mean whatever I want. Yesterday I had a chocolate chip frappe from McDonald's. But I don't eat more than a 1000 calories in a day. 

And I don't have frappes that often but I do have them. I don't want to cut my calories any more than I have that's the reason I've started the couch to 5K. 

And I must admit I was incredibly surprised that I actually was able to do the entire 25 mins of run/walking. 

This is part of the reason I finally decided to break down and start blogging. It's motivation. Even if no one reads it, I've put it out there in the universe so it means I have to do it. 

I've lost 32 lbs in the last 3 months. I hope to lose at least 50 more. I'm not doing anything fast or crazy. Just slow and steady. 

But regardless of how much weight I lose there will be no burkinifor me. Seriously people need to just stop with this stuff.

Death of a Scholar-Allama Nasir Abbas of Multan

I did not intend for my very first post to be this, but when I woke up this morning I didn't know how today would end. Originally I thought I'd share a bit about me and eventually at some point I will but for now I'd like to take a moment to remember a man who taught me a lot about life, believing, faith, and dying for what you believe in.

His name is Allama Nasir Abbas of Multan. He was a zakir of wilayat e Ali (as). Now he is shaheed. He was martyred for one very simple reason. He spread the wilayat of Ameerul Momineen (as) and for that he was gunned down. He isn't the first and probably won't be the last. He is one of many who have been killed for no other reason than someone disagreed with their belief.

I'd like to take this moment to remember a man I am very proud of.