Why I Got a Roomba for Ramadan Prep (A Practical Review for Busy Homes)

 

Why I Finally Got a irobot Roomba (and How It’s Helping My Ramadan Prep)

Ramadan prep often brings a long to-do list, deep cleaning, organizing, resetting routines, but this year I wanted to approach it differently.

Instead of spending hours cleaning the floors myself, I decided to explore robot vacuum options, especially ones strong enough for pet hair and multi surface floors. I wanted to protect my energy and focus on what actually matters in Ramadan, ibadah, presence, and productivity.

That intention is what led me to finally invest in a Roomba.

What Made Me Choose a Roomba (After a Lot of Research)

This wasn’t an impulse buy. I did a lot of research before deciding, and my top priority was strong suction.

With:

🐾 Two cats

🏠 Multi-surface flooring (rugs + vinyl)

Daily fur, dust, and crumbs

…I needed something that could actually handle real life.

I ended up purchasing my Roomba from Costco, which gave me peace of mind in terms of quality and warranty.

Features I’m Genuinely Loving So Far

What I appreciate most is how hands off this system is:

• ✔️ Powerful suction for pet hair and rugs
• ✔️ Mops and vacuums (you can choose either or both)
• ✔️ Smart mapping  it learns and maps the rooms
• ✔️ App control to schedule cleaning times
• ✔️ Room selection  clean specific rooms or skip others on certain days
• ✔️ Self-cleaning base
• Empties itself
• Washes mop pads
• Dries them on its own

This alone feels like a huge mental load lifted.

Why This Matters to Me During Ramadan

Ramadan is a month of focus and intention.

I don’t want to be exhausted from cleaning when I’m trying to:

• Stay consistent with Qur’an
• Be mentally present
• Keep my home calm and welcoming
• Maximize my time and energy

Having my floors cleaned in the background,  without me thinking about it.. has honestly been a time saver and a stress reducer.

A clean home supports a focused heart 🤍

Instagram Reel Highlights:

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Real Life Update (Because Let’s Be Honest 😄)

So far, it’s working really well, and I’m genuinely enjoying it, although I’m still figuring out when to open it because everyone keeps asking to see this new helper 😂

Including Ash 🐈😻, who seems very invested in supervising every cleaning session.

Final Thoughts

This isn’t a flashy review or a “must buy” post.

It’s simply something that’s helping me:

• Save time
• Maintain cleanliness
• And redirect my energy toward what truly matters this Ramadan

I’ll share more updates as I continue using it, but for now, I’m happy with this decision.

If you’re also thinking about robot vacuums comment your questions below!

Roomba review for pet owners, Best robot vacuum for cats, Roomba for multi surface floors, Ramadan home preparation tips, Time saving cleaning tools, Robot vacuum with mop and mapping

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morewishcuisine by Mahwish (@morewishcuisine) • Instagram photos and videos

Popcorn پاپ کارن on stovetop by morEwish

Of all the salty, crunchy, savory snacks out there, stovetop popcorn is one of the tastiest and cheapest snacks. This cooking method for Stovetop Popcorn is so easy, results in nearly every kernel popping and nothing burns, leaving you with a nice big bowl of beautiful popcorn!

I’m on a mission to make sure everyone knows how to make popcorn from scratch. Today, I’m sharing all of my popcorn-making tips so you can make perfect stovetop popcorn at home, too. All you need are popcorn kernels, a good pot with a lid, oil and salt. You can do it! 

Always use a good, heavy-bottomed pot. Don’t crank the heat up too high. It’s too easy to burn oil at temperature higher than medium heat, and if you catch even a whiff of smoke coming from the pot, your popcorn is going to taste burnt.

Start with two popcorn kernels to gauge the temperature. Once those pop, your oil is hot enough. Add the remaining kernels and remove the pot from the heat for 1 minute. This primes the popcorn to pop without burning the oil.

Tip the lid ever-so-slightly while the popcorn is popping. That way, the popcorn doesn’t steam itself in the pot and lose crispness. Continue cooking until the popping sound slows to about one pop per every few seconds. 

Remove the lid and dump the popcorn into your serving bowl. Sprinkle the popcorn with a couple pinches of salt, to taste, and any other topping you would like. Toss the popcorn and serve immediately, for best flavor and texture. The popcorn will taste good for several hours, though. Season with salt carefully. You can always add more, but you can’t take away too much.

Video in Urdu:

Video in English:

Ingredients:

1/4 cup vegetable or coconut oil
1/2 cup popcorn kernels (yellow or white)
Salt , to taste

Caramel Crunch کریمل کرنچ recipe by morEwish

 

This is basic caramel crunch recipe which you can use to enhance and add a touch of crunch to any dessert or icecream!

For crunch you just need sugar and  little bit of water, but the trick is you keep on stirring and be pataient, it will take a while but as soon as the mixture will turn into amber color, you are done. You can store caramel crunch into any airtight container or in a ziplock bag and keep it for months on room temperature.   

Video in Urdu:

Video in English:

Ingredients:

Sugar 1/2 cup
Water 1 1/2 tablespoon

Party planning guide by morEwish 🥳 (Especially for Desi parties)

Hosting, Entertaining, Welcoming

We love to do at morEwish headquarters 🏡
We love hosting, it's all about bringing people together over a good meal, from the initial planning stages right down to plating the last course of meals for guests. We grew up in a culture where we showed love by cooking food for one another! We just want people to feel special in our house! 💝

“He who believes in Allah and the Last Day should honor his guest.” [Sahih Al-Bukhari]

Today I am sharing my tips to Plan a dawat smoothly.. Even if its landing on a weekday

🔹️ Plan ahead

I know we all wear a lot of hats day to day. Something that helps me manage it all is by planning ahead.
But how do you plan ahead, when you have too much to do right now? You plan to plan ahead.

After selecting a date and time. Decide on the number of guests and develop a guest list. Then finalize your menu

🔹️Write it down

I love to write in my daily journal but you can write notes in your phone as well.
I start by writing menu with all required ingredients, even the tiniest of things. This helps me develp a grocery list.

Then I rewrite menu again but this time break out list process wise..

Like for example if I am Biryani for dawat,

•  Step one is to make Qorma
•  Step two is to boil rice and dum biryani

Both of these steps can be done at different timings.

Then I assign day to that perticular job.
For example. 

Cake

•  Bake 》 Thursday
•  Frost 》 Friday
•  Decorate 》 Friday

This way every morning I can easily track down my work done and my to do list for that day. Especially on the party day, I don't stress out and excatly know what needs to be done.

🔹️ Food

🔸️Freezer friendly food (My best friend) 

When I first started hosting parties, I made one big mistake: I did loads of cooking in the kitchen and hardly any visiting. No fun! I've since learned that the best way to host is to make all of the food ahead of time. Then set everything out at once and enjoy with all your guests.

Making items in advance and freezing them is a simple way to save time on your party cooking to-do list. Freezing helps preserve the items, so they taste great on party day. This doesn’t have to be done weeks in advance, either. Instead, make sauces, condiments, salans (haleem, qeema etc) and other items that freeze well a few days before the party. Store them in the freezer until the night before. Then move the items to the refrigerator to thaw safely.

When freezing party food, keep these tips in mind:

• Freeze foods quickly for best results. If foods freeze slowly, they tend to form large ice crystals, which can change the texture of the food as it thaws.
• Package food in small, thin containers to help them freeze faster.
• Do not allow food to cool on the bench. As soon as steam stops rising, refrigerate.
• Chill food in the refrigerator first to lower the temperature before placing them in the freezer.
• Ensure the freezer temperature is below 0 degrees Fahrenheit to keep items at a safe temperature.
• Place foods in airtight containers to keep them in good shape.
• Label the containers, so you can easily find the party food when you’re ready.

🔸️ Make a space

Prepping as much as possible saves you time, but you need room for all of that food. Cold foods need to stay cold until serving, so you don’t make your guests sick. Clean out your refrigerator and freezer to make space for the food until the party. Set up an area on your kitchen countertop or a dining room table for the nonperishable snacks you make. Having that space cleared and ready to go makes it easier to tackle your pre-party food prep.


Many ingredients can be prepped ahead of time even if you plan to cook the food on the day of the party. Preparing the things that go into your recipes often takes up a majority of your time. The specific ingredients you can prep ahead of time depend largely on what you’re making.

Consider these ingredient prep tasks:
Wash, peel and cut veggies for veggie trays and recipes. Chopping veggies can take a lot longer than you think, so always do it ahead of time if possible.
Cut up fresh fruit for salads or fruit trays.
Mix the dry ingredients for recipes, so you can pour them into the bowl when you actually make the recipe.
Measure ingredients for recipes and put them in individual containers.

🔸️ Partially prepare recipes:

Some dishes can’t be made completely ahead of time, but you can complete the recipe to a certain point. You might make Qorma for your Biryani ahead of time and cook the rest just before the party. But if you’re making a stir fried rice dish, cook the rice the day before, so you can quickly assemble it the next day. You might cook the meat that will go into a salan or even for pasta or a casserole, so it’s ready to go. You can often assemble the casserole, stopping just before you bake it.

Review the various cooking and assembly steps in each recipe. Write down each possible step. Complete the recipes as far as possible ahead of time, finishing it before the party starts. That jump start can save you lots of time on party day, so you can stress less and enjoy spending time with your guests as they arrive.

🔹️ Prepare Serving Platters:

Get out all of the serving platters and bowls you plan to use at the party. Grab serving utensils for each item, as well. This saves you time because you can easily transfer the food when you’re done cooking or reheating it. You can also make sure you have enough serving items for all of the food.

Some items can go in the serving dishes ahead of time. For example, you can place dips into the corresponding serving bowls as soon as you’re done making them. Cover the bowls with plastic and place them in the refrigerator until you’re ready to serve them.

🔹️Plan to Reheat:

Some of your make-ahead party food may need to be reheated just before your guests arrive. If you have multiple dishes to reheat, consider the timing and the methods you’ll use to warm up the food. You need to give the food plenty of time to heat fully, but you also want the food to stay hot until your guests eat. The temperature is important for flavor and safety. If hot foods cool too much, bacteria can start growing quickly, increasing the risk of food poisoning.

You can heat foods on the stovetop, microwave or oven. Another option is to put the cooked food in a slow cooker to heat or to keep at a safe temperature. Use several mini slow cookers for small amounts of hot food, such as hot cheese dips.

🔹️ Clean as you go:

A huge part of preparing food for a party is cleaning up your messes. You’ll use several different mixing bowls, measuring cups and utensils as you whip up your signature party food dishes. Instead of letting all of those dishes pile up, wash them as you go. This method lets you keep your work area clean, so you have more workable space. You can also use fewer items because you can reuse the same bowls, utensils and measuring devices for every dish you make.

Guests aren’t expecting a perfectly immaculate house, they are at your place to build friendships and have a fun time! So do not pressure or stress yourself too much. 

Hosting a dinner party should be enjoyable for the host too. Once your guests have arrived, relax and enjoy yourself along with them. Resign yourself to the fact that dishes can be done the next morning. Tonight, enjoy the good company, delightful ambiance, and delicious food you put so much work into. Or, take up a guest’s offer to wash. Grateful guests are truly happy to help.

How to fry Onion recipe تلی ہوی پیاز | How to store and how to keep it crispy by morEwish

Cooking pinterest inspired meals, and after watching all those popping up, drool worthy Cooking Video Tutorials, we all ofcourse want to serve best meals to our families. I know that this is often easier said than done and that, between work, school activities, and day-to-day tasks, the last thing that anyone really has time for is hours spent on a meal.

While cooking no one likes to spend hours in Kitchen, and we all are on a look out to save some time and look for Quick dinner recipes and hacks and time-saving tips in the kitchen that will make cooking a more manageable part of your busy schedule.

One of the basic and essential part of Desi Pakistani/Indian meals is fried onion. As they take a lot of time to be deep fried especially, if they are fried in large quantity, it is better to make them in advance and store them for later use for lot of recipes which require fried onions

If slicing onions is a difficult task then there are lots of onion slicers available in the market which saves our time and tears…. To store fried onions, all we need to do is, take a clean zip pouch or an airtight container. Transfer the crispy fried onions into it and freeze in a freezer until ready to use. Whenever, you need it, just pop it out of the freezer, scoop the required amount and immediately put it back into the freezer. No need to thaw it, just throw in the dishes and you are done.
Please do not store fried onions in refrigerator or at room tempertaure. When stored in a refrigerator or at room temperature goes rancid within 4-5 days reducing the shelf life and taste of it. Storing them in freezer keeps it absolutely good even for a year.

Below I would be sharing how to deep fry onions which is a very easy procedure to follow.

My best Organizing Tips and Tools بہترین آرگنائزنگ کے طریقے by morEwish

If you are looking to actually get organized and sometimes when you got to stores you get overwhelmed or you get completely distracted. I am so glad you are here! Today I will share some easy tips which shows you how to actually get organized on a budget and systems you will love!

*10% Discount Code included* 



Video Tutorial in Urdu:

Video Tutorial in English:

How to Roast Almonds? بادام روسٹ کیسے کریں؟ by morEwish

Roasting nuts deepens their flavor, making them even more nutty and complex. It also gives them a crisper texture, which is one of the reasons we add nuts to our food.


Video Tutorial in Urdu:

Video Tutorial in English:

Ingredients:

Almonds - any amount
A heavy baking tray

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spread the nuts in an even layer on the baking sheet. 

Place in oven and roast for 5 minutes.

Remove after 5 minutes and stir, gently shake it to redistribute the nuts. Return to the oven.

Check the nuts again after 3 minutes. You are looking for the color to be a few shades darker. They should start to smell nutty and you might hear them crackling.

If the recipe requires chopping, do this after roasting. It is easy to burn already chopped nuts since the pieces are so small. Warm nuts also chop more cleanly and with less flaking.

Deep Cleaning you Fridge/Freezer 💙 | Getting Ready for Ramadan by morEwish 🕌

The best time to clean your fridge when its nearing empty, right before you go grocery shopping... I've been so busy lately, work, Youtube videos and kids end of school projects, that everything was piling up and since Ramadan are coming, I know I have to tackle this project, it was getting super grimy and disorganized

Before... 

To start up my project I took out absolutely everything from the fridge, I remove everything I possibly can, all shelves and drawers. While I was taking out stuff and food which needs to be thrown away, I was doing it right away. We always have a leftover food day at least once a week, but still I have food which needs to be thrown away.

For wiping and sanitizing I made my homemade cleaner with 50/50 ratio of water and Vinegar.. I clean everything with this liquid and wipe out with paper towel.. for some stubborn stain sprinkle some baking soda and scrub in using sponge then wipe with water or with this water solution and polish out. I wipe down absolutely everything using same method

Time to put everything back on its place and time to organize... I saw people using table mat as a fridge liners and I  adore that idea to catch up any spills and for quick cleanup... Then load your food... including your grocery shopping purchase... and start organizing according to your
household needs, I am stocking up on chutneys and achars since Ramadan are coming... and daily
breakfast items will go back...

Video  in Urdu: 

Video in English: 

So After Fridge, time to move on to my freezer compartment, almost followed the same procedure,
took out almost everything but for freezer i put the stuff right by the freezer on the floor, and starting working my way up little quicker.. I took out all plastic shelving I possibly can and washed
them outside in my driveway with soapy water

Then Start cleaning up with same vinegar water liquid... I have no idea how bottom of the freezer get those crumbs so the best way to clean those use hose extension on your vacuum its super fast.


so here's Before....

And here's After...

Its so freakingly satisfying to see clean fridge. You’ll save money because you won’t be re-buying
things you didn’t realize you had buried in the back of the fridge. Plus, your fridge will work more efficiently and be more cost-effective.
Most importantly, though, having a clean fridge will help keep your family healthy and safe!

How to Clean Oven Glass door with only two ingredients | No hard scrubbing

When I was away on Vacations and my kitchen and my lovely hubby were together all alone, where he was just baking almost every day.

All splattering splashes were all over in the oven including door.

After self cleaning my Oven door was still look like above picture..

(you can imagine here the worst condition of my oven and feelings when I first saw that - sigh)

After Googling and lot of research I got this idea of using baking soda mixed with water, It worked like a miracle I say,

I can say I know a magic trick now for cleaning my oven door...

Watch video and see how it happens in couple on minutes :)