Ramadan is a time for fasting, worshiping, giving charity, celebrating and reflecting with family and friends. We often welcome loved ones into our home for iftar as it is a special part of the holiday. While Ramadan is not a time for gourmet meals, we still need to manage and fulfill our responsibilities of caring and nourishing for the well being of our families and guests.

Ramadan will be here before you know it. Like any holidays, food is a big part of this blessed month. With a little organization and fine tuning kitchen productivity now, Ramadan meal prep will be much easier; leaving us more time to focus on our worship and less time on grocery shopping, and meal prepping.

This year, I want to make sure Ramadan is not all rush rush. Ramadan is my favorite time of the year and I don’t like that time seems to fly by so fast during the holy month. Sure enough many of you feel the same way. So here’s a few kitchen organization tips that I’m going to start tackling now, so that when the sacred month rolls around, I won’t be in full cleaning and meal planning panic mode.

If you choose to follow some of these tips, let me suggest just one a day or 2-3 a weekend – it’s much easier to organize in small chunks.

1. First and foremost, pray for barakah in your time and effort. Make du’a to Allah (swt) to put blessings in your time, your home and all that you do. When we perform household chores with the right intention, i.e. for the sake of Allah, then we can reap the reward same as you being in sujood.

“Actions are but by intentions and every man will have only what he intended.” [Sahih Bukhari]

2. Begin with a plan. A little effort and planning now will result in a more productive kitchen during Ramadan. Plan in advance regarding how you want to prepare and decorate your kitchen for the month of blessings.

Preparing for the holy month means you have to make plans to ensure you have the most spiritual Ramadan experience. What do you plan to eat for suhoor and iftar? Are you going to make hummus, the stocks for those Ramadan soups, at home or buy? Are you going to the masjid for weekend fast breaking, sponsoring meals for needy families, inviting non-Muslims for iftar? Who and which days do you want to have friends and family over for iftar? Make a list of things you want to do. Once you have a plan, begin a menu plan so you know what you need to shop for.

3. Organize the pantry. Arrange your pantry shelves as you would a library, with food items grouped by category. Keep ziplock bags, plastic wrap and aluminum foils together near the pantry door or closer to the refrigerator to make quick work of storing away leftovers.

Take stock of what you have already so you don’t buy it again in a flurry of Ramadan shopping. Check Staples that may need restocking. You may think your pantry and spice rack are well-stocked, but two weeks before Ramadan starts, double-check on staples. Spices, especially, can go rancid or lose their flavor and scent entirely. Check your supply of dates, honey, nuts, dried beans, lentil, flour, etc. Remove all those half-empty boxes of snacks and combine them into one big snack basket. Create a shopping list accordingly.

4. Purge the refrigerator and the freezer. The freezer is your friend in the coming months as you prepare and freeze meals ahead of Ramadan. Use the freezer wisely and you will be able to operate so much more efficiently! Make more room in a crowded freezer by taking things out of their bulky boxed packaging and storing food in ziploc bags. Mark bags with date, and preparation instructions.

Eat what’s already in there to make room. Here’s my top 9 meals that I make sure I have stocked before the holy month starts to save time on cleaning and meal preparation during Ramadan.

Now is the time to go through the refrigerator contents and clear out as much possible. Finish off nearly empty jars of jam, toss empty condiment(those mayonnaise, tahini, etc.) containers, and throw out all expired, empty container of food. Wipe any spills and stains. Scrub down the produce drawers and wipe the shelves so it’s ready to be stocked with Ramadan items.

5. Invest in some kitchen tools. Having a few reliable quality kitchen appliances can save you time and energy. One reason I love my food processor is because it takes only few minutes to make hummus, chopped onions, grinding nuts enabling me to prepare meal faster. Having a trustworthy vegetable peeler and kitchen shears have been truly a blessing in my kitchen.

Take care of your knives now! Keeping my knives sharp certainly speeds up my meal preparations. Who wants to labor over a dull inefficient knife? Check your knives to make sure they are sharp.

Check here my small kitchen tools recommendations that I can’t part with for Ramadan food prep.

6. Check on appliances. Appliances need to be prepared and ready to go for Ramadan.  Check each appliance you plan to use – microwave oven, stovetop, oven, refrigerator, freezer, dishwasher, food processor, mixer and blender – to make sure they work and they are ready for action. If you find an appliance that doesn’t seem up to the job, either get it fixed or replace it before you need to use it during Ramadan. You don’t want to waste precious time during Ramadan chasing a broken appliance. It might be a good idea to also check the oven temperature.

As we get closer to Ramadan and seek purification of our home, mind, body and soul, let us do so with the intention of granting ourselves more time to devote to Almighty Allah swt during the holy month and all year long.