You may remember when Iran’s women’s soccer team made headlines last year after being disqualified from an Olympic qualifying match against Jordan for refusing to take off their hijabs after FIFA (the international governing body of soccer) declared a ban on the headscarf back in 2007. FIFA board members cited “a choking hazard” as their explanation for banning the religious headscarf that Muslim women wear.

Because that’s exactly what can happen.

All of us Muslim women get dressed in the morning and then by lunch time we’ve all choked ourselves and each other to death.

After being told that they could not wear hijab the Iranian women showed up to their match against Jordan…IN HIJAB. That was so exciting for me I wanted to go outside and punch someone in the face. My adrenaline can sometimes get out of control like that.

Problem was, the Gamemakers…err…I mean FIFA didn’t see the women’s actions as courageous, but as deliberately disobeying a rule. So the Iranian women were disqualified for not listening and were sent to their rooms to think about what they did.

I can only imagine what a blow that must have been to every woman on that team and to every coach, every parent, every spouse and every friend that has supported these women on their journey to athletic greatness. As an elite athlete you train your entire life for these big stages: regional and state finals, Nationals, Worlds and eventually the Olympics. The only thing worse than an injury that threatens to end your career is a disqualification. And in this case, a disqualification that had no feet to stand on.

Oops, their bad FIFA FOR PRACTICING THEIR RELIGION.

So a petition was started to lift the hijab ban and hundreds of thousands of people (including me!) signed it. And last month FIFA finally lifted the ban allowing female soccer players all over the world the freedom to practice their faith and be superior athletes.

I’m incredibly happy that this ban has been lifted, but inside I’m still pretty upset with FIFA. It took them 5 years to reverse a ban that should never have been put in place to begin with; my anger is only softened when I think of those amazing women who stood up for their faith and for each other. The easy way out would have been to simply take off their scarves, or even settle for the “cap” that FIFA suggested in place of the proper hijab. But the women refused to negotiate something of so much importance and that spoke volumes to me.

There are Muslim women who aren’t afforded career opportunities because of their hijab — women whose own family members tell them they won’t find good husbands because of their hijab — and women who live in parts of this world where donning hijab is like painting a bulls eye on their chests. So what the Iranian women’s soccer team did when they showed up to that match in hijab was send a beautiful message to every Muslim woman in the world reminding all of us that even in this big scary world, we can still believe in and find heroes. Just like Batman. Because obviously he’s real.

I’m not naive to the fact that there are people who aren’t fond of this story. But at the core of it this is not about soccer, nor is it about faith. This is about holding firm to your personal values. When I was in 7th grade there was a poster in one of the hallways at my middle school that read, Stand up for what you believe in even if you’re standing alone and for me, the Iranian women’s soccer team embodies those words that are forever etched in my memory.

I doubt I’ll ever get to meet those women, but if I ever did I’d want to tell them that their bravery and strength has reached the other side of the globe. And I’d want to say thank you to all of them for being my Batman.

Athletica Sports Hijab, $24.99 at Bahiya Collections.com

Maybe “30 million photos” is a slight exaggeration, but I kid not when I say that I am incredibly overwhelmed at the idea of trying to organize my pictures. Every year-ish I try and tackle this project. The last time I went into Photo Organization mode was when we were living in Los Angeles. Between working retail, freelancing and my perpetual job hunt I decided to carve out some time to buckle down and start organizing, categorizing and cleaning up all my photos. Obviously since I’m still talking about this you know that I have yet to create a strong framework that will help keep my photos neatly filed away.

So I’m turning to you, Internet. In your vast oasis of information and various skills, I’m asking for help regarding how to tackle this massive project. What’s the best way to categorize photos? How many categories should you have? How long should you keep photos? Do you always keep multiple copies of every photo? I got my first digital camera somewhere around 2006 so that’s how far back the photos on my computer date; I am not even ready to tackle my photo boxes yet — though organizing my printed photos is actually an item on my Life List. Because IT’S THAT SERIOUS.

When I was growing up, parathas (say: par-ought-ahs), a type of Indian “roti” or bread, were made on a regular basis. My mom would spend hours in the kitchen mixing and kneading, and rolling, and perfecting those delicious flat breads that could be eaten at every meal. But parathas aren’t easy to make. They take time and skill, and as my mom always says, “nothing tastes good unless you make it with love.”

When The Boss and I lived in Los Angeles, we shared a car. And by “shared” I mean I didn’t even know what our license plate number was. The only way I knew which car was ours (when it wasn’t parked in the assigned spot at our apartment) was because of the Connecticut plates. And then we moved to Connecticut and I was that idiot roaming the parking lots aimlessly clicking the remote on the keys trying to follow the beeps because I couldn’t remember if our car was black, or green, or dark blue. Maybe it was gray? AND WHY DOES EVERYONE ELSE’S LICENSE PLATES HAVE CLOUDS ON THEM?

Oh, that’s because WE’RE IN CONNECTICUT NOW.

BEEP! BEEP!

I walked all over the city when we moved L.A. and the people at the local grocery store, farmer’s market and Indian and halal stores and I became very well acquainted. I’d take all the reusable grocery bags we had and my hiking backpack to the grocery store, pile on 30 pounds of groceries/cleaning supplies/other necessities and walk a mile back to our apartment. A lot of the local grocers had seen me do this, and would randomly give me discounts on my groceries; I think they thought I was my husband’s slave.

Dude goes to work, and this little girl who looks like a boy walks 2 miles to get groceries and probably slaves over the hot stove all day. Poor thing.

Hey, I’m all about misconceptions if it means I’m going to get a 20 percent discount!

WORKS FOR ME!

One afternoon at the Indian foods store, I stopped at the shelves lined with “atta,” durum wheat used for baking a variety of Indian breads. I looked through all the varieties for a while (I’m the person you never want to be in line behind at a vending machine) and decided that I was going to try my hand at parathas. I’d seen my mom and aunts make these breads my whole life so I felt confident in my ability to recall their recipes from my childhood.

I got a 10-pound bag of atta, which retailed for $12, but I got it for $6. The old man at the counter asked me where my mom was and when I said, “Northern Virginia” he goes, “I give it to you six dollar.”

WORKS FOR ME!

All the paratha recipes I know include a lot of “extras.” Like I mentioned in the video, some of you may make these breads with butter, shortening, oil and salt. I ended up playing with my own paratha recipe. I added salt then I didn’t. Then I added oil, then I didn’t. And then I read what “shortening” was and I almost puked. In the end, I decided that “clean” was the way to go, and I started making my parathas with three simple ingredients: atta, water and love.

The first several times I made parathas I made a lot of mistakes. My back and wrists were in massive amounts of pain; the smoke from cooking was suffocating. It would fill our 330 square-foot apartment causing the smoke alarm to go off every six minutes. I’d often half-slip on little oil drippings on the kitchen tile and hurt my lower back or hip flexer. In the beginning, I opted to pull my hair back in a high, messy bun and wear sweat pants, neither of which were good ideas. And when I froze the parathas I used paper towels aluminum foil and plastic bags. Again, not ideal. But I’ve discovered that there is an exact science to make this whole process seamless. Two years ago it took me 6 hours to make 30 parathas. And yesterday it took 1 hour and 2 minutes to make 49.

Now, the break down.

Attire: Shorts and a t-shirt or tank top are ideal. Wear comfortable…ahem…undergarments. Picking wedgies and adjusting straps will only result in dry, crusty dough stuck to your clothes (in awkward places) forever.

Shoes: Everyone needs a pair of these. They’re perfect house shoes for cold weather and do great in the kitchen.

Hair: If your hair is long enough for a ponytail, pull it back and slide on a no-slip grip flat soft hairband (I’m a big fan of scünci) so you’re not trying to push back fly-aways while you cook. If your hair won’t pull back into a ponytail, you can still use one of those headbands to keep the shorter hairs out of your face. I also use these for working out.

Ventilation: Open windows in separate areas of your house and turn the exhaust fan in your kitchen to high.

Avoiding soreness: Stand only to knead the flour. Keep feet hip distance apart and tuck your tailbone in slightly to protect your lower back. When you start making the tiny balls, alternate sitting and standing with equal weight distribution on both feet. You can do calf raises while you stand. In my mind that cancels out the carbs! To avoid elbow and wrist soreness, keep your elbows slightly bent and don’t let your wrists get floppy while you use the rolling pin.

Tools and shortcuts: Traditionally, rolling pins are made of wood, but I’ve learned over the years that they’re the hardest to clean. So this year I bought a non-stick rolling pin (Betty Crocker at Bed Bath & Beyond for $9.99). I use all four burners at once, but if you have small children or pets, you might have to make an adjustment here.

Storage: Divvy your parathas into groups of 10. Wrap in aluminum foil and seal in 1 gallon Ziploc Double-Zipper Freezer Bags. Yes, the brand matters here. And don’t use paper towels because they’ll stick to food when frozen.

Serving after freezing: Heat parathas for about 1 minute in a 350 degree oven. They should be soft like a tortilla and warm through the middle.

Sometimes “simple” can be interpreted as “lazy” or “tasteless,” but I’ve never met someone who ate my parathas and said, “Hmm, this needs animal fat,” or “I don’t really like whole wheat.” I was really lucky to find a high quality atta that I’ve been loyal to for almost 3 years and I’m totally convinced that my happy thoughts add to the great taste!

Oh, and if you’re a man reading this,  unless you have a fade or a shaved head, you should probably borrow a headband from that special lady in your life.

Okay, now on to cooking details.

Ingredients:

SWARNA Chaki Fresh Atta 100% stone ground whole wheat
Warm water
Salt (optional)
Cooking oil. A variety will change texture (and in some cases flavor) or your parathas so experiment!
Happy thoughts and love

Directions:

Note: 6 cups flour yields approximately 50 parathas so calculate according to your needs.

Mix 3 to 5 cups of atta with 1 to 2 cups of water. Play around with this ratio. Consistency should be that of a new container of Play-Doh. Put the dough in a bowl and cover with damp paper towels. Let rise for 1 hour.

After dough has risen, transfer to an open work station. Knead well for 1 minute. Pull off small handfuls of dough and knead into small flat rounds. (You can add oil, shortening, butter or a drop of water to each ball before you roll it into a paratha).

Cook parathas for about 1-2 minutes on each side. Cooking time may vary based on stove and pan. Transfer parathas onto a plate covered with a paper towel to soak up excess oil. Eat right away, or let cool for about an hour and then transfer to freezer.