The Economy, The Spenders and Kale Soup

It's a quandary, isn't it? On the one hand, we have an economy coming to a screeching halt. Many people have lost their jobs, and I don't know about you, but Victor and I know several people personally whose jobs face the very real possibility of being cut. Americans have been living beyond their means for decades -- and that's unhealthy on so many levels, I could fill volumes lecturing about it. Finally, with the economic downturn, there are some signs that people are cutting back! And then you run into that other hand . . . companies are waiting on the edges of their seats -- hoping against hope that people start spending again. Ugh.

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The problem is that our economy has been built up, literally banking on people living off credit cards, home equity loans, and living in homes they can't afford for decades now. Forgive me, but it's not sustainable, it's not healthy, and it's not wise to hope that people regroup and continue to live beyond their means!

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This brings me to my next point. STOP! Stop spending beyond what you take in and make sure to give some, and save some. For many of us, there is a very real possibility that you could have a lower income, or no income. Now is not the time to go spending everything you have. When I drop Ripley off at school in the mornings, I am blown away (this is in Rhode Island mind you, where the unemployment rate is over 9%) at the line of cars waiting to get their coffee at Dunkin' Donuts. I'm sorry if I'm offending D&D owners right now, but this is such a simple way for people to save! And, bottled water, are people really still buying that stuff?? How about fake fingernails and manicures? Honestly.

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The sad fact of the matter is that our economy is over inflated beyond what it's citizens can actually support. I'm not an economist, and I'm not even gifted in math, but this is simple algebra that even I can handle. To be perfectly honest, I do hope that our economy shakes down to a realistic, sustainable level. The only other way to keep it at the level it was is for people to live beyond their means. I don't know what that shake down looks like, and I'm sure it's not pretty, but really -- ultimately, it would be best.

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It's certainly an issue that's on people's minds. When Ripley and I went to pick Benjamin up from school yesterday to take both boys to the dentist, we walked by two bus drivers talking. One bus driver, a woman in her 40's or so, was showing off a new pair of jeans proudly, twisting her hips around to show them off. Then the other bus driver exclaimed "I thought you weren't going to buy anything anymore!" "No!" the first bus driver corrected, "they were a gift!" The two ladies chuckled and patted each other on the shoulder in support. That made me happy. Really, this is what friends are for (back to that relationship thing I was talking about), supporting and encouraging each other. Holding each other accountable. Lifting each other up when we're struggling or have failed. That is the good and meaningful stuff in life.

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For us, we have looked over our budget again. Looking to see, if things were to get worse, what else we could cut, and what else we should cut now -- to save, just in case. Sadly, we decided that our "date night" had to go. It's a pretty big weekly expense, so instead, we will just go out together occasionally. I've also reduced our weekly budget for food, home and kitchen needs to $125, including the milk and cream we get from the milkman. Keep in mind that we have a lot of things stockpiled, so we won't be eating rice and beans exclusively just yet.

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One thing we are eating is kale from our garden. What an amazing plant! Here is what I picked yesterday for kale soup.

It's not that dark green, perky, plastic looking stuff you get from the grocery store, but HEY this kale has lived through several snow and ice storms. Here in Southeastern Massachusetts our snow usually doesn't stay long. We very commonly have rain in the winter -- the raw cold kind. So, although it's looking a little dilapidated, our kale is still holding it's own in our garden. Next year I'm going to plant a whole row of fall kale to last for as long as it will, through the winter. It really doesn't do a lot of growing, it just stays green -- and edible! How do we eat it, you ask?

Here's how:

Kale Soup:

• Drizzle olive oil all over the bottom of a large pot, medium low heat.
• Throw in 3-4 sliced onions and 4+ cloves of chopped garlic.
• Add 1 T salt (for large soup pot) and several shakes of red pepper flakes and/or Portuguese Red Pepper Sauce "Pimento de Malaguera Moida" about 1 T.
• Cook until translucent -- try not to brown.
• Add in a chicken breast (with bone), a pork chop (with bone), a ham hock, or some other type of broth that you have on hand like chicken (I wouldn't use beef broth from the store, too strong a flavor) -- if you have it. Otherwise just plain water will do.
• Fill up the pan with water -- but not so high that it bubbles over and splashes on your stove. Bring to a boil, then lower to a nice rolling boil. Cook until the meat is half way done, then . . .
• Add in about 4 peeled potatoes -- cut them in half if you want them to cook faster.
• When the meat is cooked - maybe 45 minutes?, pull the bones and meat out (they should pretty much be all in one piece). Discard the bones and reserve the meat, cutting it into small bite sized pieces.
• With a hand held blender (or transfer to blender) puree all of the potatoes, onions and garlic into a creamy looking broth.
• Don't forget the Portuguese Chourico pronounced "sure-eese" - of course I like the spicy variety. Chop into bite sized pieces. Add this at some point with the following ingredients. It's already cooked, but gives the broth and veggies a nice rich spicy flavor.
• Then, add in the remaining ingredients in order of slowest to cook - to - fastest to cook -- all pleasantly bite sized :) -- 2-3 carrots, 1-2 potatoes, about 4 large leaves of kale (spine and stem removed) chopped thinly, about a cup or so of macaroni elbows or break of spaghetti into 1" long pieces into the pot, and throw in your reserved meat.
• Taste, add more salt and pepper if necessary.
• That's it! Eat with crusty bread. Yumola.

Consumption ... The Holidays

Since we were on the subject of TRASH and CONSUMPTION (see Wednesday's post) ... What will you do this year for the holidays? We celebrate Christmas and have had our fair share of over-consumption to put it mildly. Just how did we get so far off base in celebrating the birth of Jesus? The more you think on it, the more embarrassing it becomes. And the irony is, if you read through the New Testament I just don't see anywhere where Jesus would be in favor of such a display of excess, waste and gluttony. Surely we have bought onto a lie. The sad thing is, so often in our society shopping for Christmas has become a chore. Something is purchased just to cross it off the list of "to do's". We more than likely aren't filling a need. Toys upon more toys, clothes upon more clothes, widgets upon more widgets. Ugh. If we were to truly celebrate the life of Jesus, we would save all year long, and at the end of the year we would give away what we had collected to the poor, the hungry, and the homeless. Perhaps this is too radical for us all. Maybe a "green" Christmas would include recycling gifts (toys that your kids have outgrown, but are still perfectly OK), purchasing gifts from thrift shops, consignment shops or antique shops, or hand making gifts. Maybe a "green" Christmas is an old fashioned Christmas, where you received an orange in the foot of your stocking, some underwear and socks. Maybe it's making more of a committment to non-gift oriented traditions with family and friends. We have made big improvements as a family over the past five years, but it's like beating back bramble in a forest. It takes committment and discipline on all sides. What will you do for the holidays? Will you make any changes? What do you think of this pickle we've gotten ourselves into? Or, are you OK with it this one time a year?

The Flu and TRASH!

I was looking forward to yesterday. Getting out to vote and watching the whole landmark election process take place and unfold on the news. My boys both had the day off from school, so with beautiful weather forecasted and the opportunity to take them with me to vote ... I was giddy with excitement. However, around 1am yesterday morning .... I came down with the flu. Can you believe it?! Both kids at home, husband at work, chills, aches, mild fever and ... other flu symptoms that I will spare you. :) I was determined that even if I had to shuffle into my polling location with a bucket -- I was going to VOTE!! I'd waited too long! So, around 10:30am I threw on some clothes and tried to look respectable, packed the kids in the car and off we went (Not to worry, I used antibacterial gel and didn't touch or get near a soul!). Thankfully, it was very busy, but line-less. I shuffled in -- cast my votes -- and shuffled out. The poor boys were anxious to do something fun and all I could do was survive and make sure they didn't get into mischief. It was brutal. As I ached away, I watched t.v. and did manage to see all of the polling results, the concession speech and the acceptance speech. No matter what you think of Obama, as my "less government" Portuguese Citizen History Major husband said last night "That guy gives a friggin' incredible speech! He can even inspire me!"

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TRASH: I did manage to read the paper yesterday and ran into a very interesting article. The subtitle read: "Trash volumes have declined 20 percent to 25 percent across the country during the past 20 months and some industry analysts attribute that to the economy." The Providence Journal article goes on to say "Rhode Islanders are tossing out more than 20 percent less trash than they did two years ago, before the onset of the local recession ... 'It's true that recycling is on the rise increasing 6 percent during the second half of last year and the first half of this year ... and would help diminish overall trash volumes. But ... the lower output in recent years, especially last year, is a reflection of the local economy. People are buying less, so they're throwing out less.' Said Michael O'Connell, Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corp's executive director." Isn't that incredible?! To me, it is incredible in a good way. Now, I know this is a touchy subject. As someone whose family is in the manufacturing business (handbags) if people buy less stuff ... or a lot less stuff, companies will have to produce less and perhaps go out of business, and then we will have large losses of jobs, etc., etc. However, as I've pointed out before when posting The Story of Stuff video link, our world's and particularly our nation's level of consumption is unsustainable. The Story of Stuff does editorialize a little bit (if you are offended by that) but it's filled with a lot of great information. The bottom line is we can't keep making stuff, buying stuff and throwing it out. It's unsustainable. What's the answer? For decades now the success of our Nation's economy has been based on consumption. Ugh. How embarrassing. Maybe it is leading the world in sustainable energy. Maybe it's recommitting ourselves to servicing and repairing things again? (I actually drove by a t.v. repair shop recently and nearly drove off the road with my mouth agape. T.V. repair? This poor person can actually stay in business?) I don't know what the answer is. What to do with all of the jobs that we need? Maybe we downsize our economy, people commit to having one family member stay home to raise their children, be content with buying less stuff, and recommit ourselves to conserving, repairing, recycling and reusing things. That would certainly reduce the demand for more jobs. Hmmmm. What do you think?

Speaking of trash ... I just read a blurb from No Impact Man regarding how things are made to throw out and how the world of manufacturing is more or less currently based on getting rid of the old and buying a new. No Impact Man has a vision for the future. All I can say in response to him is "Amen". Link his story here.