Mr. Peasant Rants About the High Price of Convenience

Do we work for and pay for all this convenience in order to live our lives, or do we live our lives in order to work for and pay for all this convenience?

COLIN BEAVAN

I recommended a Chemex coffee maker to my boss at work. He had been using a Mister Coffee but made the switch to the Chemex and loved it. Then, he stopped loving it and went with a French press. He said the Chemex took too much time. This filled me with disgust.

I told another fellow about ditching those high dollar cartridge razors and canned shave creams and using a safety razor and shave soap. He told me that this style of shaving took too much time. This filled me with disgust.

I mentioned to a coworker that I always bring my lunch to work instead of eating out. Naturally, he said he didn't have time to make his lunch. This filled me with disgust.

Here is something I don't understand. How valuable is the time of these people? I can understand the President not having time to fix his own lunch or even wipe his own butt. But what are these people doing that is so important that they have to economize every minute of their day? And are they really saving time when they have to work longer hours to pay for all the time they saved on this convenience?

Convenience always comes at a cost. I can make a deli style vegan sandwich for about 50 cents at home. I can buy the equivalent sandwich from a deli or sub shop for about $5. For the time I spent waiting in line watching the guy make the sandwich that I could have made myself and paying for the sandwich to the brain dead cashier at the checkout, I could have made my own sandwich and eaten it. I haven't saved any time on this at all. In fact, I lost time on this. Then, I have to pay for the high price of this lousy service which means I have to work longer on my job to pay for the labor I saved at the sandwich shop. In the final calculation, I have lost both time and money on this transaction. Where's the convenience in this?

I never shop at convenience stores except to buy gas. I find that I can go to the grocery store and buy my convenience items for less money in the same amount of time. This is because convenience stores have one overworked clerk and a jerk who scratches his lottery tickets at the counter just after buying them. Where's the convenience in this?

I never buy coffee from Starbucks. This is because it takes 30 minutes to finally get the cup of ashtray flavored coffee which will cost me another 30 minutes of labor on the job to pay for the coffee I could have made in ten minutes at home for a fraction of the cost. Where's the convenience in this?

Our society has become accustomed to having people do everything for them. This is why families eat four to five times a week at some fast food restaurant. This is why workers hit up Starbucks everyday for their caffeine fix. This is why convenience stores can get away with charging almost $2 for a bag of chips that would cost a fraction at a real grocery store. It makes no economic sense, but most people are stupid on these matters. And when you call them out on this stupidity, they always make the time argument. These things save time, and time is money.

Time is money. If your time is worth $100 an hour, paying $10 for lunch makes sense since making it yourself would cost $50 in the opportunity cost. But people making $10 an hour will pay $10 for a meal that just cost them an hour of their lives. Then, they are mystified why they have to find a second job to make ends meet. Yet, they could work one job and be fine if they just made their own sandwich.

Do you want to save more money? Do you want to save more time in your life? Do you want to be able to work less? Do you want higher quality experiences? Then, make your own sandwich. As much as possible, make your life less convenient. The irony is that you will find that you have all the time you need and money accumulating in your accounts. And that is very convenient.

Thank you for reading!

Chickpea Pot Pie

"Who will plant the Seed?"

But the Pig said, "Not I," and the Cat said, "Not I," and the Rat said, "Not I."

"Well, then," said the Little Red Hen, "I will." And she did.

THE LITTLE RED HEN

I can't believe it's almost Easter. I read a wonderful article by a priest that said instead of coming up with our own sacrifices for Lent like giving up sweets, we should look for the cross God has already given us and bear that cross better. I've been really trying to be a better wife to Mr. Peasant. I'm trying to be a better friend and co-worker. We still have given up sweets, but Mr. Peasant wasn't able to fast this year due to his brain injury because brain healing takes calories. And speaking of calories, today I want to share a wonderful recipe!

Whenever I have two or three potatoes to get rid of,  I make this recipe.  It's simple, delicious, and extremely cheap. It's $3.00 for the whole dish. Most of these ingredients you probably have right now in your kitchen. I hope you try it.

Ingredients:

1 TB vegetable oil

1 cup chopped carrots AND 1/2 cup frozen green peas ( OR 1 1/2 cups of frozen vegetable mix*)

2 large potatoes diced small (red or yellow, peeled or unpeeled)

1 large yellow onion diced

2 15.5 ounce cans of chickpeas drained and rinsed or 3 cups cooked chickpeas

4 TBs all purpose flour

2 cups of vegetable stock or 2 cups of water and 1 1/2 cubes of bullion

2 TB soy sauce

1/2 Tsp dried thyme

2 med fresh sage leaves chopped (or a little less than 1/4 tsp dried sage)

Biscuit topping:

4 TBs Earth Balance spread melted

2 cups all purpose flour 

1/4 Tsp of salt

4 Tsps baking powder

1 Tsp baking soda

1 cup unsweetened plain almond milk

Directions:

Heat 1 TB of oil in a medium sized sauce pot. Add onions and carrots and cover with a lid. Cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes until the onions are softened. Now add potatoes, chickpeas, green peas, vegetable stock, soy sauce, thyme, and sage to the pot. Taste and add salt and pepper to your liking. Stir mixture and bring to a simmer for 10 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Then turn off heat and add 4 TBs of flour to the pot stirring continuously until it starts to thicken. You may have to add some more water (1/4 cup to 1/2 cup) if it is too dry. You want a nice amount of sauce. Pour the mixture into a greased 9 x 11 baking dish. 

In a medium bowl mix the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda with a fork. Now add almond milk and melted butter to the dry ingredients. Mix well. 

Place large spoonfuls of the biscuit batter on top of the vegetable pot pie mixture spacing them out so it covers the entire pan. Place in the oven and cook 25-30 minutes.

* If you are using a frozen vegetables mix (green beans, carrots, peas, and corn) add them to the pot after cooking the onions for 5 minutes. 

Next time you have a few potatoes fixing to go bad, try out this recipe. I think you and your family will love it. Thank you for reading, and God bless!

Our Home Altar Through the Year

 Love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, 

and with thy whole mind.
MATTHEW 22:37

                                                                                     

How can we love the Lord with all our minds? We can help ourselves stay mindful of him throughout the day with visuals in our home. With all the distractions of this modern life, I need all the help I can get.

We hang one crucifix in each room of our apartment (except the bathroom!) I place prayers and scriptures and novenas above the kitchen sink, so when I am washing dishes I am reminded to pray. 

We have a special corner in our living room dedicated to our faith. It is a simple chest of drawers holding very important sacramentals: our rosaries, holy water, candles, oils, and prayer cards of loved ones.  On top of the dresser is where we display artwork, candles, or flowers. We display holy artwork that helps us mediate deeper on the Lord. We have been given beautiful spiritual artwork as gifts, and we switch out the pieces throughout the year by the seasons. We have our simple little Christmas tree displayed during Advent. During Lent, I display a very moving print of  Jesus praying in the garden.

I started this post before the accident, and I got reminded today to share it. You see God left me a sweet reminder that He is right here with us no matter what we are going through. I placed a single mini red rose cutting in water next to a picture of Jesus's agony in the garden. And it rooted. I don't know why that just moves me. Probably because I've tried to root rose cuttings in the past and failed miserably. We are in our own agony with Mr. Peasants slow moving brain recovery. I placed a rose to the suffering Lord, and He returned it back to me with roots. Even in the desert, God is moving. 

Our home Altar throughout the year:

But thou, when thou shalt pray, enter into thy chamber, and having shut the door, pray to thy Father in secret: and thy Father who seeth in secret will repay thee. --MATTHEW 6:6

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. . . But we preach Christ crucified. --1 CORINTHIANS  1:18&23   

Thank you for reading. God bless you.