Mason Jar Ramen and Kale Soup

Be Kind.

Choose Kind.

Kindness Matters.

If You Can Be Anything In The World, Be Kind.

Kindness is having a moment. Don’t you think?

Every school in the nation peppers their halls with posters, many with a cats (maybe even hanging from a tree), championing kindness. And this is a great thing. I mean, who can argue with it?

Kindness is a fruit of the spirit. It’s a goal of all parents, at least every one I’ve ever met, to raise kind children. No one ever stares lovingly at their expanding baby bump and thinks “My one wish for you is that you grow to become a raging jerk.” No one. It’s a life goal. Even if you, yourself, are a jerk (which I’d argue you probably aren’t aware of) you want to raise a kind child. I can bet on it. Because we can all acknowledge that kindness, yes, it does matter. 

So it’s no surprise to any of us that kindness has moved beyond the halls of elementary schools. Kindness clubs exist in high schools. Middle schools have buddy programs based on kindness. Moms wear kindness graphic logo tees and we preach it loud and proud. We are all so dang kind.

Except we’re not, really. Based purely on my completely unscientific and amateur research it seems to me that we’re actually becoming quite the opposite. 

Bear with me here. I’m not pointing fingers. I’m just observing. And, as always, most of what I write is about myself anyway so take it with a grain of salt. I’m clearly the worst offender out there. 

We are preaching kindness to our children out of one side of our mouth and then out of the next, once we sit down to a computer with a little anonymity under our belt, we are about as unkind as we can be. We discipline our children to speak kindly to all and to include everyone, yet we get in traffic and from the safety of our closed up cars, we unleash a torrent of unkindness at other drivers for getting in our way. For many of us, unkindness is seething right below the skin, and yet we fool ourselves to think our kids aren’t picking up on our mixed signals.

Meme society kills me. Yes, I love a good meme. I really do. Posted one on fb today, in fact. But why WHY are they so mean? I’ve seen people I truly respect share devastatingly mean memes about a politician’s physical appearance because they happen to disagree personally with their stance. The language we use when discussing these public servants who we happen to dislike is often personal and horrendous. If our kids were saying these things, calling friends fat or comparing them to monkeys because of how they look, we would quickly correct them. We’d be appalled. Yet it’s commonplace on social media. We share memes that make fun of people who we have never met because, well, they’re funny. Or they make a point. Or we don’t like them. 

Do we think this is ok? 

We watch tv show after tv show where people are terrible to each other. If reality tv has taught us anything it’s that women being catty and mean to each other is pure entertainment. Backstabbing, lying and just flat out ugly behavior is what works. And we watch it with hungry glee, loving the drama, going back for more each night because, let’s face it, a show where people are really kind to each other would bore us to tears. 

Where is the dramatic tension? Where is the conflict crescendo?

We sit in our cars in traffic. We sit. And then we sit some more. And, if you’re anything like me, we also yell. And rant. And rave. At any one who gets in our way. Seriously. I have been known to openly curse at someone going below the speed limit in front of me only to pass them (speeding no doubt) and look back in shame as I see an 80-year-old grandmother delivering Meals on Wheels or doing some other kind work I’m too busy and self-focused to do (read about my road rage Come to Jesus HERE). When we’re cocooned in our own little soundproof car it’s really easy to be unkind. After all, unless we’re truly bold and rant with windows open no one will ever know, right?

But will they?

Y’all, kindness is sorely lacking in my life these days. I need an IV infusion. I need to get that cat poster and paste it to my face. Because I’ve had about enough of the lack. 

Kindness comes, at it’s purest place, from a “me second” space. It’s really hard to be unkind when you’re thinking about the other person before yourself. It’s really hard to be unkind when you’re using empathy. It’s really hard to be unkind and when you’re filled with love and grace you yourself don’t deserve either. 

But on the flip side it’s easy to be unkind when you’re thinking of just yourself. It’s easy to share that meme when you feel self-righteous about your views and personally victimized by someone’s opinion on something that has, quite honestly, nothing to do with you. “Me first” means just that. And it’s the root of every unkind act I’ve ever committed, I promise.

I don’t know how to fix this. I really don’t. But I do know our kids see it. I’m sure of it. My middle schooler is obsessed with memes; apparently it’s a thing right now. Which is great, but it’s not. Because in his search for middle school-friendly memes he’s bound to come across one making fun of Nancy Pelosi’s face or Donald Trump’s hair. My kids ride in the car with me and watch me navigate through traffic. They see it. No matter how much I clean it up. They see it all. 

So then it’s no wonder to me that despite all of the kindness pushing we do, bullying still exists. IN fact, not only does it exist, but it has also exploded. Kids are smart. They know you can’t bully someone for their outright differences, because that would be unkind, but we sure can be unkind for other reasons. And we all see it. Bullying is alive and well, especially online. Because, me first, right?

We are called to love each other.  And love=kindness. If I have God’s love for others in my heart, it’s a heck of lot harder to choose unkind. It’s hard to mock how someone looks just because I disagree with their ideology if I’m filled with His grace for my own imperfections and short comings (of which I have many). 

So let’s give kindness a flying chance. The next time someone cuts you off, be like Elsa and let it go. Smile. Don’t share that meme, no matter how funny it is. Embrace the Golden Rule, hold it tight and use it daily, even to those that don’t think, look or act like you. Our children are watching. So maybe it’s time we put our money where our mouths are and put a little kind in our heart.

So here’s a kind recipe for you. Kind because it takes a couple of minutes of prep, a couple of minutes of “cooking” and you can literally take it to work and make it there. It’s so easy. Mason jars, like kindness, have been having a moment. And this recipe is a marriage of my love of ramen and those uber-trendy mason jar salads you see all over Pinterest. I honestly couldn’t be happier with this recipe. And the best part is how easy it is.

Any bagged kale salad will do, or if you want to just grab some kale and finely slice it, have at it. Not a kale fan, spinach will work. I like to make this very very easy, so if you don’t have fish sauce on hand, omit it. Don’t be afraid of any of the sauce ingredients, you can play around and make it your own. The beauty is the technique. Use the Keurig at work for boiled water, or the coffee maker. I topped mine with a six minute egg (recipe HERE), but for those that don’t like them, regular old hard boiled works or just have it plain. Either way, you can’t go wrong with a take to work lunch as easy as this one. I promise.

Peace, love and kindness,

Meg 

Mason Jar Ramen and Kale Soup

March 17, 2020

Print This

By: Meaghan Dawson

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cup kale salad mix
• 1 package ramen noodles (broken apart to fit into the jar)
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon fish sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger (fresh if you're feeling frisky)
• touch of lime zest
• touch of Sriracha (optional)
• Boiling water

Directions

• Step 1 In a small bowl whisk the dressing ingredients together.
• Step 2 Pour into the bottom of mason jar.
• Step 3 Pack in kale and greens on top.
• Step 4 Top with broken ramen.
• Step 5 When ready to serve, pour boiling water over to the top.
• Step 6 Close and let sit for three minutes.
• Step 7 Shake carefully to combine.
• Step 8 Gently remove lid (use pot holders to protect from burns. The heat will form a seal so you’ll need to use some force).
• Step 9 Pour into bowl, top with egg if desired.
• Step 10 Serve.

Sharing is Caring

Facebook

Google

Twitter

Linkedin

Stumbleupon

Yummly