Soup Nutzy

It used to be, as I wandered the grocery store aisles, that I'd pass the ramen section with a puzzled look on my face. How could that desiccated little brick possibly be considered food?

Then, several years ago, my brother came to visit me for a week and left in his wake a couple of packages of the mysterious noodly substance that lay untouched in my pantry for a very long time. I never planned on eating them but I couldn't just throw them away. At the very least I'd decided to keep them around in case dear brother returned.

But you know how it is. You get too busy to do your shopping and suddenly you find yourself late on a weekday night desperate for a snack. And thus I had my first bowl of ramen.

It wasn't too bad. In fact, I liked it enough to pick up a few "emergency ramens" the next time I went shopping. Now, though, whenever I eat it I toss in an egg and as many frozen veggies as will comfortably fit in the bowl so it's not too heinous by nutritional standards.

I thought I was pretty slick with my egg-and-veggies trick (does anyone really eat this stuff plain?) until last week when my alternative weekly, The Dallas Observer, shared a few enticing ramen recipes for the college set. Many of the recommended ingredients require pilferage from fast-food establishments which, of course, makes the recipes even more fun. Being old fogey-ish I bought mine at Krogers.

I tested most of the recipes this week and found them quite tasty, especially the version employing cilantro, jalapeno, and salsa. Among the six proffered variants was a faux fettuccini alfredo and a "prison ramen" that employs powdered cheese puffs as a primary ingredient.

The one dish I haven't tried yet requires liberal splashes of soy sauce. But it occurred to me, as I pulled a dusty bottle of the stuff from the dark recesses of my pantry, that it'd probably been hiding back there there since Bill Clinton was president. I'm sure the shelf life of a product this acidic is probably eternity plus a leap year but I think I'll just wait to try that particular recette until after I've purchased a new supply.

If you're curious about these dishes you can check out the full range of cheap eat recipes here. There are also a wide variety of other recipes on the 'net, if you're curious. Bon appetit!

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=Lefty=

Oh, That Mitt Michelle.

Romney-Ryan have been suspiciously quiet this week. I think they're up to something, like planning to take over the world!

Be that as it may, Steve Bene of Maddowblog has been studiously notating Mr. Romney's lies of late and here's his list from the past week.

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Among the few spots of hilarity is a pro-Romney video featuring an "Obama supporter" for whom the flame of hope and change has gone out... except the supporter is really a staffer for the GOP.

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Michelle Obama provided a few GOP smack-downs her ownself. First, her inspiring speech at the DNC was written at the 12th grade level. Compare that with Ann Romney, whose speech was written at the 7th grade level.

That's 7th grade level.

Second, tweets referencing Mrs. Obama's speech were reaching levels of 28,000 a minute. That's nifty but even more impressive when compared to Mitt Romney's acceptance speech which managed only 14,000 tweets per minute. D'oh!

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Quote For The Day

"The DNC narrative arc: Michelle Obama was foreplay, Bill Clinton was pure sex, and Barack Obama was the cuddle in the afterglow." - The Rude Pundit

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Today's video: Mittens has an awkward, very awkward encounter with a gay Viet Nam vet. Hilarity ensues.

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President Obama's Top 50 Accomplishments

Number 39: Improved School Nutrition

In coordination with Michelle Obama, signed Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act in 2010 mandating $4.5 billion spending boost and higher nutritional and health standards for school lunches. New rules based on the law, released in January, double the amount of fruits and vegetables and require only whole grains in food served to students.

For the full list of his 50 finest achievements read the Washington Monthly story.

And now our Chart of the Day: Dollars Spent Per Student By State



Larger version of chart here.

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Republican Job Creation Update

Congress is in recess until early September. No jobs are being created, no farms are being saved.

For the full 2001-2012 list of Republican sloth please visit republicanjobcreation.com.

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Fox News Lies. Dump Fox News

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