In Praise Of The Noodle

My 8th graders were finishing up their final assessments on the health and nutrition unit we've been working on. It was grueling because we've only been covering this material for two months. I did the assessments with them as a group and made accommodations for their various reading and writing issues. Frankly, I can't believe I had the nerve to subject them to such horrors. One of the things they needed to do was come up with a five day meal plan including healthy foods in every menu.

In the course of any nutrition unit, the subject of Ramen Noodles is going to come up. How could it not? What discussion about the importance of good food choices isn't going to include the famous noodle? Ramen Noodles are the perfect food. They are noodly and, as such, fit into the food pyramid. I'm not exactly sure where the seasoning packet falls on the spectrum so I just left that out of the lesson plan.

I was craving Ramen Noodles tonight. Why? I guess that's just one of those mysteries we'll never solve. The label on my seasoning packed said, "chicken" so I think I can now safely say that those brown crystals are a protein. My students will be thrilled to have that piece of information.

I'll probably leave out the stories from my college days where a hot pot full of steaming noodles was the perfect cure after a night of...um...studying.

I guess my obsession with getting me some .25 cent noodles was what put me off the knitting. I put the fingerless mitts I need to have for Saturday in my bag so I could work on them during the day today. But I forgot all about them until I reached into my purse for my debit card at the noodle store. Then I remembered, but it was too late because I had to go home and cook Ramen Noodles. It is complicated getting the water/noodle/seasoning ratio just right and you can't be fiddling with needles.

Next you have to eat the noodles. Then you have to savor the aftertaste. And you can't forget the part where you need to scrape out the pot because noodle scum turns to cement after thirty seconds. Ramen Noodles make for a busy evening.

Perhaps I'll have some time later tonight to do a little knitting. At the moment, I'm still digesting the lump of noodle sitting in my gut and that's making things difficult. The mitts are still in my purse and that's waaaay over in the other room. I can't quite get there until the noodle situation resolves itself. Soon, though. Any minute. I can feel it. The burning urge to get up and go retrieve that knitting is almost upon me!

Or maybe that's a nugget of unmixed seasoning dissolving into my stomach lining...

SA