Category: News

Eat Nachos, Lose Weight

Story suggestion by: Mitch S. Email us a story.

NachodietConsidering the diet industry is big business and pulls in billions of dollars each year, it’s not surprising that there are so many out there. From Atkins, to The Zone, to South Beach, choosing the right diet and sticking with it is something many people struggle with each day. Needless to say, being a nacho lover doesn’t really help the cause.

Or does it?

The Watley Review posted a parody article about a research study that proposed the effectiveness of the Tourette’s diet, also known as the “nacho diet.” (Is it just me, or does anyone else have a strong urge to cuss right now?) The study, funded by Frito-Lay’s, was conducted over a two-year period and is the first to document a positive affect on the American physique by a snack food.

Participants consumed one serving of nachos in place of breakfast and lunch, had a normal dinner, and were allowed snacks consisting of fruit. Participants lost up to 8 pounds in two weeks! And while The Watley Review may be a parody site, and this “diet” may not be a good idea to actually undertake, we believe in a perfect world, the “nacho diet” would be A-Okay!

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Nacho Sighting at GDC2007

KotakuGDC2007 has come and gone. Overall, it was a decent show…albeit, one without nachos conveniently available in the convention center. However, in response to this post, Michael Fahey over at the gaming mega-blog Kotaku generously wrote us with this report.

According to Fahey, Telltale Games held a small party to promote their upcoming Sam and Max game. The shindig was held at a little speakeasy in a Union Square alleyway and was home to many drunk members of the press as well as Steve Purcell, the creator of Sam and Max.

But the big news of the night was that they were serving up nachos. Fahey described them as being “slightly thicker than your normal variety, with some of them bordering on the chewy side for some odd reason.” He added that, “while the other finger foods were down at the other end of the darkened bar, the nachos sat alone upon a pedestal, piled high…piled proudly.” He admitted to spending a fair amount of time standing next to the pedestal, scooping up copious amounts of goodness onto the slightly sweet chips before eventually breaking down, grabbing a plate, and shoveling a large chunk out of the diminishing pile and carrying them over to a table where his Kotaku cohorts and friends waited.

We salute you, Michael Fahey, for keepin’ it real and being a proud nacho cheese lover!

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Two MIT Students, Cheese, and a Dream

Story suggestion by: Mitch S. Email us a story.

FountainA reader recently sent in this picture and suggested we write a story about it. Not content with simply commenting on a photo, we were compelled to venture to the source. We wanted to find the person responsible for such a glorious handcrafted piece of cheesy machinery. Our search lead us to Chris Vogt and Schuyler Senft-Grupp – two Electrical Engineering and Environmental Engineering alums from MIT. Chris gives Schuyler credit for coming up with the idea after watching the movie Talladega Nights and recounts that, after it was suggested, they were both “on a mission from the Nacho Gods” to create “the beast.”

The next four hours were spent at Home Depot looking for supplies. 4 gallons of water, 6 feet of copper tube, 1 plumbers torch, 4 hose clamps, 4 plastic bowls, 1 aluminum water heater drip pan, 1 emergency drill pump, 1 power drill, various PVC bits, some string, 2 heating plates, a wooden spoon, several bags of chips, and 6 gallons of cheese later, they were ready to begin. If you think this is beginning to sound like a MasterCard commercial, you’re absolutely right. Because after 6 hours over 3 days, what these two visionaries created was “priceless.”

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Continue reading “Two MIT Students, Cheese, and a Dream”

Jesus Christ Nachostar!

JesusThere are people that believe Jesus is in all of us. And while those spiritual words are profound, workers at The Stadium Club in Jacksonville may as well be preaching, “Jesus is inside this nacho pan.”

The Local 6 News Station reported on the story back in December of 2005 and learned that the nacho pan was discovered by one of the cooks who says he went to empty the pan that night and saw Jesus looking back at him. As for how the image was created? The scientific reason behind it is because of mineral deposits in the water.

So is this simply a coincidence, or has Jesus blessed this sports bar & grille with his presence? We may never know, but a spokesman for the Stadium Club says they will not continue to use the pan. Probably a smart move. A-men!

And the Winner is…

NachoawardThe Academy Awards were on last night and many people walked away winners with a gold Oscar clutched in their hand and tucked under their arm. But the true big winner last night was ILoveNachoCheese.com. Because of visitors like you, our humble little site was able to claw its way up over 500 different Food & Drink Blogs on TopBlogSites.com into the TOP 10!

And just like the Academy Awards, this occasion deserves a speech:

First and foremost we need to thank you the reader. It’s our fellow nacho loving community that’s helping to keep this site alive with cheesy content. And of course you probably would’ve never found us if it hadn’t been for the following blogs that picked up on our site, wrote about us, and helped spread the good word. So a big thanks goes out to:

SlashFood.com
Skoopy.com
littlerockblog.com
Daily Foolishness
DoubleViking.com
Across-The-Board
MyNinjaPlease
BagOfNothing.com
My Life!

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Canadians Eat Nachos Too, Eh!

StrangebrewIt may be hard to believe that people other than overweight Americans eat nachos, but Canada’s Print Measurement Bureau conducted a survey to obtain the snack eating habits of their citizens. One particular question in the survey specifically called out their love (or lack thereof) of nachos. The survey was then indexed by each of Canada’s 10 Provinces.

In order to get the details of the survey, you need to subscribe to PMB (which I’m not about to do). So, while much of the diagram doesn’t make much sense, it is interesting to see a couple of factoids. For instance, while Prince Edward Island has the lowest nacho consumption rate at home, there’s some crazy special event going on there that skyrockets their nacho eating populous. My question is: What in the hell kind of event is it and how can I get invited? Another interesting tidbit is that Manitoba is the overall winner for nacho lovers? Hmmm…the plot thickens.

PMB SURVEY:
Where people have eaten nachos – Indexed by Region.

50 cc. of Cheese, STAT!

OrSaying “NO” to drugs is one thing, but saying “NO” to cheese is quite another. And for nacho lovers it’s downright impossible! However, Dr. Neal Barnard, author of “Breaking the Food Seduction“ delves into why people are addicted to various foods.

In Chapter 4 entitled, “Opiates on a Cracker: The Cheese Seduction,” the good Doctor explains that “Cheese is particularly addictive because it contains small amounts of morphine made in the cow’s liver. When the dairy protein breaks apart in the stomach, it releases the opiate molecules.” He goes on to say “[Cheese] has about one-tenth the strength of morphine, and while that may not sound like much, because the foods are so available it’s easy to satisfy a fix.”

While I don’t advocate curbing your daily cheese intake for the sake of “health,” it is interesting to learn and now know why cheese is so damn good. And knowing is half the battle.

GO JOE!!

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For The Love of Nachos…

El_rancho
Faustino Vasquez came to the United States from Mexico in 1977 to find work.  He may also be a god to nacho lovers.  This guy opened up a successful restaurant named El Rancho by recognizing the overwhelming hunger of drunken college students as they stumble home at 2am.

So you may be thinking, well that’s not such a novel idea, anyone could do that.  Potentially, though it’s unlikely.

However, I argue it’s much simpler than that.  Vasquez made one incredibly intelligent business maneuver…he served nachos.  Here is how one journalist described his experience eating at El Rancho.

"At 1:30 a.m., a line stretches the length of the restaurant. Groups of
laughing and shouting friends sit in booths, stuffing nachos into their
mouths so fast at times that cheese drips from their chins."
Source:  http://www.columbiatribune.com/2007/Feb/20070210Busi001.asp

I salute Mr. Vasquez for his contributions to the nacho cheese community.

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The Medicinal Uses of Nacho Cheese

Nacho_medicine
The Sun, Earth and Moon don’t align very often, but last week a similar event occurred: the cafeteria served nachos on the same day as carnitas!

Three friends and I all decided to partake on this magical event.  Two of them kept it real and drizzled nacho cheese on top of their carnitas.  One other friend and I dropped the ball and settled for plain carnitas.  NOT A GOOD CHOICE.

Later that day, my stomach started to feel a bit odd.  Rumblings started to occur which were then followed by a sharp pain.  At that point I decided to ask my friends if they had any similar problems.

Here are the results:

Continue reading “The Medicinal Uses of Nacho Cheese”

Who Cut the Cheese?

CutcheeseFrom a soft and creamy wedge of Camembert, to a firm block of cheddar, cheese comes in a variety of states, sizes, and shapes. Researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison are taking cheese shapes to another level by cutting patterns using a pulsed ultraviolet laser.

“One motivation is the ability to cut cheese into fancy shapes that appeal to kids, such as a dinosaur or letters. The fast food industry is very interested in that idea. Basically, the cutting process is cold laser ablation, like that in laser eye surgery.”
Xiaochun Li, UW Researcher

While I congratulate Li and his fellow researchers on their cheese experiments, I personally could care less about the shape of my cheese. It’s all going to end up the same way…melted.

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