Shrinking Daisy

Kick Back with Your Old Friend Popcorn

Monday, June 15th, 2009 | Food Finds, Recipe

Where on earth have I been? Well, let me tell you it has certainly been a crazy couple of weeks! I’m back online now, and we’ve got so much catching up to do!!! To start off, I’ve got to get back to telling you all about things that I love!

Popcorn has always been one of my favorites.  When I was a kid it was a special treat when my Dad was travelling for business to get to eat popcorn, cheese, and apples for dinner… usually in front of the TV, something we NEVER got to do growing up!  Popcorn feels like a treat, but it’s healthy for you too! After All, what is popcorn but just a whole grain! Of course, it’s easy to rack up the calories if your popcorn venue of choice isn’t carefully chosen, that movie theater stuff can be diabolical!!! A large popcorn (without butter) from AMC movie theaters is over 650 calories, and adding butter can double that! But… have no fear, you can make perfectly fabulous popcorn and popcorn treats for a lot less than that! (How on earth do they cram that many calories into the poor popcorn kernels anyway???) 

First of all, it’s all about how you cook the popcorn, I have a great microwave popcorn bowl that doesn’t take a drop of oil and pops perfect kernels, and there are of course some great low calorie microwave popcorn choices at the store, but you can do it yourself for cheaper. (I’m all about the cheapness!)  All you need is a brown paper bag.  I must attribute t his method to Alton Brown on the Food Network.  I’m a food TV junkie, and I’m always picking up ingenious tips from random shows.

Brown Bag Microwave Popcorn

Servings Per Recipe: 4

2/3 cup unpopped popcorn

1-1/4 teaspoons canola, sunflower, or safflower oil

3/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste

In a cup or small bowl, mix together the unpopped popcorn and oil. Pour the coated corn into a brown paper lunch sack, and sprinkle in the salt. Fold the top of the bag over twice to seal in the ingredients.

Cook in the microwave at full power for 2 1/2 to 3 minutes, or until you hear pauses of about 2 seconds between pops. Carefully open the bag to avoid steam, and pour into a serving bowl.

Calories: 137, Total Fat: 3.1g , Sodium: 389mg , Total Carbs: 24.6g , Dietary Fiber: 4.9g , Protein: 4.1g

So now you have great healthy corn… eat it up! What’s that you say, you want more excitement? Plain old popcorn just doesn’t do it for you?? Ok, ok, well, I know how you feel, so I’ve got a few low calorie, healthy yet zesty toppers for you that I like to add, and a total hit of a popcorn cookie square recipe to send it over the edge!

Toppers:

• Mexicorn: 1 T taco seasoning (from the packet)
• Texicorn: 1 tsp chili powder + 1/2 tsp cumin
• Mafiacorn: 1/2 tsp dried basil + 1/2 tsp oregano + 1 Tb. Parmesan Cheese
• Buffacorn: a few shakes of hot sauce + a sprinkle of bleu cheese
• Corney Ranch: 1 Tb. dry ranch seasoning
• Cinnacorn: 2 Tb. Splenda + 1 tsp. cinnamon
• Currycorn: 1.5tsp curry powder
• Cocoacorn: 1 packet “diet” (25 calorie) hot cocoa

Totally Awesome Chocolate Peanut Butter Popcorn Squares (18 servings)

These are little brother tested and approved:

• 8 cups of air popped popcorn
• 1/2 cup peanut butter (I like natural)
• 1 Tb butter
• 3 cups mini marshmallows
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1 ounce semisweet or dark chocolate

Melt butter, chocolate, and peanut butter together in a medium saucepan over low heat.  Add marshmallows and stir until melted and incorporated.  Stir in cocoa.  Put popcorn in a medium-large bowl, pour marshmallow mixture over popcorn and stir gently until combined.  Press into a 9×13 inch pan that has been sprayed with nonstick spray and let cool.  Cut into 18 squares. Enjoy!!!

Nutrition Facts
18 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories		103.1
Total Fat		5.4 g
	Saturated Fat	1.7 g
	Polyunsaturated Fat	1.1 g
	Monounsaturated Fat	2.3 g
Cholesterol		1.7 mg
Sodium		45.4 mg
Potassium		86.7 mg
Total Carbohydrate		13.2 g
	Dietary Fiber	1.5 g
	Sugars	6.2 g
Protein		2.7 g

Tags: dessert, Fiber, healthy cooking, microwave, popcorn, popcorn balls, Recipe, recipes

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