Family Chow Hall

Popcorn’s Little Secret

March 14th, 2006

If you clicked here from the FOXnews website, you might want to scroll down to yesterday’s post to read my thoughts on food and health. Here’s a quick update:

Goal: shrink myself by 10 lbs.
Food: Lean protein and high-fiber carbohydrates
Exercise: 30 minutes of walking or 20 minutes of body-weight exercises each day
Biggest hurdles: sugar in my coffee and before-bed snacking

Wish me luck! And now, for today’s post:

What family doesn’t love a bowl of popcorn when settling down to watch a movie or have game night? Popcorn appeals to every member of our family (and yours, too, I bet) from young to old.

This family of Hochstettlers happens to have an electric popcorn popper made by Stir Crazy - it makes a large batch of popcorn that we can all munch on. WIth our family, we may have to make two batches, but that’s okay. It saves us the trans fats, excessive artificial flavors, and the extra cost of prepared foods. We can pop it up with a drizzle of olive or coconut oil, then salt it and pour a little melted butter on top when it’s done. Delicious. Crunch… crunch… munch… munch…

However, sometimes one or two of the kids want to make popcorn themselves without the involvement of large, hot equipment. They want Microwave Popcorn. In my new campaign against Trans Fats and the hydrogenated oils from which they are spawned, I now refuse to buy Microwave Popcorn. My thinking is this: if you are too lazy to get the big popcorn maker out, you don’t need popcorn.

Well, my kids are not only lazy, but ingenuous. If necessity is the mother of invention, laziness just might be the father. They asked, “Why can’t we microwave popcorn in a bag?”

To skip the long part of the story, I will say that you CAN microwave popcorn in a bag. It’s works just as well (most of the time) as packaged microwave popcorn from the grocery. The good news is that you can use any kind of oil you like.

Microwave Popcorn
serves 2 / prep. time: 2 minutes / cooking time: 4 minutes

1 paper lunch sack
1 t. coconut or olive oil
1/3 c. Orville Redenbacher’s popping corn
1 small piece of tape
1 paper towel
1/2 t. salt
1-2 T. melted butter

The directions are simple - only slightly more complicated than making packaged microwave popcorn. Open the sack, spoon the oil into the bottom, and add the popcorn. Fold the top of the sack down twice and seal it with the tape. Place the folded paper towel in your microwave and put the sack on top of it. (Some of the oil will leak out of the bottom of the sack and the paper towel helps soak it up.) Microwave as you would with packaged popcorn. You may have to adjust the cooking time a little, so listen for the popping and stop the microwave when it slows to less than one pop per 4 seconds. Don’t give up if the first batch burns - try a lower power or a little less time. When it’s done popping, open the bag carefully and dump into a bowl. Sprinkle with salt and drizzle with butter. Crunch away!

It’s been a while since I’ve bought the stuff, so I’m not sure, but I’m guessing that the cost of the popcorn, bags, oil, and tape are still less than buying the same finished amount of prepackaged microwave popcorn. And, YOU control the ingredients and the health benefits.

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