Popcorn is a brilliant snack – cheap to make and fascinating for kids to watch being made – but the ready made and microwave stuff has all kinds of crap added to it, including a gazillion calories usually, and making it myself in a pan always leaves burnt on oil that takes loads of scrubbing which I frankly cannot be arsed with. I was thinking my only option was to buy an air popping machine, and I haven't got room for another gadget to sit gathering dust, but then I discovered that you can air pop popcorn in a microwave.
Maybe everyone else already knows this but it is so simple: put a tablespoon of popping corn in a microwaveable glass bowl, put a plate on top (I use one of these lids, 99p from Ikea rammed on instead) and nuke for about 3 minutes on full power until you hear/see the popping stop. It's really healthy as it uses no oil and I put a teeny bit of golden syrup on mine. It also saves on washing up as you can serve the popcorn in the bowl it's popped in. Just beware of the glass bowl... I discovered that it is molten-lava hot after I smelt a scorching smell and saw that it had done this to my sofa.
For once the Daily Mail appears to be right; The Environmental Media Association reports here that “Popcorn may be the perfect snack food. It’s the only snack that is 100 percent unprocessed whole grain. One serving of popcorn will provide more than 70 percent of the daily intake of whole grain. The average person only gets about half a serving of whole grains a day, and popcorn could fill that gap in a very pleasant way."
Hurrah! Maybe this could be my secret weapon in getting rid of this stubborn baby belly?
Popcorn is a great party food too, I love this recipe for DIY rainbow popcorn and these little origami paper cones are really cute too.
Download the free PDF template for these at Activity Village
I'm linking this post to the Thrifty Family Carnival, hosted this month at A Thrifty Mum.
p.s. If you don't know what hog lumps are then you really need to see Shaun of the Dead.
