Poor old popcorn gets a bit of bad press as a ‘junk food’ or for being an ‘unhealthy’ snack.
Truth be told, if you are making it yourself at home it can actually be a healthy snack that you can enjoy while losing weight.
Plain popcorn actually contains fibre, is low fat (when air popped) and even has antioxidants in the hull (that’s the outer shell).
There is a big difference in the way that popcorn is produced at the cinema for instance, where it is cooked in lots of oil and then smothered in butter, colourings, additives and loads of salt (to encourage you to buy their sugary buckets of soft drink).
A large popcorn at the movies (115g) can set you back 541 calories and over 17g of saturated fat.
Even the commercially produced microwave popcorn isn’t a great option either. There is still a lot of butter and colours added to make it look ‘just right’. Plus some chemicals to keep it safely on the shelves for a few months. The same amount (115g) would come in at 526 calories and 11g of saturated fat.
Making it yourself at home is easy and means that you can control exactly what goes in (or, doesn’t). Today we have a great recipe that you can use to flavour your popcorn.
But before that, here are some other ideas for flavouring your popcorn:
- Sprinkle with paprika, cinnamon or cayenne pepper
- Drizzle with warmed up honey
- Use garlic salt instead of regular salt
- Toss some sea salt and cracked pepper through it
- Drizzle with maple syrup and chilli flakes, then bake in a low oven for 10 minutes
- Or check out a recipe sent in by one of our mums here for a Thyme and Garlic popcorn – delish!
Ingredients
- 4 cups air popped popcorn
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese, grated finely
- Salt and pepper to taste
Method:
- Heat 3 tbsp olive oil and the rosemary in a large saucepan
- Heat the oil until fragrant, which should take 4-5 minutes. Remove the rosemary and drizzle the popcorn with the flavoured oil.
- Add the Parmesan, salt and pepper and toss until combined.
Serves: 4. Calories per serve: 178.
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