Kettle Popcorn

I love this recipe!
Kettle Popcorn

3 T. Coconut Oil, melted in the bottom of a large saucepan
2 pkgs, or 1t. Truvia, sprinkled over the melted oil.
3 T. Unpopped Corn, sprinkled over oil and Truvia

Allow oil to get hot enough to sizzle corn, cover pan with lid and when the corn begins to pop turn down the heat to med-low. Shake the pan every few seconds to keep the popping going. When the corn stops popping, it's done!

This makes about 6 Cups of Kettle Corn.

Healthy Fats

Remember how in the old days Grandma liked getting out that spoon for the kids' weekly dose of cod liver oil?! Our bodies need small amounts of these healthy fats daily. We know Omega 3's are important and high amounts are found in Fish Oils and by eating foods like Salmon, Walnuts, Flax Seeds, and Veggies like Broccoli and Spinach.
I personally have believed for several years now that added fats in capsules or that come by spreading or pouring are not the best way to go; that foods were meant to be eaten in their whole state, as they come, wherever possible.
It is important to use moderation in our food choices, and it's vital to our well being to include a few foods that are rich in healthy fats such as Avocadoes, Walnuts, and Olives. These seem to have gotten a "bad rap" when it comes to dieting, but in my experience, these foods, when eaten in moderation, in no way interfere with losing weight, in fact, just the opposite.
Replacing the oil in baked goods with applesauce works very well but Olive Oil and Coconut Oil may be the exceptions to the rule when looking to add fat in cooking. Olive Oil and Coconut Oil have impressive lists of health benefits, in fact there are some who even take 3T. of Coconut Oil a day to aid with weight loss! If you choose to add coconut oil to a recipe, measure slightly less. And remember, Coconut Oil does not harden with higher temperatures so you can even fry foods in a little of it.
For me, I don't take doses of just fat, I'll take the Walnuts or Avocadoes or Olives, thank you! But again, when I eat popcorn I drizzle on some melted Coconut Oil and sprinkle it with Real Salt. YUM!!

Kitchen Chemistry

Over the years I have spent many hours, not always enough thought, and a fair amount of money into experimenting with recipes trying to make them healthier. Some with success and others? Well, not so much. I have yet to find the all-encompassing food chemistry manual of my dreams. You know, the one that includes things like what will result by using coconut oil in the recipe instead of shortening. (Don't do it by-the-way, without some study. I once tried to make popcorn balls using coconut oil instead of butter and they never held together because one of coconut oil's virtues is that it resists hardening when heated to high temperatures. And I knew that?)

Well, we all start from somewhere. For me, my journey began with switching from refined grains and sweeteners to natural. That was a huge beginning. In addition to learning the reasons why it would be worth it I also had to learn how to do it. Things like:
~ When baking with whole wheat flour, you can use just a little less than refined white because of its bulk, otherwise your results may be too dry.
~ Again, when using honey you can use a bit less because it's sweeter than sugar.
~ And, when substituting any liquid for a dry ingredient, you must compensate for the change somewhere else in the recipe. For example, 1C. of honey also adds 1/4th C. of liquid so you use 1/4th C. less other liquid. If the recipe is for cookies and doesn't have a wet ingredient like water or milk, search for someone else's recipe for best results!
Back then there were no computers in our homes for relative ease in research. Now, thanks to Google and other search engines, so much info is at our fingertips. Still, we have to know enough about our subject to know what to ask!
From time to time, I'll be adding to this little page of mine, facts and figures to hopefully make the use of "new" food more practical and still tasty.