More snacking, less worrying

"Eating clean is a good way to refresh your eating habits"

 

Believe me when I say, I truly appreciate convenience. I am right there with you when you describe your week as busy, busy and a dose of more busy. Always on the run, taking it one day at a time just trying to figure out how you can check the boxes of necessary chores. 

Also, kids and snacks. My kids want a snack ALL day long! Am I the only crazy mom that worries about the chemicals my child is absorbing through their snack choices?

 I do not love to grab just any kind of snack, if I do grab something I am very conscientious about making sure the snack has very little ingredients, I make sure the ingredients listed are ones that I recognize and I always aim for organic.

Now, this is my goal, but my kids have been known to have their fair share of kid lover snacks and junk. Josh and I just aim for a 90/10 rule. We choose healthy 90 percent of the time and the 10 percent is more of an exception. 

I am pretty sure I have said it before and I will always say it, but food matters. What you put into your body matters, and your body reacts to the ingredients you put in it. Have you ever done a science experiment with natural food vs foods stuffed with preservatives or artificial colors and flavors? Stay tuned to my instagram because I have some food experiments in the works. Jude loves science, and I want to try to not just be a drill sergeant on eating healthy, but show them the importance of what we put in our body.

I was shocked when I came across so many people who had no clue that they could pop their own popcorn so easily on the stove! Honestly, I did not know it was a possibility until my mother-in-law made some at some point in the past 11 years. This is our favorite (and much, much healthier) way to eat popcorn for a nice little afternoon snack, or to add to our Friday night family fun night, or if I am brutally honest... our lazy dinner option. Whoops.

I could list a handful of reasons why you should not eat microwave popcorn, such as preservatives and chemicals released from the linings of the bags, but there is also a great tool called Google for things like that so I will not bore you with those. However, I do highly encourage you to do your research.

Enough of my little tangent, here are your super simple instructions on making stove top popcorn:

Ingredients: Popcorn kernals, toppings you desire                         Time: 10 minutes

1. 2 tablespoons of coconut oil in the bottom of a deep pan, allow the oil to completely melt on low-medium heat.

2. Throw in a few popcorn kernels and wait for them to pop. This will tell you when the pan has reached the perfect temperature for the kernels to pop evenly.

3. When the few kernels have popped, fill the bottom of the pan with popcorn kernels. 

THAT'S IT!

Your popcorn should be done in 10 minutes or less. We keep it super simple with just sea salt and a little bit of coconut sugar to add a bit of a kettle korn taste. 

Here are a few other suggestions:

•  melt grass-fed butter (we love kerrigold)
•  sea salt
• some natural popcorn seasonings
• you could even mix coconut oil and coconut sugar for a caramel drizzle
• melt peanut butter or dip in homemade almond butter
• add in pretzels and dark chocolate chips and almonds for a fun trail mix

We all love this clean snack and I hope you will too. What is your favorite way to eat popcorn? Let me know if you have any questions. I would also love suggestions on what clean eating items, or tips and tricks I could help you discover!

Have a great week everyone!