Super yummy movie popcorn

Mushroom Popcorn from JustPoppin.com

Since school has been out, I've been letting the kids move bed time a bit later than their usual 7:30pm. Twice a week we've been doing movie night. It's definitely a treat for them as they are only allowed to watch very little television during the week.

Since the kids have food allergies, I usually make popcorn for them instead of buying bags of pre-popped corn. Some popcorn companies make other things in their factories like nut bars and cookies and I'm definitely worried about cross contamination. Ingesting just one peanut will have my two kids in the ER. So I make it a home. Plus I control the oil and salt so I know exactly what they're getting into their growing bodies.

Our all time favorite popcorn is a type called "mushroom popcorn". It's the same type of popcorn that you find in movie theaters. I'm a big fan of buying local but most places I went, they had only the "butterfly popcorn" variety which is basically what you would see in any microwave popcorn bag.

We have been getting our mushroom popcorn from JustPoppin.com. They have excellent customer service and they're super friendly. If you can't find mushroom popcorn in your local area, I suggest ordering from their site. Shipping can get pricey but that's with anything these days. Go ahead, order the 5lb bag, you will be happy you did ;)

Last thing - JustPoppin's kernels are grown in the USA and is NON-GMO, not genetically modified.

My no brainer recipe for cooking up popcorn on the stove:

Ingredients:

1 cup mushroom popcorn kernels

enough canola oil to coat the bottom of the pan

3/4 tbsp of sea salt

This yields enough popcorn for 6 hungry kids!

I have found that using our biggest 5.5 quart stainless steel pot with curved sides is better than any straight sided stock pot of similar size. Not sure why... but this could be a good question for Alton Brown

Instructions:

1. pour enough canola oil to coat the bottom of your pan and turn on the heat to medium.

2. add sea salt to oil and let heat for about a minute

3. add 1 cup of kernels and swish pan around so all or most kernels are coated

4. place lid on pot and wait to hear that popping sound

5. turn off the flame when you hear the popping sound coming to a close, should be like 3-5 pops per 10 seconds, careful when opening the lid, there is still residual heat so you'll still get some kernels popping at the end even when there's no flame on

6. pour in your serving containers and enjoy!

For further information or to order, visit JustPoppin.com

[photo credit: justpoppin.com]

[Spotlight: In the kitchen] Sweet little treats

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