Brown Bag Popcorn

A few days ago I posted an anti-microwave rant. The microwave is evil! It is emitting radiation and it is ripping the nutrients in your food to non-recognizable mutations!

Nevertheless. I'm back to tell you how to use your microwave. That evil one. Because if you are like me, you still have it there, on the counter, and it's blissfully unaware of its own danger. It just wants you to have some yummy popcorn.

Hear me out. I think this popcorn 'recipe' is a bridge, an in-between.

Is the microwave dangerous to your health? Probably. Do brown paper bags have chemicals in them? From what I could determine from good old google, well, yeah. And it takes trees to make them, as well. So, the best thing for your health and the planet's health is to air-pop your corn, with stovetop popping coming in at a close 2nd place. There is no competition...those are your best options.

However, sometimes we need a bridge to get from where 'we don't want to go ever again' ....and 'where we should be'. 

When I'm facing a gaggle of hungry kids (or just my own tummy grumbling), I might choose a bit of convenience, and hope that it's a little bit better than the chemical-laden bags of microwave popcorn that would be the easiest option.

I am working hard to be DONE with the chemically laden microwave popcorn, and so brown bag popcorn is my bridge.

I mentioned brown bag popcorn in my anti-microwave vent. It's one of the things I use the microwave for pretty often. You've probably heard of it, but have you tried it? 

Brown Bag (or 'bridge') Popcorn

1. Open up a brown paper lunch bag. Put in:

    1/4 c. popcorn

    2 t. oil (peanut or coconut work well)

    1/2 t. salt

2. Fold over the top of the bag a couple times, leaving a nice amount of room for the corn to pop in. Tape down if you want, but it's not necessary.

3. Place the bag on a plate in the microwave. You need to do this, because the oil leaks through the bag (which in my eyes, is a good thing--the plastic coating that keeps regular microwave popcorn from greasing up the bag is also leaching more chemicals).

4.. Pop for 2-3 minutes, or until you only hear a pop every second or two. This will take some practice to listen for and not burn it. The good old 'popcorn' button on the microwave is useless here; it's made for the chemical bags.

5. Dump the popcorn carefully into a bowl. Be careful--the oily bottom of the bag will be hot. Reuse the same bag up to 3 times if you are popping for the family. 

       

6. Enjoy your 'bridge' popcorn!

*Note: if you'd like to add some spice (I like to make mine a bit hot with powdered chili pepper), dump a little spice in after popping, hold the bag closed again, and shake. 

Spice it up with various things--experiment!