It's a snack I've always seemed to have a love for. Don't get me wrong. I'm definitely not a fan of the hulls that get stuck in my teeth. The ones you still find the following day, even after you've brushed your teeth. But I really like popcorn.
I love how when you walk into the movie theater and that warm wonderful smell of movie popcorn floats about you. I can already taste it before I've even walked past the usher that takes my ticket. I can hear it popping and I can barely contain my excitement when the bored teenager behind the counter finally asks me what I'd like to have. "A small popcorn and a large soda, please."
As soon as the words have left my mouth, I know it's a bad idea. Movie popcorn never tastes as good as it smells. I should know this by now, but there's something in my brain that turns off and is CONVINCED that this time will be different. I also know this is a bad idea because that soda is too dang big. I should not be drinking a soda in the first place, but a LARGE? What was I thinking? I know what I was thinking. I was thinking that my popcorn was going to be super salty and that I would NEED that much soda to keep from having my mouth turn into some strange unnamed desert. Soon, with my now "free upgrade to medium popcorn because I'm a Stubz card member" popcorn in my hand, I march over to the butter faucet and let it pour. Seriously. They don't even try to hide the fact that you are dousing your popcorn with butter flavored oil. I snag my handful of napkins and find my way to my assigned theater.
Once seated, I settle in and dig my hand into the bag and shove as many pieces I can hold in my mouth. "mmf, blah, weally? Whey-a ith my thoda?" Suddenly, I'm reminded, no matter how fresh it is, it always tastes stale, soggy and far too salty. I wipe my oil slicked hand, fumble for my soda and think, "I should not eat this," as I scoop up another handful. *sigh*
Popcorn.
I've always liked the popcorn that comes out of the home air pop popcorn machines with melted butter on top. I'll even eat it if it's melted margarine on top. Also, I've always thought that the microwave buttered popcorn was a good second best to air popped. But naked air popped or naked microwave popcorn? No way.
All the fitness magazines, weight loss programs, and healthy eating blogs encourage eating plain popcorn as a good snack. It has all these great vitamins and lots of fiber. Lots of fiber. Yeah, that's why it tastes like eating cardboard. I just couldn't bring myself to get excited about plain popcorn.
Until...
my sister decided to pop some popcorn on the stove. She dished some out for me.
Suddenly, I couldn't believe how good popcorn tasted! Plain! The freshness of every kernel as it crackles as I crunch. The wonderful fresh popcorn smell that I look forward to when going to the movies. It melts on my tongue as I devour the whole bowl. I can't stop eating it!!! And I don't have to keep a stack of napkins OR a 2Liter size cup of soda on hand! This plain popcorn is perfect to eat while plunking away at my keyboard. Addictive it is! I just can't stop!
Thanks to my sister, I now have a low-fat, low-calorie snack to eat that I actually LOOK FORWARD to and don't feel cheated in the least!
No comments:
Post a Comment