The Why: Munchies are great—but only when they aren’t laden with calories. This product will arm you with a low-calorie organic whole grain snack that can be ready in less than two minutes. Luckily, popcorn kernels are tiny, which means one bag goes a long way. 20 servings for less than three bucks is a Calorie Bargain "bah-gen."

The Health Bonus: These organic popping kernels count as whole grain, plus they are organic—which means no pesticides or chemicals. Eden food claims that "non-organic popcorn is on the FDA's list of top ten foods most contaminated with toxic pesticides and chemicals. We looked into that claim and learned this: "EWG analyzed recent USDA tests of pesticide residues on food and found that frozen sweet corn has some of the lowest pesticide loads of 45 fruits and vegetables tested. That said, it's possible that popcorn may have higher levels and eating organic is always a good idea since even low levels of pesticide exposure may be harmful," says Renee Sharp, senior analyst with the Environmental Working Group (EWG). Bottom-line--we agree with Renee--if you can afford to eat organic--do it!!! The 5 grams of fiber per serving = a nice health bonus, too.

What We Liked Best: We're about to let you in on one of the best kept secrets. Listen up! You can make your own microwave popcorn, sans buttery, fatty chemicals.  Before we get started, we need to tell you that the US government doesn't recommend putting brown paper bags in the microwave, microwave ovens vary, and as with any food, cooking for too long may start a fire. (Keep in mind that if you'd rather not try this "experimental" popping method, you can always use an airpopper.) That said, we’ve been doing our own experimenting using our staff microwave, and have gotten in down to a science.  Make sure to pay extra attention the first couple times you try this—burnt popcorn stinks!

Here’s our recipe: Put 1/3 cup of popcorn kernels into a brown paper lunch sack. (Nothing else goes into the bag at this point--the kernels are cooked dry.) Roll and "scrunch" the top of the bag over, so it stays closed on its own. Place the bag in the microwave and cook it for about 1 minute and 30 seconds. (Note: you’ll need to test the best cooking time in your own microwave—stay nearby, you don’t want it to burn.) Some microwaves also have a "popcorn button," which might work well for you. Once the microwave stops, you can remove the paper bag, which is now filled with beautifully fluffy popped popcorn—without the use of oil, butter, salt or flavorings. You get to add toppings, discerningly, on your own! Our staff’s favorite fixin’ is to spritz the popcorn with I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter Spray, and sprinkle with some salt. Lime, lemon or chili powder are also great low-cal, high-flavor topping options.

What We Liked Least: The unpopped kernels at the bottom of the bag. But maybe those will disappear as we perfect our recipe and yield! Oh—and don’t forget the dental floss!

What It Replaces: High calorie, high fat microwaveable popcorn, and/or stove top popcorn.

The Price: $2.55 for a 20 oz bag.

Offerings: Eden offers a very complete selection of organic whole grain products, including pasta, spelt pasta, and quinoa.

Web Site: http://www.edenfoods.com

Where to Buy: Natural food markets, or on their website.

Nutritional Information:

Serving Size: 2 Tbsp
Servings Per Container: About 20
Calories: 80
Total Fat 1 g
Cholesterol 0 mg
Sodium 0 mg
Total Carbs 20 g
Dietary Fiber 5g
Protein 2g

Ingredients: Organic Yellow Popcorn (Holy Moly…1 ingredient and two adjectives? You can’t beat that!)

Bookmark:

TrackBack URI for this entry

Comments (1)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

...
written by Annette Jordan, September 12, 2007

In an office co-workers were talking about putting in popcorn kernels in a brown- paper-bag to microwave. Also scare of a fire so did not try it. Glad to know from Diet Detective that it is a safe method of popping popcorn.