After the big holiday meals and parties, we are usually ready to get back to some sensible eating habits. I like popcorn to snack on since popcorn has fewer calories than many snacks and it quickly fills you up. The only problem with plain popcorn is that it gets really boring, so I decided to play around and see what flavored popcorn I could make from items in my cupboard that would kick the plain popcorn up a notch.

The colonists ate popcorn for breakfast with milk and a sweetener like sugar, molasses, or honey. That became our first puffed cereal. I just had to try it and I was really surprised.  I did try cinnamon and the cinnamon did not enhance the flavor to me. The popcorn and sugar by itself was pretty good and even better than some cereals I have tried. The popcorn did get soggy pretty quick though.

There were several flavored popcorn recipes that I found livened up the popcorn and were really good. I will be making them again. Check out your cupboard and see what flavors you can make to flavor up your popcorn.

Cheese Popcorn

Ingredients
1 package microwave popcorn popped
2 tablespoons melted butter
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon Italian herb seasoning
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preparation
Pop popcorn according to directions on the package. Set aside

Melt butter in the microwave. Pour over popcorn and gently toss popcorn to coat the kernels with butter.

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl and sprinkle over popcorn. Toss popcorn to coat evenly.

Sweetened Popcorn

Ingredients
1 package microwave popcorn popped
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Preparation
Pop popcorn according to directions on the package. Set aside

Melt butter in the microwave. Pour over popcorn and gently toss popcorn to coat the kernels with butter.

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl and sprinkle over popcorn. Toss popcorn to coat evenly.

Spicy Popcorn

Ingredients
1 package microwave popcorn popped
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Preparation
Pop popcorn according to directions on the package. Set aside

Melt butter in the microwave. Pour over popcorn and gently toss popcorn to coat the kernels with butter.

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl and sprinkle over popcorn. Toss popcorn to coat evenly.

Tip:
If the spices are not sticking to your popcorn, spray a little butter spray on the popcorn and mix well.

You can use a microwave popcorn popper like the Nordic Ware 60120 Microwaver Popcorn Popper 12 Cup or an air popper like Presto 04821 Orville Redenbacher Hot Air Corn Popper.