[jademarlene]

I love popcorn....................with butter and salt The plain just doesn't do it for me.

What do you put on your popcorn to give some flavor? I had thought of squeezing some fresh lime and sprinkling some chili powder but then I thought the lime would just make it soggy (at least the pieces that the juice actually got on).

[debbies]

OMG - I love popcorn too. this is a great topic - thanks for thinking of it.

If you are not cutting out the salt - I figured out a great way to get it to stick without the butter. I grind the salt in a spice mill until it resembles a powder. Put the powdered salt into a shaker and sprinkle it on the dry popcorn. I find it works best to sprinkle as quickly as possible after it's done popping - it sorta just melts all over the warm popcorn.

That is for my wimpy husband. I like spice - so I fill a seperate shaker with a spice mix of powdered salt, and cayenne

[kaplods]

Ranch dressing powder (but with a warning).

When my mother and I were in WW together and I was living at home, I got this great idea to put ranch dressing mix (like the Hidden Valley Ranch powder, but I believe it was Kroger brand) on microwave popcorn. I opened the bag after popping, sprinkled the whole packet of dressing mix into the popcorn, folded over the open edge of the back and shook to distribute the dressing powder.

It was awesome, and my mom and I split the bag between us. We were so excited, we were talking about sharing the tip at our next WW meeting - the points were reasonable, and it was just so super yummy. Then.... shortly after we finished the popcorn, our lips and mouths started burning - not like spice or heat, but like thousands of little paper cuts with lemon juice and salt rubbed in the wounds. We rinsed our mouths, and downed skim milk to relieve the burning.

I dug the dressing mix package out of the trash, and read the package and the first ingredients in the ranch dressing mix was "powdered vinegar." The acid and the rough grains of salt, we think caused the mouth sores (I experienced something similar again years later after eating too many sour patch kid candies).

I still use ranch dressing mix powder, but only if dehydrated vinegar isn't in the ingredients. I buy a mix in bulk and "buttermilk solids" are the first ingredient.

[harrismm]

I use spray butter and parm cheese.yumm.

[jademarlene]

debbies, I do have to watch my salt intake, Im on high blood pressure meds. They cayenne pepper sounds good.

Kaplods, they probably do not make that in no/low salt versions do they?

[grabec]

Wow, there are so many great things to put on popcorn. Of course, I love to male a whole cube of butter, pour it over the popcorn and devour. But, also putting Splenda on popcorn if I want it sweet is good. And I like to add a lot of pepper. I also like Parmesan cheese.

[Su-Bee]

I like Splenda with cinnamon, or black pepper with Parmesan cheese, or seasoned salt. But I don't eat popcorn much, b/c even though I love it, it makes me bloat up like mad.

[kaplods]

Originally Posted by jademarlene

Kaplods, they probably do not make that in no/low salt versions do they?

There may be low sodium ranch dressing powders, but before I found an inexpensive bulk mix, I used to make my own. Salt was an ingredient in the in the recipe that I used but I always cut out 3/4 out of the recipe (not because I had to avoid sodium, I just don't have much of a salt-tooth. Even though I have high blood pressure - I tend to have abnormally low sodium levels, sometimes low enough for my doctor to encourage me to eat a bit of salt - My mom's the same way, apparently we're freaks).

Anyway, I did find a salt-free recipe online, which looks alot like the one I used, except for the salt. Here it is:

___________________



Ranch Dressing Mix

While we're at it, here's another mix. You can usually find buttermilk powder in the baking aisle of large supermarkets. Keep in mind in this case that the milk and mayonnaise add sodium to the final dressing. Depending on how low in sodium buttermilk you can find, you may be better off leaving out the buttermilk powder and using buttermilk instead of milk.

1/2 c buttermilk powder
1 T dried parsley,crushed
1 t dried dill weed
1 t onion powder
1 t dried minced onion
1/2 t garlic powder
1/4 t ground pepper



Combine all ingredients in the container of a food processor or blender and process on high speed until well blended and powdery smooth. To use mix, combine 2 tablespoon dry mix with 1 cup milk and 1 cup mayonnaise. Mix well.

[jademarlene]

Kaplods, thank you so much for the recipe. I never heard of buttermilk powder, I would think you could use that in a lot of things. Will look for it this weekend.

[Wolf Goddess]

http://www.kernelseasons.com/

^One of those + buttery spray = love.