A New (To Me) Twist On An Old Favorite

My husband could eat the same thing every day for the rest of his life - as long as it's something that he likes. Not so with me. Or the boy. Especially the boy. He can be loving something for months, then one day he's like, "Oooh. I hate that. That's gross." It doesn't matter if he loved it yesterday. When he's done, he's done. This makes keeping appealing snacks on hand quite a challenge. Trying to find healthy snacks is even more of a challenge.

Today, while checking out the Pretty Organized Palace blog, Pretty dealt with pinching pennies in the kitchen. Her snack ideas caught my attention. Basically, everyone in the US loves popcorn, right? I always have popcorn in the cabinet. I just have one issue with the stuff. The boy of the home is bored with it right now. Don't ask me how this child derived from my gene pool can be bored with the buttery, salty, corny goodness in a bowl - but he is. So, there must be another alternative.

I remember sometimes as a kid, Mom would buy that oh, so yummy powdered cheese shake stuff to go on popcorn. But, Dear Jesus! Have you looked at the price of that stuff lately? I'm much to cheap frugal for that. Then I remember the gourmet popcorn shop that me and my best girlfriend, Samantha, used to ride our bikes to downtown. You walked into this shop that was floor to ceiling bins of every color and every flavor of popcorn imaginable. It was near heaven on earth to a child. You could almost hear the angels singing the Hallelujah Chorus. Could life BE any better? But, I have no idea how to create blueberry popcorn. Or bubble gum popcorn. Or even caramel popcorn, for that matter. If someone knows how to do this, please, for the sake of all that is good and holy, leave me the directions in the comment section, or send me an e-mail. I won't be picky! But, I WILL love you forever! Anyway...

Pretty mentioned several options for popcorn toppings in her post today. Have you ever tried 1/2 butter mixed with 1/2 soy sauce? Me neither. But, I think we'll try it sometime. What about BBQ seasoning powder? Mrs. Dash? A ranch dressing packet? We tried that as a snack for today. The boy loves all things ranch dressing. Most kids do. As fortune would have it - I just happen to have 10,000 packets of the stuff in my cabinet at the moment. Normally, I buy the Hidden Valley type that costs $1.09 a whack. But, recently Aldi has been carrying their version for $.69 each. Needless to say, I stocked up.

So, I popped some corn, opened up a packet of my Aldi brand ranch dressing mix and sprinkled it on. I was pleased to hear, "Mmmm. Mmmm. Mmmm. This is good, Mom."

What to you top your popcorn with?