Popcorn shrimp batter mix

My husband and I are working our way through season one of 'Big Bang Theory', an episode or two every night. Yes, we're THAT behind on the times. Once the kids are in bed we kick back in our new 'his and hers' recliners (best idea ever!) with some sort of treat and finally get to relax. On the nights that we're not feeling like something sweet, we've really been into popcorn shrimp- but I'm not into the fact that a bag that you pop in the oven is at least $10 and full of all sorts of chemical additives.

I recently learned you could buy massive bags of little shrimp at costco for $10 as well, about 4 times as much as those regular bags of popcorn shrimp from the grocery store. So I decided to mix it up and the results with fabulous!

Popcorn shrimp batter mix (single use)

3/4 cup flour
2 tablespoons corn starch
1 teaspoon icing sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder



What else you'll need

1 pound cooked salad shrimp (the tiny ones)
2/3 cup ice cold beer (or in our case, root beer)
oil for frying

Pre-soak shrimp in ice water while you're assembling the batter, then drain and dry. Combine mix with beer (we don't drink, so we make our batter with root beer (or sometimes even gingerale, since we don't drink soda either but keep gingerale in the house for illness). Stir mixture until it's a thick batter, then stir in shrimp until evenly coated.



In a small frying pan filled with oil on medium high heat, spoon lumps of battered shrimp into the pan and fry it for a couple minutes until it starts to brown. Remove using a slotted spoon and place on a paper towel.





This will take several batches if you use a small pan (this will save you money as you don't have to use as much oil to submersed the shrimp). Serve hot with seafood sauce and enjoy!!

Ranch Popcorn Seasoning Mix

After all the fun and madness that is Christmas with two small children, today we're having a quiet day at home. That means pajamas all day, movies and POPCORN!

I love the first two popcorn seasonings I created (BBQ and Dill Pickle), but I've been in the mood to try something new lately. I figured today would be the perfect day for...

Ranch Popcorn Seasoning

1/4 cup buttermilk powder
1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon dill
1/2 teaspoon parsley
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Buttermilk powder is available at Bulk Barn and other bulk food stores. If you don't have any I suppose you could use non instant milk powder but it won't quite taste the same.

Stir the mix and then pour it into a jar. This recipe fits perfectly in a small spice jar from the dollar store.

I melted some butter first to make it stick better and then sprinkled it on. It was really really good! I'm going to add it into the rotation for sure now!

BBQ popcorn and chip seasoning mix

Lately my oldest daughter's favorite snack is 'pawcorn'. I wanted to introduce her to some different flavors, but I didn't want her eating all the MSG and crap in the commercial seasonings so today I decided to mix it up...

BBQ popcorn and chip seasoning mix (big batch)

3 tablespoons paprika
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder
3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
3/4 teaspoon mustard powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne

I put mine in a spice jar from the dollar store with a shaker lid. There was a little too much so I'm going to use the extras as a rub for chicken or fish at dinner time.

What else you'll need

Plain popcorn
Butter or oil (optional)

I saw on pinterest that you can make microwave popcorn in a pyrex bowl. You just put 1/4 cup of popcorn in the bowl, cover it with a plate and microwave for about 2 1/2-3 minutes. Remove the VERY HOT plate using oven mitts immediately so it doesn't get soggy.

Once the popcorn is ready drizzle it with oil or butter (unless you're doing the dieting thing... we're not...) and then sprinkle seasoning on liberally....

BBQ 'pawcorn' was a huge success! It tasted just like BBQ chips so I'll be using it on chips or french fries next time.

Cajun Kale Chip Seasoning

When I first heard about kale chips I was very skeptical. How can something that's half broccoli, half lettuce taste like chips? But everyone I knew kept raving about them, so I figured they must be right. And then one day in the grocery store I saw bags of seasoned flavored kale chips for sale for $7 for a tiny little bag, yet a giant bunch of plain kale was only $1.99. I knew at that moment I needed to mix it up...

Cajun Kale Chip Seasoning (big batch)

1 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/8 teaspoon onion powder
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

What else you'll need

1 large bunch of kale
2 tablespoons oil

Kale comes in gigantic bunches, so this will make several batches.

For each batch tear 2 large kale leaves into small pieces like you would romaine lettuce for a salad.

Toss the leaves with oil and 1/4 teaspoon seasoning mix and spread evenly on a baking sheet.

To make kale chips that are neither soggy nor burnt, I put them in the oven at 350 degrees F for about 5 minutes(until you hear a sizzling noise) and then turn off the oven and let the tray sit in the warm oven for 5-10 minutes to dry out without burning. This makes for perfectly crispy chips.

These didn't taste ANYTHING like I expected them to. They were delicious and snacky and tasted nothing like regular kale! My husband, who always complains about broccoli ate two trays of them in one sitting. They were insanely good, and I'll be making them a lot!

Nut Free Trail Mix

I went back to work recently as a supply teacher and the biggest problem seems to be what to pack for snacks. I'm used to packing things like Larabars or dry roasted almonds to snack on when I'm out, but these days almost every classroom has at least one child with a deathly allergy and all schools are now peanut and tree nut free. Gone are the carefree lunches of peanut butter sandwhiches and nutty granola bars. Now kids eat Cheez whiz on their bread instead.

But......

It's a little known fact that SEEDS are neither nut nor legume and therefore very few people are allergic to them. Knowing this you can make delicious trail mix using pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds. This is great because seeds are also a lot cheaper! Especially with all those Halloween pumpkins people are about to carve next month!

Nut Free Trail Mix

1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup chopped dried apricots
1/4 cup chocolate chips

Dump each ingredient into a bowl and then stir.

The other ingredients were picked based on what was on sale at Bulk Barn this week, but the combination tasted exceptionally good. You could easily substitute any other dried fruit of your choice, or use M&M's, butterscotch chips, or whatever sweetie treat in place of the chocolate chips, but I suggest you try this exact mix as it's GOOD.

This tasted even better than regular trail mix, yet it has the added bonus that it won't kill any of my students. And even though my husband can eat whatever deadly foods he wants in HIS lunch, I can send it with him anyway because it's an inexpensive and healthy way to fill him up.

I have to teach all day tomorrow but that's ok. I've already got my recess treat packed!

Improved Dill Pickle Popcorn Seasoning

I’ve been checking out the stats on my blog traffic lately and what I’ve found is that aside from my regular readers, I’m getting a lot of hits through search engines. It seems the three biggest mixes are bouillon, burrito seasoning and dill pickle popcorn seasoning.

I stand by my bouillon and burrito seasoning mixes 100%, but I’ve always been a bit disappointed in my dill pickle seasoning. It’s good enough to eat, but it doesn’t have that mouth puckering sourness that everyone looks for in a dill pickle seasoning. I think it would be more aptly named ‘herb and dill popcorn seasoning’.

Anyway, heaven forbid should I disappoint strangers on the internet. That just won't do. So I went to work in my Mix it Up lab to create the perfect dill pickle popcorn seasoning. After four attempts with various ingredients I think I nailed it.

Dill Pickle Popcorn Seasoning

2 tablespoons dill weed
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 ½ teaspoons garlic powder
1 ½ teaspoons ascorbic acid powder

Ascorbic acid powder can be purchased at most bulk food or health food stores in small bottles. It’s very concentrated so it lasts a long time, and it gives it that sour pickle taste that the other one was lacking.

Because we didn’t feel like having popcorn, my husband and I did our taste testing on homemade potato chips. It makes an amazing chip seasoning too for those who want to try it. I love dill pickle chips even more than the popcorn!

In the end I was able to create a seasoning that while not identical to the commercial ones (with all their filler, chemicals and MSG), it still has that sour dill pickle taste that everyone seems to crave. With this recipe I feel I can finally sleep at night knowing I’m not letting down any strangers on google anymore.

Dill Pickle Popcorn Seasoning

*This was an earlier attempt but is not as good as it could be. For a truly great dill pickle popcorn seasoning, go here*

Chips are so tasty and so fattening, but it’s really not the chips we crave, but the tasty seasonings on them. Popcorn seasoning is amazing, it lets you enjoy the tastiness of flavored chips with less fat and more fiber.

A few years ago I kept raving to a friend about the joys of popcorn seasoning, which wasn’t available where she lived. I talked about it so much that when I came to visit I brought 8 different kinds of it in my luggage. Since then I have mailed her several emergency refills of her favourite kind, but that will no longer be necessary. This one’s for you Megan!

Dill Pickle Popcorn Seasoning

1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon dill weed
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1 tablespoon dried chives
1 ½ teaspoons garlic powder

First I mix it up in a bowl, then I use a funnel to put my popcorn seasoning in those little glass spice jars from the dollar store. They have a lid with shaker holes and only cost 33 cents each.

Now if you want fat free popcorn you can just sprinkle the seasoning onto air popped popcorn, although not much sticks. Or you can drizzle a bit of oil or butter on it and then sprinkle it on, which helps it stick.

This seasoning doesn't have the same mouth puckering sourness as the commercial dill pickle seasoning, so I'll do some more experiments to try and re-create it, but it in the meantime this one is pretty tasty if I do say so myself.