Balsamic Vinegar & Popcorn

WARNING: If you are not into adventurous, daring, and random food concoctions, please do not read on. You will probably find this pretty disgusting... But, if not, please read on...

So, anyways, one of my favorite afternoon snack foods is popcorn. I've tried a lot of different microwave popcorn's. My favorite for the past two years or so is the mini natural bags of popcorn from Walgreens. For $3, you can purchase two boxes that each have six personal-sized bags. At 45 calories a bag and 40-cents each they are a pretty amazing afternoon snack!

But popcorn alone can get boring... so I've found some ways to "spice" it up. Here are some of the crazy concoctions I've come up with...

- Back in 7th grade, my friend Priscilla and I loved to make our own popcorn concoctions. I think our best ever was Milky Way bars melted over popcorn. When done right, this was delicious. However, you have to be really careful because often times the Milky Ways will start to burn and then this is NOT delicious...

- A few years ago, I decided to combine my love for hot sauce with my love for popcorn. I would pour hot sauce over my little bag of popcorn (anywhere from a little to a ton depending on my mood), mix it up, and enjoy. This combo is a little weird unless you really love hot sauce but my similarly-hot-sauce-obsessed-roommates really caught on too.

- When I was looking for something a little bit more sweet to finish my day, I'd pour a little cinnamon over my popped popcorn. Strangely, some cinnamon's are much better than others. Sweeter one's definitely taste better over the popcorn and the balance is important... too much cinnamon is really not nearly as good.

- Next, I decided to try a little chai powder mix over my popcorn. This is yummy too and even has a little tiny caffeine kick. I tend to stick to the cinnamon more often but this is great to mix it up sometimes too.

- Then, I decided it was time to try some more salty mixes. Basically, I think I just entered a salt craving era but I wanted to stick with my healthy-ish popcorn treat. We had some Kimlan soy sauce packets in our office kitchen and I found out through experimentation that 1 and 1/2 soy sauce packets over my Walgreens mini bag was perfect. You need to make sure to shake the popcorn bag up as you add the soy sauce over so the soy sauce spreads evenly. Otherwise, you end up with some very soggy popcorn. I'd also recommend eating this mix fairly quickly so that none of the kernals can get soggy.

- When we ran out of soy sauce packets, I tried fancy balsamic vinegar. This combo is also delicous. I usually have my popcorn around 5 pm and start craving my balsamic popcorn around 3 pm. If fancy ice cream shops can make balsamic ice cream, balsamic popcorn can't be that weird, can it?!

Does anyone else come up with crazy popcorn ideas or is this just me? I'm also curious to try banana slices over popcorn and maybe avocado slices too. Please let me know your thoughts on any of these popcorn concoctions if you've ever tried them. I'd love any other recommendations too!

Hate/Love Relationships

I can think of a list of several things/situations that I sometimes love and sometimes hate. This list will be super random but I've actually given it a lot of thought... I'd love to hear if anyone else might have similar things on a similar list or things that would be on their own Hate/Love list. I will start with those that I tend to hate the most and move up towards those that I hate a bit less. Here it goes...

- HANGOVERS: sometimes I wake up swearing that I will never drink again. And then I go through much of the day still vowing that I will never drink again. My head throbs, my stomach hurts, I'm tired, and I can't think straight... However, once I start to feel a little bit better, I decide that, if I can make it through this pain, I can make it through anything. And then, I start to feel strong and slowly like myself again. In order to compensate for the shame I felt earlier for causing my body such pain and being irresponsible, I often work harder than usual and accomplish more than usual. I start to feel proud and capable again. And, sometimes, the pain feels like it was all worth it. Maybe I will have another drink sometime...

- STREET PARKING IN SAN FRANCISCO: street parking in most parts of San Francisco can often be insane. One can drive around in circles for what feels like hours, spend all their money feeding a meter, or try to squeeze into a spot where one's car just doesn't fit... However, when you find a spot it can feel truly amazing. You have beat all odds and succeeded! However, if you are me, you will worry about your car as you're falling asleep. You'll worry that you might have a parking ticket in the morning even if you know you did nothing wrong. Then, you'll walk up to your car in the morning with your fingers crossed that you won't have a ticket. You might have one for an unmarked street cleaning, wheels mis-turned, a curb that did not look red at night, etc. But, if you show up to your car and there is not a ticket, your heart will skip a beat with joy!

- RUNNING: some days running is easy and other days it is so hard. Often times, it seems like a fluke as to when the hard days and when the easy days are... On the tough days, I feel out of shape and incapable. On the easier days, I often feel like I must not be working hard enough. However, I still get runners high sometimes. And other times, I forget that I'm running and just get into the "flow" of moving and placing one foot ahead of the other. So much of running seems mental which I both love and hate...

- WASABI, JALAPENOS, & OTHER SPICY FOODS: these foods can "hurt so good!" Sushi is not the same without wasabi. Soy sauce is not nearly as fabulous of a dip without some wasabi mixed in. I think the excitement factor is part of the pleasure... everytime I have sushi, I scortch my mouth at least once with too much wasabi. But, if I don't, I wasn't trying hard enough to achieve the perfect spiciness. Jalapenos and other insanely spicy foods are the same way... I love the challenge and the excitement though the burn can be a bit painful! P.S. I love hearing from my chef roommate that spicy foods are almost always great for you even if they "hurt" a little...

To Be Continued...