Sticky, gooey, chocolaty Popcorn (oh, and vegan too!)

Timing: “the ability to select the precise moment for doing something for optimum effect”. You know, being at the right place at the right time, being patient, thinking twice before doing something...  Isn’t that what life is (mostly) about?

Well if it is, I’m in a whole lot of trouble.

For some reason, good timing isn’t one of the qualities I’ve been blessed with. I’ve always been really, really bad at it. My whole life.

Maybe it’s just fate. Or  maybe someone up there trying to teach me a lesson, I don’t know. What I do know, is that I can never get it right...

So here I am again with one of my brilliant ideas: I decided that on October 1^st, I was gonna start “level 2” of the 21 day sugar detox I did a couple months ago.

Ok, I did it before, so it can't be THAT bad, right? WRONG! Come on, October 1^st? Right when we have to start testing and prepping all the recipes for the holidays? Halloween? Thanksgiving? A.K.A Being surrounded by temptation, pretty much 24/7? Talk about bad timing...

Why? Why would I choose to do something like that to myself? Trust me, I’ve been asking myself that for a couple of days now. And I think I got the answer: the “competitive” side of me that has been dormant for years, is finally waking up and aching to come out.

Yep, I am testing myself to see how far I can go. I’m testing my strength and my willpower, even more so than I did last time. Because if last time  being constantly surrounded by tempting food was hard, this time it's gonna be a lot worse. Same challenge, times a hundred. And it actually feels good! Well, in a weird, twisted kind of way J

Oh, and one more thing. This recipe, we prepared it before I started the detox. Thank goodness, because this stuff is not only extremely tempting, but highly addictive. Hmm.. Good timing??

Enjoy!

Ruth

• Cook time: 7-10 minutes
• Ingredients (yields approx. 3 quarts):

• 1 ½ tbs organic coconut oil
• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• ½ cup popcorn kernels
• ¼ teaspoon salt or to taste
• 1 cup vegan chocolate chips
• ⅓ cup raw pumpkin seeds
• ¼ teaspoon chili powder
• ¼ teaspoon paprika
• Store bought or home made vegan caramel
• Himalayan Pink Sea Salt (or regular coarse Sea Salt)

1. Melt coconut oil in a large, deep non stick pan over medium heat. Make sure your pan has a lid!

2. Arrange popcorn kernels in one single layer. Add salt, cover and shake the pan slightly so kernels are well coated with the oil

3. The kernels should start popping within a couple of minutes. Once the popping slows down (3-5 minutes), remove the pan from heat and set aside until it has stopped completely. Transfer to a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper and let cool slightly. Note: Using this method, you shouldn't end up with too many unpopped kernels, but watch out for them. They are not very pleasant to bite into!

4. In the meantime, heat one teaspoon of vegetable oil in a non stick skillet. Add pumpkin seeds, chili powder and paprika and sauté about 2 minutes and add to popcorn. Mix together using your hands

5. Melt chocolate chips. Drizzle caramel sauce and chocolate over popcorn. Sprinkle with Himalayan sea salt to taste

6. Transfer to a large bowl and toss it all together, so the chocolate and caramel coat all the popcorn.

7. Try not to eat it all before it cools... And if you do have leftovers, they can be stored in the fridge 🙂

8. ENJOY! From May I have that recipe