Succulent Short Ribs

Succulent Short Ribs

{Printable Recipe Here}

Cooking Spray

3-4 lbs short ribs (can also use country style ribs)

1-2 bottles Emeril's Original Essence seasoning

Olive oil

3-4 Cans Campbell’s Soup Beef Consommé

Spray the inside of a large crock pot and set aside. In a shallow baking dish pour out contents of one of the seasonings. Roll each short rib in seasonings on all sides. Heat a few tbsp of olive oil into a large skillet pan on Med heat. Once oil is hot, lightly brown ribs on all sides. Transfer Ribs to crockpot. Cook on HI 4-6 hours or on LOW all day.  Serve with rice, potatoes, or other side. Enjoy!

**The day I made these, I used pork country spare ribs (as pictured), because that is what I had in the freezer. Pretty much any type of rib is good in this recipe!

Tomato Basil Pasta Salad

Tomato Basil Pasta Salad

16 oz uncooked penne pasta
3/4 C olive oil
1/3 C balsamic vinegar
1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes
1-2 C fresh mozzarella pearls
1/2 C pine nuts
1-2 basil leaves, torn
Salt, to taste

Cook & drain pasta and place in salad bowl. In small mixing bowl whisk together oil & vinegar; pour over pasta & mix well. Add remaining ingredients and toss well to coat. Cover & refrigerate until ready to serve.

Grandma Velma's Irish Potato Bread

Grandma Velma’s Irish Potato Bread       

{Printable Version Here}

Makes 2 loaves

2 Tbsp sugar

4 tsp salt

2 pkg dry yeast

6-8 C flour, divided

1 ½ C prepared mashed potatoes

½ C water

1 ½ C Milk

½ C butter (1/2 stick)

3 eggs

1. In mixing bowl combine sugar, salt, yeast, and 1 ½ C of the flour; set aside.
2. In a 2 qt sauce pan add potatoes, water, milk, and butter. Heat over low, stirring often until very warm and combined.
3. Very slowly stir liquid mixture into dry mixture.
4.  Add eggs and beat for 2 minutes.
5. Stir in 3 ¼ C of the flour to make soft dough.
6. Turn dough onto floured board and knead for 10 minutes.
7. Knead in additional 1 ½ C of the flour.
8. Shape into big dough ball and place in lightly greased bowl, turning to coat dough.
9. Cover with towel or plastic wrap and let rise 1 hour.
10. Punch down. Turn onto floured board. Cut dough in half. Cover again and let rest 15 minutes.
11. Place each half into large, greased loaf pan and gut 2 gashes across top with serrated knife. Cover and let rise and additional hour. Preheat oven to 400°.
12. Brush top of loaves lightly with milk.
13. Bake 40 minutes, or until golden brown.
14. Turn out from pan and cool on wire rack. Let cool before cutting.

·       Recipe can be used to make dinner rolls as well. About 3 ½ - 4 doz.

Allan Rosenberg/Cole Group/Photodisc/Getty Image

{Get Printable Version Here}

Fried Nacho Tacos

Fried Nacho Tacos

{{Printable Recipe Here}}

Three of my favorite words. Mmm... These are "Nacho" Mama's Tacos!

All kidding aside, if you are like me and love recipes with 5 ingredients (6 if you count the cooking oil, but who's counting?) or less and cooks in 20 minutes or less, then this is a must try! This recipe came about because I didn't have any motivation to cook an elaborate dinner tonight and my food storage/deep freeze is always stocked with these items.

INGREDIENTS

1 lb ground beef
1 packet taco seasonings
1/4 C. water
1 can cheddar cheese condensed soup
18 soft corn tortilla shells (white or yellow)
cooking oil

Step 1.
In small skillet brown ground beef over Med-Hi heat. Drain fat.

Step 2.
Stir in 1 packet of taco seasonings, and ONLY 1/4 C of water. (This is less than the packet instructions.) Stir until seasonings are evenly distributed.

(I know, I know - it looks like Kitty had an accident, but I promise it's sooo delish!)

Step 3.
Stir in cheddar cheese soup until well mixed. Turn off heat.

Step 4.
Heat 2-3 tbsp cooking oil in new skillet. (I love my electric skillet for this.)

Step 5.
On a plate, place a stack of about 18 tortillas and microwave about 1 minute. This helps keep the tortillas pliable and from tearing when folding.

Step 6.
Place one spoonful of cheesy-meat mixture on one-half of a tortilla shell.

Step 7.
Fold tortilla in half and fry a few minutes each side, until golden brown.

Step 8.
Placed fried tacos on a plate lined with paper towel to help absorb excess grease.

Step 9. EAT & ENJOY!!!

p.s. I love to dip mine in homemade ranch dressing. MMMMMMM!

Emma's Easy Crepes

French Crepes. Trust me when I say they are easy to make. Almost foolproof. No kidding. I love making these because I don't have to measure a darn thing! Way easier than pancake mix too, which you still have to measure.

Give it a try and tell me what you think.

Possible fillings:
cream cheese, ricotta cheese, Bavarian Cream, French Vanilla Creme, Custard, Fresh berries, Nutella, or anything else you can dream up. If you don't want sweet, you can do cheese, ham, eggs, or even diced chicken with alfredo sauce, or chives cream cheese mixed with canned chicken. Mmm. The hubs keep his simple. Butter & powdered sugar. The possibilities are endless!

{{Click Pic for Large View}}

Simple Snickerdoodles

I am not (usually) a fan of Snickerdoodles. I'm what you would call a Supertaster, meaning I have more taste buds on my tongue than the average person. It's a true thing. About 35% of women have this and even fewer men. 

I can remember as a child, the first time I had a snickerdoodle. While my brothers and sisters devoured them like street urchins, clamouring for more, I spit mine out after the first bite. What was wrong with them? I wondered. How could they eat such a nasty, bitter cookie?

Turns out it's the cream of tartar I was tasting, and while everyone else called it "tangy" it tasted bitter to me.  

That aside, I don't mind being a Supertaster. The only down side is, it doesn't come with a cape. ;) 

In general, I love tasting new foods and being able to taste the smoked paprika, hint of chili pepper, or the dash of nutmeg. And since my hubs loves Snickerdoodles, I figured I'd give this simple recipe a try and guess what- I enjoy these little gems! 

1 yellow cake mix

2 eggs

1/4 C oil

3 tbsp sugar

1 tsp. Cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375°.  Mix cake mix with eggs & oil. Roll into balls. Roll into cinnamon-sugar. Place on lined pan. Press slightly with bottom of cup. Bake 7-9 min. Let sit on pan another 2 min before transferring to wire rack. 

Super Easy, Super Yummy Homemade Chili

Because I buy things like canned diced tomatoes and beans in bulk, we always have a TON in our food storage.  While 10/$10 sales are great, check price clubs and case lot sales.  Last year I got a ton of beans for like 10 cents a piece at a case lot sale on double-coupon Wednesday.  (Thanks Winegars Grocery!)  I also buy a lot of canned dice tomatoes in bulk whenever I can get them for 50 cents a can or less.  This year we also went in together with 7 other families and bought a cow.  This gave us about 60 lbs of beef for $60.  What a steal!   In essence, this chili cost me less than $4 to make and will feed my family of 6 two meals easily. Maybe even 3, depending on their appetites on any given day.

But don't worry.  Even if you haven't bought a cow recently, you can still make this pretty cheap.  Definitely healthier than store-bought or restaurant chili and much cheaper!  (Freeze leftovers.  Great over baked potatoes too!)

2 lbs ground beef (or turkey)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, chopped
3-4 small sweet peppers (or 1 bell pepper), chopped
2 tsp oregano
2 Tbsp chili powder
4 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon (yes, cinnamon!)
2 - 8oz cans tomato sauce
4 cans diced tomatoes w/ chilies
4 - 14.5 oz cans beans (any kind you like. pictured: Kidney, Black, and Navy), undrained
1 can sweet corn, undrained.

Brown meat with garlic, onion, pepper and spices.  Stir in everything else.  Heat until just starts to boil.  Cover & simmer 30-40 minutes, until ready to serve.

Note:  I drain 2 of my cans of beans and leave only 2 undrained.  Just depends on how thick or thin you prefer.  For extra thick & chunky chili, drain all beans as well as the corn.

Tracy Huxford's Strawberry Yogurt Cake aka "New Beginnings" Cake

Sometimes the tastiest foods are the simplest and I'm all, "Why didn't I think of that?"  I attended an LDS "New Beginnings" night for the young women at church about 18 years ago.  (I was an advisor at the time.)  The leaders decided to serve strawberry cake for the refreshments and each brought their own variation.  This one, made by Tracy Huxford, was my favorite.  I don't know why I don't make it more often, as it's ridiculously simple.  Whenever I do make it, I can't help but think fondly of her.  Ever since that night, I've always referred to this as "New Beginnings" Cake.  I taught my daughter to make this today.  It's going to be our dessert tonight after dinner.

1 Super Moist White Cake Mix
3/4 C water
1/3 C vegetable oil
3 egg whites
2 - 6oz. Yoplait Strawberry Yogurt
1 tub Cool Whip
Strawberries for garnishing, if desired

Preheat oven to 350. Combine mix, water, oil, egg whites and 1 container yogurt on LOW speed 30 sec.  Then beat on MED 2 min.  Pour into prepared 9x13 pan.  (I used 2 round pans in above photo.)  Bake 35-40 min or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.  (I baked the 2 rounds about 20-25 min.)  Cool completely.  Fold the other container of yogurt into the Cool Whip. (Add 1-2 drops red food coloring if you want a pink frosting. (I didn't do that.))  Spread over cooled cake.  Garnish with fresh strawberries.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.

NOTE:  The cake mix may give you different amounts for the water, oil, and/or egg whites.  Keep in mind, since you are adding in yogurt, you will want to use the amounts listed above for best results.

Cake Mix Sandwich Cookies {{Easy}}

In this picture, I used a party confetti cake mix, since that is what I had on hand.

1 cake mix
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 C oil

1 tub favorite frosting
sprinkles, optional

Preheat oven to 350.  Combine cake mix, eggs, and oil and stir to mix well.  Scoop dough and form into little balls, about 1" in diameter.  Place dough balls onto ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake approximately 8 minutes.  Let stand 1 additional minute on pan before transferring to cooling rack.  After cookies are cooled, pair up cookies by size.  Spread frosting onto bottom of one cookie and use 2nd cookie to create the other half of the sandwich.  Add sprinkles if desired.

Variations:  For the holidays, use a yellow or chocolate cake mix.  After making sandwiches roll the exposed frosting in crushed candy cane bits.  For cookies and cream, use a chocolate or devil's food cake mix, white frosting and crushed oreo bits.

Chicken Bacon Pear Paninis

Three things.  1 - I hate mayo (& miracle whip, for that matter).  2 - I LOOOOOVE paninis.  3 - My family loooooove paninis too!  So, if you're wanting a sandwich that's not your typical turkey with mayo (bleh) on wheat, try paninis! I Note: You don't have to have a grill pan, any pan you'd make a grilled cheese in will do.

Chicken Bacon Pear Paninis (serves 4, 1 serving = 2 mini paninis)

1/2 lb bacon, cooked & crumbled
8 mini ciabatta rolls, cut lengthwise
8 slices Swiss cheese, cut in half
8 slices, med-thick cut, smoked chicken breast
2 Bartlett pears, thinly sliced

Cook bacon to desired crispness; drain on paper towel, and then "crumble" (if crisp) or cut into little pieces.  Set aside.  On the bottom half of a roll, place 1/2 slice cheese, 1-2 pear slices, slice of chicken and then other half of cheese slice.  Top with other half of the roll.  Spray frying or grill pan with cooking spray and turn heat to MED-HIGH.  Once hot place sandwiches onto prepared pan.  After a few minutes, press down to help cook faster and to create those wonderful grill lines we all love!  Turn over and repeat on other side.

Tip: If you have a lid for your pan, that actually helps it cook a little faster and it spreads the heat evenly.  If you are satisfied with the crispness of the bread, but your cheese is thick and hasn't melted to your liking, just zap in the microwave for about 20-30 seconds and voila!

Geneva Bender's RHUBARB DREAM BARS

Geneva Bender - one of my dad's cousins (I think) - from Middlebury, IN just also happens to be the creator of these melt-in-your-mouth little gems.  My mother got the recipe from her when I was little, and our family has loved them ever since.  Well, now I'm all growed up and this summer seems like the perfect time to start baking them for my own kidlets.

Geneva Bender's Rhubarb Dream Bars:

Crust:
2 C flour
¾ C pwd sugar
1 C butter, softened

Preheat oven to 350˚. Grease 10”x15” pan; set aside. Mix and press crust ingredients into pan and bake 10 min.

Filling:
4 eggs
2 C sugar
½ C flour
½ tsp salt
4 C diced rhubarb

Mix everything except the rhubarb, until well blended. Fold in rhubarb and spread over baked crust. Return to oven and bake an additional 30-35 minutes. Let cool completely before cutting. Store in airtight container.

Chicken Enchiladas for a Crowd

This makes 60 enchiladas, and most people eat 2-3.  So, I'd say you can easily feed an army of 20-30 here!

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 Tbsp lemon juice
grill seasoning
1 can (16 oz) fat-free Refried Beans
1 can (10 3/4 oz) condensed cream of chicken soup
1 can (15 oz) diced tomatoes with green chilies
1/2 C fat-free sour cream
2 cans (16 oz ea) enchilada sauce
60 small corn or flour tortillas*
4 C shredded cheese, divided (I prefer Colby Jack)

Preheat oven to 350.  In skillet or grill pan, cook chicken in lemon juice and seasonings.  Remove from pan and shred. (I love to shred mine in the food processor or blender.)  Place shredded chicken in mixing bowl.  Add beans, soup, tomatoes, and sour cream; mix well.  In bottom of large baking pans spread thin layer of enchilada sauce; set pans aside.  Heat 20 tortillas 10 at a time in microwave about 1 minute.  Scoop 1 tbsp cream mixture onto each tortilla shell and roll up.  Place seam-side down on baking sheet.  Repeat until all tortillas are filled and on the baking sheet.  Spread remaining sauce evenly over enchiladas and top with cheese.  Bake 15 minutes, or until cheese is melted.

*I use corn tortillas as they are 2 WW points per enchilada, vs. 5 WW points for flour.

Spinach Smoothie: Morning Glory

If you like Orange Julius, chances are you'll LOVE this!  I know, I know -- it's GREEN.  Get over it.  It doesn't TASTE or SMELL green.  And I'm pretty particular about things that smell funny or if I can taste veggies in my drink.  But, once I tried a spinach smoothie (done right), I was hooked.  Also, I have to stay away from dairy or I end up coughing all day - so this is a great dairy-free smoothie, although if you wanted add a little yogurt, it would taste great too!

1-2 C fresh Spinach, uncooked
2 medium bananas*
2 clementines, peeled & divided
4 oz Orange Juice
2 oz Pomegranate Juice (or grape or blueberry juice)
handful of ice, if desired

Place in blender and blend until desired consistency.  This makes one GIANT smoothie, or 2 - 12 oz smoothies. I drank the first half for breakfast, and then went and gulped the rest of it down right away.  The entire thing is only 3 Weight Watchers points.

*I like to peel bananas, cut them in half and place them in a Ziploc bag in the freezer the night before.  I usually have about a weeks worth of bananas for smoothies in there.  They make the drink so much creamier that way.

Better Than "Who-Ha" Cake

If you've ever eaten chocolate "Better Than Sex Cake", then you know what I'm talking about when I say "Yum!" is an understatement.  Well, change out the chocolate cake for a yellow cake and some pumpkin, and use a crushed Butterfinger bar instead of a Heath bar, and you've got yourself what I call, Better than Who-Ha Cake!  (My daughter HATES the "s" word {s-e-x}.)

1 Yellow or White Cake Mix

1 small can solid pack pumpkin puree (about 1 1/2 C)

1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk

1 jar Mrs. Richardson's Butterscotch Caramel Sauce

1 container Cool Whip, Thawed

Hershey's Chocolate Syrup, optional

1 Butterfinger bar, crushed

Preheat oven to 350º. Mix dry cake mix with pumpkin until smooth; batter will be sticky.  Spread into prepared 9x13 pan.  Bake 25-30 minutes,or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.  While still warm, poke holes all over tops of cake.  (I use the handle of a wooden spoon.)  Pour entire can of sweetened condensed milk and butterscotch caramel sauce over top; spread evenly.   Let cool completely.  Spread Cool Whip over cooled cake.  Drizzle chocolate syrup over cake in one direction and lightly drag knife through in cross-direction (see picture) for lovely design.  Sprinkle with crushed candy bar.  Refrigerate until ready to serve. *Note* Don't worry about trying to "cut" the cake.  Just scoop it out with serving spoon.  Enjoy!

Butterscotch Pumpkin Spice No-Bakes

2 C Sugar

3/4 C Butter (1 1/2 sticks)

2/3 C Milk

1 (3.4 oz) Box Instant Butterscotch Pudding Mix

1/2 tsp. Pumpkin Pie Spice

3 1/2 C Quick Oats

1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract

In heavy saucepan mix together sugar, butter & milk over MED heat.  Bring to boil; boil for 2 min.  Turn off heat and whisk in pudding mix and pumpkin pie spice until smooth.  Stir in oats & vanilla.  Let stand 5 minutes.  Drop by tsp onto waxed paper.  Let cool completely.  Makes approximately 55 cookies. 

Hershey "Kissed" Pumpkin Cookies

These delightful little cookies are so... nom, nom, nom.  Seriously, so good and best of all, so simple!  Depending on the size of cookie, this recipe yields 2-3 dozen.

1 spice cake mix*

1 C solid pack pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix)

24-36 unwrapped Hershey's Kisses (Or Hugs)**

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare baking sheets with parchment paper, or lightly spray with cooking spray.  In mixing bowl combine cake mix & pumpkin; mix until well blended.  Batter will be sticky.  Using 2 spoons, drop by spoonful onto pan.  Bake 14-16 minutes.  Lightly press Kiss into center of cookie and let sit on pan a minute or so before transferring to cooling rack.  Let Kisses set before transferring to airtight container.  

*If you don't have a spice cake mix, you can use a white or yellow mix and just add 1 tsp pumpkin pie spices.

**I use Chocolate Caramel Kisses for these cookies.

TIP:  For "sticky" cookie batter, use the back of a spoon dipped in flour to "shape" cookie dough before baking.  See picture below. 

Black Bean & Yam Chili

3-4 C Cooked Black Beans, with water (or use 3-4 cans undrained)
1 can (29 oz) Yams, drained and cut into smaller chunks
1 - 14.4 oz beef chunk in water, drained (can use stewing beef if browned first)
1 jar salsa
1-15 oz canned corn
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp Tony Chachere's creole seasoning (or other spicy favorite)
2 tsp chili powder
1 tbsp hot cocoa mix
1 tbsp molasses (or 2 tbsp honey)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
water, to desired consistency

Place all ingredients in pot and cook, stirring frequently, just until boiling.  Or place in Crockpot on LOW 4-6 hours.  Makes approximately 11 C.

Pudgy Pies

I grew up making these at various campouts or bonfires where I grew up in the Michiana (around Michigan-Indiana border) area. When I moved out West 15 years ago, it seemed people here in Utah had never heard of Pudgy Pies. Well, they have now, thanks to me! hehehe.

I should have taken some pics of the pudgy pies I made while camping down at Bryce Canyon a few weeks ago, but I forgot. So, instead I will share some other successful Pudgy Pie Pics from around the blogosphere.

1- First of all you need some of these -- they are called Pie Irons and they retail anywhere from about $10-$12 each. (Some people call these sandwich makers or hobo makers.)
 

2 - Decide on your fixings.  This will vary depending on the filling you desire, but you will at least need some cooking spray or butter (OR BOTH!), a loaf of bread (or two, or three...) and some filling.  Filling can be anything from pie filling to preserves, etc.  Here are a few of MY favorite combinations:

Mini Marshmallows & Rolos
Whipped Cream Cheese & Blueberry Pie Filling
Apple Pie Filling
Lemon Pie filling + 1 large marshmallow (tastes like lemon meringue pie!)
Black Forest Pie = Cherry Pie Filling + Crushed Oreo Cookie
Cookies & Cream = 1 Large Marshmallow + 1 Crushed Oreo Cookie
Bananas Chocolate Foster = fresh banana slices + 1 Ghirardeli Dark Chocolate-Caramel Square

In addition to your filling selections, I recommend having a plate of powdered sugar as well as one of cinnamon-sugar, to sprinkle over the pies as soon as they come out of the fire.

3 - Set up your Pudgy Pie Fixing's bar:
  Cooking Spray
  Bread
  Butter
  Stuff for fixings
  Dipping Plates for sugar-coating

Ready?  Ok, you're set!  Let's go!

4- Make your pie!
Spray both halves of the pie iron with cooking spray.  Butter one slice of bread (I leave my crusts on).  Place that bread, buttered side down onto the pie iron.  Top that slice of bread with your filling(s) of choice.  Butter second slice of bread, and place over top of filling, leaving the buttered side up.  Carefully hook the other half of the pie iron, close & latch, and place in hot coals.  I like to cook mine about 3-5 minutes each side.  *This will depend on how hot the coals are.  You may want to check it after a few minutes.  Don't feel bad if you get a scorching black one -- I usually end up with at least one!

Photo from endofthesidewalk.blogspot.com 

5 - Remove pie iron from coals and CAREFULLY set on heat-tolerant surface.  (As this is usually a picnic table when camping, be sure to designate a specific area for Hot Pie irons.)  Open your pie irons, and use a metal fork to take out your pie.  Coat in the sugar if desired & EAT!!!

Photo from Tasteofhome.com

FYI -- Other things you can make with pie irons:

 - Grilled Cheese

 - Cheesy Tots (add frozen tater tots, a little olive oil, & seasonings)

 - Pizza Pockets

 - Grilled PB & J's -- YUMM!

 - Pesto Pockets

Cream Puff Cake

This is a favorite of ours and I often get asked to make it for special occasions.  It's way easier than it looks too.

Cream Puff Base:
1 C water
1 stick (1/2 C) butter, cubed
1 C flour
4 eggs

Filling:
1 - 8oz cream cheese, softened
2 1/2 C cold milk
3 small pkgs instant French Vanilla pudding mix

Topping:
Cool Whip, thawed
Chocolate Syrup


Preheat oven to 400.  Lightly grease 9x13 pan; set aside. Over stove, melt butter in water and bring to boil.  Add flour all at once and stir until dough pulls away from sides and soft dough ball forms.  Remove from heat and let sit about 5 minutes.  In mixer, add one egg at a time to dough, beating well in between.  Spread puff batter evenly into prepared pan.  Bake 20-22 minutes or until puffed up and light golden brown.  Let cool for about 10 minutes. (Great time to let the cream cheese soften if you forgot to take it out of the fridge earlier!)  In mixing bowl beat cream cheese, milk and pudding mixes until smooth.  Spread over cooled cake-puff.  Top with cool whip, then drizzle with chocolate syrup.  Chill until ready to serve. Enjoy!

Tips:
1) I prefer French Vanilla pudding mix in this recipe, although regular vanilla or even chocolate works just fine.
2) For the chocolate syrup you can use either melted Chocolate or Hershey's Chocolate syrup, although I prefer melted chocolate frosting -- sooooo yummy.
3) To make fancy swirl design, drizzle chocolate in "rows" the entire width of the cake.  Then lightly pull knife through in the length-wise direction.

Homemade Microwave Popcorn

I heard it before-- that one could make his or her own microwave popcorn.   I wondered if it was true.  Well, it is. Today I had a craving for popcorn, but no microwave popcorn on hand.  Then I remembered that my dad left some popcorn kernels here from the weekend.  But I don't have an air-popper or a StirCrazy and I've never made it over the stove before so I didn't trust myself to do that.  However, my kids do pack their lunches and I have a plethora of large paper lunch bags.

1 large paper lunch sack
1/4 C un-popped popcorn
2 tsp olive oil
1/4 tsp salt
* Add 1 Tbsp Sugar to the oil first if you want a hint of sweetness

Place popcorn, oil, and salt into paper lunch sack.  Roll sack closed two times and shake well.  Leaving sack closed, place onto a paper towel in microwave.  Microwave popcorn 1-5 minutes until 5 seconds in between pops.  Add more salt or melted butter if desired.

NOTE:  I used my microwave "popcorn" setting and it worked perfectly. 

One nice thing is that there weren't nearly as many "blunts" (seeds) left in the batch than with certain brands of microwave popcorn.  I love that this doesn't have all of the preservatives as the store-bought microwave popcorn and also, it's way cheaper than buying the store-bought microwave popcorn!  I may never buy that again.