How to Turn Popcorn Into 3 Irresistible Snacks for Your Christmas Party
Are you snowed in with nothing to do? Perhaps you need a little indulgence over Christmas? If you make it, what’s wrong with some gourmet popcorn delights as your reward? Christmas is both joyful and stressful depending on your circumstances. Either way, you can easily order bulk popcorn online and then indulge guilt-free. Read on to discover 3 mouth-watering popcorn snacks along with some ideas for how to enjoy them with a guilt-free mind.
Allow Yourself to Indulge over Christmas
We all need food to survive. Research has now taken this one step further by explaining the psychology behind offering food to others. We learn this at an early age because our caregivers give us food which creates positive feelings. Studies now confirm that giving food to others is a way to increase their positive emotions.
Holidays provide the perfect opportunity for all that food giving. On top of that, most people are off work at the same time and so have fewer emails and work commitments to stress about. The question now is, how can you indulge without feeling guilty and enjoy the positive emotions?
- Relieve stress with permission-giving beliefs
- Counter with non-food rewards
- Small bites with longer walks
Relieve stress with permission-giving beliefs
You can thank psychologist Aaron Beck who, in the 60s, developed the idea that our beliefs shape our moods. So, if you tell yourself that you’re worthless and you’ll get fat if you eat those snacks, you definitely won’t enjoy them.
On the other hand, you could tell yourself that we all need a break sometimes and it’s ok to enjoy sweet things every now and again. Then, you’ll appreciate the melting sensation of chocolate on your tongue or the crackling gorgeousness of caramel gourmet popcorn.
Of course, it isn’t easy changing our beliefs but one way to do it is to write them down. Then, next to each negative belief, write an alternative positive one. Another approach is to structure your day so that you schedule indulgence time into your diary. This might sound odd but you’re essentially allowing yourself to indulge. Your subconsciousness will pick up on this and relax a little bit.
Counter with non-food rewards
Clearly, eating too many snacks is bad for us and we all need balance in life. Let’s not forget that you can also take actions to equalize your indulgence that doesn’t involve food. What else do you enjoy? Perhaps it’s watching a few series on Netflix or playing a video game for a few hours?
Rewards are an important part of managing our cravings so that we can enjoy them without berating ourselves. They also help release the feel-good hormone, dopamine, that gives you that feeling of being satisfied. So, it’s a great mood-booster after a workout, for example, so that you can enjoy that chocolate-covered gourmet popcorn after your exercise.
Small bites with longer walks
The snag with indulging is that we can go too far. After all, our brains love sugar and always crave more once we’ve started. That’s why it’s useful to measure out small portions and then leave the rest in the fridge or cupboard.
Once you’ve rationed yourself, for want of a better word, you can go for a long walk with the kids, the dogs, or just by yourself. If you’re lucky enough to be surrounded by nature, you’ll naturally feel refreshed. On the flip side, city-dwellers can explore new parts of their city and even check out the movie theater or the bowling alley. Why not even try something new that your city offers?
3 Irresistible Gourmet Popcorn Holiday Snacks
Once you’ve ordered your bulk popcorn, there are so many things you can add to it or mix with it. These are some of our favorites:
1- A Colorful Fluffy Mound of Gourmet Popcorn with all its Toppings
Sometimes simple is best. Take some lightly salted gourmet popcorn mix and add it to white cake mix. You can easily melt this in a microwave or on the hob before you add your popcorn. Once it’s all nicely blended, create your mound in your favorite bowl and add all the toppings.
The toppings are the best part because you can be as original as you want while honoring the classic Christmas colors. So, throw some sprinkles on your gourmet popcorn along with red and green M&Ms. You can add other candy that you think will look unique and fun for your Christmas party.
2- Marshmallow Gourmet Popcorn Delight
For this one, you can go for either salty or plain popcorn depending on your preferences. To make the marshmallow mix first, melt 3 tablespoons of butter over the hob and then stir in 3 cups of mini marshmallows. You’ll find they melt pretty quickly and make sure you take the pan off the hob as soon as they’ve melted. That way you’ll avoid burning everything.
Once your marshmallow mixture is ready, pour it over your popcorn that’s ideally laid out flat in a large dish. This makes it easier to gently lift and cover all the gourmet popcorn with your homemade marshmallow sauce. Everyone at your party will love the gooey deliciousness of this dish.
3- White Chocolate Gourmet Popcorn Dream
Most people like chocolate but if you’re not sure, white chocolate can be a great alternative because it doesn’t actually contain any cocoa solids. It’s also very easy to melt white chocolate with some butter to create a dreamy mix for any type of bulk popcorn.
If you want to add some zing into your mix, you can also melt in about a quarter of a cup of peanut butter. Don’t overdo it with the peanut butter otherwise, everything might be too sweet. Then again, perhaps your friends love extra sweet gourmet popcorn. Either way, you can finish it all off with lots of colorful sprinkles and extra candy.
https://unsplash.com/photos/YaajxnfGeCk
The Challenges of Christmas
The holidays can be tough for some people and it’s important to remember the difference between indulgence and comfort food that leads us to a black hole. So, look out for your stress triggers and those of your friends.
- Family feuds
- Pressure to be perfect
- Financial drain
Family feuds
Our families are often the source of our triggers because they usually help create them. Of course, many families are supportive and caring. Nevertheless, for some people, the idea of getting their families together for any length of time can be terrifying.
Pressure to be perfect
Many of us were taught to be tough on ourselves and that we’re never good enough. Holidays tend to accentuate that because so many eyes are on us. Whether we’re cooking Christmas dinner or hosting guests, we’re often trying to achieve high standards that are probably a challenge for even Superman or Wonder Woman.
Financial drain
Of course, everyone expects presents and lots of dinners and nights out to celebrate the holidays. Spending that extra money can be stressful. Remember though that things don’t have to be expensive. That’s why bulk popcorn snacks can be so great for parties.
Dealing with the Challenges of Christmas
All those challenges won’t disappear but there are some things you can do to help you face them more calmly. Indulging in bulk popcorn is one way but what about some other ideas:
- Self-care and coping strategies
- When self-care is too hard
- Set your boundaries
Self-care and coping strategies
Everyone is talking about self-care and healthy coping methods these days but what does it all mean? If you’re new to self-care, it can all sound a bit too daunting or even over-indulging.
Self-care doesn’t mean that you’re letting yourself off the hook for chores. On the contrary, it means doing those chores and then knowing how to reward yourself afterward. It’s about taking time out to read your favorite magazine or to go for a walk before getting back to your to-do list.
Self-care can also mean learning a new hobby or taking a nap. You’ll probably need one before your Christmas party if you’re hosting lots of friends and family.
When self-care is too hard
There’s an odd paradox that we know that self-care is good for us and we feel better for it and yet, we find it hard to do it. That’s because self-care involves creating new habits and the mind just doesn’t like new habits.
The trick with starting new habits is to incorporate them into your existing habits and to follow them with rewards. So, you can add going for a walk between breakfast and ordering your bulk popcorn online. Walking is a healthy habit and your reward is the anticipation of receiving your perfectly made gourmet popcorn.
Set your boundaries
A very useful technique when dealing with lots of guests over Christmas is to know your boundaries. For example, when will you get your time out to do what you want? You also need to be firm that there’s no shouting in the house if you’re expecting family arguments. Setting simple but clear rules can help you keep a sane mind over the holidays.
Take Time Out with your Irresistible Gourmet Popcorn Snacks
Christmas is a time for family and friends and they’ll love your marshmallow or white chocolate peanut butter gourmet popcorn snacks. Simply remember before you order your bulk popcorn to set some rules for self-care. Christmas can be a stressful time with demanding family members so remember to honor what you need and to give yourself a break perhaps even with your own special portion of Popcorn Delight. So, what are you waiting for to order your bulk popcorn?