For the past few weeks we’ve been taking the Healthy Snacking Challenge by replacing our unhealthy afternoon snacks with Orville Redenbacher’s SmartPop! popcorn.  

I’ll be honest, before this challenge, we didn’t eat popcorn very often as an afternoon snack.  Not because we don’t like it.  We all really love it and eat it every weekend for movie night.  But for some reason, I always forgot about popcorn when giving my children choices of afternoon snacks.  I’m glad we got to take part in this challenge because I learned a lot about how much healthier SmartPop popcorn is that I realized, but also because now I’ll definitely remember it’s a great option for snacks!

Before the challenge, I was a bit slack in the afternoons.  My husband and I make a serious effort to include fruit and vegetables in the kids’ lunches and dinners.  We also keep sweets and unhealthy treats to a minimum and try to steer the kids towards better options.  But for some reason, probably because the afternoons are always so hectic and rushed, I got into a habit of letting the kids have snacks I didn’t used to approve of.

They’ve eaten everything from packs of peanut-butter cracks to fish crackers and even cookies lately. Those snacks are a far cry from the fruits we started off eating at the beginning of the school year.  I went with easy instead of healthy because of time, but now know that popcorn is just as easy.  I can throw a SmartPop bag of popcorn in the microwave and in the two minutes that it’s popping, I grab a few bowls, fill up some cups with water and get everyone seated at the table.  Within 5 minutes of walking in the door, the kids are enjoying their snack and almost ready to move on to the next activity. And six cups of SmartPop popcorn has only 100 calories! That’s That’s enough popcorn for all three kids and still less calories than the other snacks they used to eat.

On particularly busy days, I can pop the popcorn in the morning and make small bags for the kids to take in the car. The popcorn stays fresh and delicious and is easy to eat on the go.

And for special treats, we love to make gourmet flavors of popcorn with Orville Redenbacher’s popcorn.  The kids love it for movie nights and party favors.

For more information on this great snack and to take your own Healthy Snacking Challenge, check out the Orville Redenbacher website here.  For the latest news and updates, be sure to follow Orville Redenbacher’s on Facebook here.

I wrote this review while participating in an ambassador campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Orville Redenbacher’s. I received Orville Redenbacher’s SmartPop! products as well as a promotional item as a thanks for my participation.