Eat Like the Animals: Maned Wolf Munchies

This is another in my zoo animal series.  It's a project I did this summer that centers around teaching kids what the animals eat and encouraging healthy eating habits.  

This treat is designed for a canid.  The maned wolf is the largest canid of South America, resembling a large fox with reddish fur.   I was really surprised when one of the maned wolf keepers told me they love peanut butter. I guess it makes sense.  My greyhound loves peanut butter, and she descended from wolves (also, she loved this peanut butter covered popcorn). Kids also love peanut butter.  Adding chocolate makes it even better!

There was one little complication when I added this treat to class for kids to sample.  We all know that peanut allergies are being reported more every day and some kids are violently allergic to peanuts.  I was very careful when I made this to use new utensils and pans to make some plain popcorn for the kids with allergies.  However, I didn't think about having to segregate the peanut allergy kids away from the kids enjoying the peanut butter snack.  One father said if his son even touched peanut butter, he would react and left me with an epi pen.  I know how to use an epi pen (and so did the kid), but gees.  That's a lot of scary for a summer treat.

For the second class, even though the kids enjoyed this treat a lot, I just made regular popcorn. 

Maned Wolf Munchies

(serves 8)

The maned wolf is the largest canid in South America.  They don’t look like a normal wolf.  They look like a fox on stilts!  They like to eat all kinds of things in the wild from rabbits, birds and fish to sugarcane and fruit. 

The wolves in the zoo eat a variety of foods, but they really like peanut butter. They would love this yummy snack (without the chocolate chips). 

•  8 cups popped lightly salted popcorn
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• Melted chocolate chips (optional)

1.  Place popcorn in a large bowl. 
2.  Heat honey and peanut butter until smooth and a little runny.  Add vanilla.
3. Pour the peanut butter mixture over the popcorn and stir to coat.
4. Spread out on to a cookie sheet to cool.  Drizzle the chocolate over the top.
5. Snacks don’t have to be sweet.  If you want a savory treat, try tossing popcorn with paprika, onion powder, garlic powder and salt or curry powder and turmeric.   You can even use ranch dressing mix or taco seasoning.  For a sweet alternative, try dusting with al istle cinnamon sugar or just tossing with some vanilla.  You can even add nuts or dried fruit to your popcorn to spice it up.

Honey may be natural, but it’s still a sugar.  Use it only for a special treat!   Popcorn is loaded with healthy fiber and air popped popcorn is a great snack.  One cup of popcorn without any butter, oil or toppings is only 30 calories.  Most movie theater popcorn is popped in oil.  A small, unbuttered popcorn at the movies typically has more than 650 calories.  A large has a whopping 1,200, which is more than half the food you need for an entire day.  Microwave popcorn often has added salt, oils and butter.

Nutrition Facts

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Amount Per Serving (makes 8)

Calories: 158
Total fat: 8.5 g
Protein: 5.1 g
Total carbohydrate: 18.1 g

• Dietary Fiber: 2.2 g
• Sugar: 8.7 g

Removing the honey makes it only 125 calories and 9 grams of carbs.  The stuff is more sticky and popcorn ball like with the honey, but taste great with less or with just peanut butter.