My all time favorite advice that's thrifty and healthier: Make your own microwave popcorn. Stop spending oodles of money on prepackaged microwave popcorn that is loaded with salt and transfats, and just too darned expensive to boot. Make it at home, and know exactly what goes into it.
There are a couple of options for this, you can buy a microwave popcorn bowl, or even cheaper, use a paper lunch sack. The microwave popcorn bowls will come with instructions on them. Here is how I make popcorn in a paper bag- Put about 3 tbsp of kernels into a paper lunch bag, fold the top over by 1/4 of an inch 2 times, then fold the corners over about an inch, crease really tight to hold. Lay the bag flat on the turntable of your microwave (Don't do this if you have no turntable, it will burn, and maybe even catch fire) Set the timer for what you would normally set pop corn for, and then STAY AND WATCH IT. Look at it, listen to it and smell it. All microwaves are different, so you'll have to figure out what the timing is, and never leave it unattended. And that's it.
The really fun part is what you put on it. I like mixing some olive oil and curry powder for spicy popcorn, or try cocoa powder for chocolatey pop corn, or cinnamon and a little sugar, the possibilities are endless.
By Celeste from Florida
That's a great idea. We love popcorn but don't want the hydrogenated oils so this sounds convenient enough to actually do. My question is, have you tried putting any flavoring in the bag before popping like the store bought versions have or do you do all your seasoning after popping?
By tara
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