A while back a friend of ours had my husband and me over for dinner. For dessert, we had freshly popped popcorn on the stovetop. What a delicious treat! And so ensued our love affair with freshly popped popcorn. Never again will we eat microwave popcorn. And the best part, it is SUPER cheap! Each bag of popcorn is less than $2 at my local grocery store and it makes a TON. We are definitely penny pinching around our household these days as are many people, so wherever I can save money, particularly on the grocery bill, I’m (not to mention my husband) a happy camper.
Popping your own popcorn on the stovetop – and I’m not talking Jiffy Pop, by the way – is also very easy. There are two varieties of kernels – yellow or white. We are partial to white popcorn at our house (less chewy in our opinion). Just follow the directions on the bag to make about 4 cups of popcorn:
- Start with about 2 tablespoons of oil (preferably canola oil – high in healthy unsaturated fats and the lowest of all oils in saturated fat) in a 3 quart saucepan. Put in three kernels of popcorn to the oil and cover over medium high heat.
- Once you hear a kernel pop, lift the lid and add 1/3 cup of popcorn. Cover with the lid and gently shake the pan from time to time until all popping stops.
- Pour the popcorn into a large bowl and enjoy!
Another advantage to popping your own popcorn, is that you can season it anyway you want. Not to mention, control the amount of butter, salt or what have you that goes on it. Now when it comes to seasoning your popcorn, you can do it the traditional way of doing it after the popcorn has popped, or you can experiment with putting some in while it pops. We like to season ours with garlic powder and a little bit of Smart Balance while it is popping – we just add it to the oil at the beginning. Of course there are all kinds of flavors you could create: garlic powder and parmesan cheese, cinnamon and a hint of sugar, curry powder, just to name a few. Experiment and find your favorite flavors.
Happy popping!
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