Make your own Popcorn

As usual, there are two reasons why making your own popcorn is better than buying microwave popcorn: it's cheaper and healthier.

Sean and I have been making our own for a while now. A post on Facebook prompted us to try it. We will never again go back.

The cost.

Here is a basic cost comparison between the two.

Examples of Microwave popcorn bought from Walmart (prices given on their website):

Orville Reddenbacher's "Movie Theater Butter" 10 pack - $5.18
Act II "Butter Lovers" 12 pack - $3.98

$.52 - .33 per bag

Homemade Popcorn Ingredients (per bag):

Popcorn - $.05
Brown Bag - $.02
Butter - $.13
Salt - $virtually_nothing

$.20 per bag

So not an earth-shattering difference, but cheaper none the less.

The ingredients.

When I went to foodfacts.com to get an ingredient list on microwave popcorn, I was surprised at how few ingredients they actually contain. Here's one example:

Act II "Butter Lover's"
Corn Popping, Palm Oil, Salt, Contains less than 2% of Flavors Natural & Artificial, Colors Added, TBHQ, Citric Acid

The obvious: It contains artificial flavors and colors that you won't get if you make it yourself. And I can almost guarantee you won't put as much salt and butter (well, oil in their case) on it as they do. So right there you're making yours a lot healthier.

The less obvious: What is TBHQ? On the foodfacts website, it's marked as a "controversial" ingredient. I did some minor research and quickly realized this is a preservative that I personally want to stay away from (even though the FDA says it's okay for me to have it in small doses...btw, a large does will kill you).

Article from naturalnews.com:

TBHQ - Why this preservative should be avoided

TBHQ is used in many foods...as well as in cosmetic and baby skincare products, varnish, lacquers and resins. It is used in the stabilization process of explosive compounds. The risks and side-effects of this preservative product far outweigh the benefit of it being used as a highly unsafe preservative ingredient.

Tertiary Butylhydroquinone, or TBHQ...is in fact a chemical preservative which is a form of butane. It is used in foodstuffs to delay the onset of rancidness and greatly extends the storage life of foods.

 A form of BUTANE...no thanks, I'll save that for my lighter fluid. 

Homemade Popcorn

1/4 cup kernels
small amount of vegetable oil
1 brown lunch bag
2 tbsp melted butter
sprinkle of salt

In a small bowl, coat kernels in oil. Put kernels into brown bag and fold top over. Microwave on high for 2 to 2 1/2 minutes (until pops are 2 seconds apart...you know the drill).

Melt butter and pour over popcorn. Salt. Enjoy!