Last night I wanted popcorn. A LOT of popcorn. A piddly 100 calorie bag just wasn't going to cut it.
Instead, I took a large brown paper bag, poured in the kernels and popped it into the microwave. Two and half minutes later… viola! A HUGE bag of popcorn, way cheaper than anything you can buy at your local grocery store!
Found this iphone app which helps you make ( standard ) microwave popcorn. Not sure if it will work with home made bags though. http://bit.ly/pjamzU
There is a movie showing how it works.
Love this idea. We eat popcorn every night for a snack and will definitely be trying the "brown bag" way! If you'll use the butter flavored spray--it's almost like movie popcorn for much less calories!! Thanks, Roni, for this video!
Wow!! didnt know i could make my own popping bag. I am so used to going to the grocery store and just buying a ready to pop bag. I will definetly try this. thanks for sharing and demostrating.
So I did this a lot when I was in college. Until I stopped watching my microwave like a hawk and the brown bag got stuck on the turntable against one of the inner walls and CAUGHT FIRE. Just wanted to to warn everyone here - I think they make microwave popcorn bags the way they are for a good reason now.
I had forgotten about doing this! I'm going to try it right now 🙂 Yay for popcorn!!!
Thanks! I'd forgotten about my old microwave popcorn popper, and this post reminded me that I'd seen it in a corner. Oddly, the first grocery store had almost equal prices on jarred popcorn vs microwave bags because the bags were on sale and the jarred was not. Then when I went to the cheap-o grocery store, they had the plain popcorn in a bag, half the price of the jarred popcorn. I do love that the microwave popper lets me spritz with water and add salt before popping - it distributes the salt more evenly.
I bought a microwave popcorn maker years ago for $5. Love it! I just spray a little olive oil on it and lightly salt. Perfect!
Such a great idea I went out and got 100 lunch bags from Walmart for $1.89. Popcorn (Great Value) $1.86. Popped myself a bag and I am figuring the cost was about $.08 for the bag. Can you beat that!!!
great idea and you look great in purple.
I also want to say thank you for the Tomato and cucumber salad. I made it for the family and they loved it and so did I.
thank you again.
Hey Roni. I've been meaning to tell you for awhile, from one popcorn fan to another, that my husband and I love to sprinkle chili powder on our popcorn, and it is sooo delcious! It doesn't make it spicy, just gives it a nice smoky flavor. Give it a try sometime! (Incidentally, I've also started adding chili powder to just about every vegetable imaginable when I roast it with some salt and olive oil... makes a great side dish!)
Such a SMART idea! I love it!
I have - but in my experience it get more absorbed by the bag then on the popcorn. I like Sandie's idea of just water!
The funny thing is, the more I make it like this, the less I need stuff on it.
Wow, I had no idea you could make popcorn in a paper bag in the microwave...I've tried making popcorn in a heavy pot a few times and the physical labor is a bit of a deterrent, but this is such an easy way to make healthy popcorn! Have you ever tried putting a bit of oil and salt in the bag before popping to help it stick, kind of like how the store bought kind would be packaged (but without the scary chemicals)?
This is great! I was luggin' out a huge pot all the time to pop the corn! I'm all over the lunch bag idea so that each family member can have their own individual popcorn "flavor". Another tip: I mist water on the popcorn (very lightly) to have the salt or flavoring stick to the popcorn to avoid add chemicals to the food.
Thanks soooo much!!!
Sandie
San Diego
I've been making popcorn every night lately using a brown paper lunch sack--not the big paper bags. The limit to that is about 1/3 cup though. I think your way lets it have more space to pop though. I'll check it out.
I love making popcorn in the microwave in a small brown lunch bag, sooo cheap and you then can season it however you like. This is the only way I make popcorn now, its so fresh and light. No machines or salt, love it!
Roni, you look so pretty!
Awesome popcorn video. I gotta get our popcorn machine out again. We have a mini microwave and last time I made a 100 cal bag of popcorn the bag was burnt/on fire! Haven't made it in there since.
Love the video Roni, and love your ideas! I had given up on popcorn a while back just because I couldn't get the salt to stick without heaps of melted butter. Its breakfast time right now, but I really want to try this out!! Is it crazy to eat popcorn in the morning??!
AH NO!! I did the recycling yesterday and have no paper bags around!!
I eat popcorn almost every day and have since I was a little kid. I make it most often in an air popper for a healthy option, but sometimes I do the microwave popping either in store bought bags, brown paper bags, or in a microwave popcorn thingie. I also use buttery flavored cooking spray to spritz mine after popping and then I top it with nutritional yeast.
The last couple times I've made popcorn though has been in a very indulgent way...old school stove top method with rendered bacon fat as the oil and then topped with a light sprinkling of ranch dressing powder and freshly ground black pepper. Another way that my family loves it is popped on the stove using coconut oil.
Yay for this video post... I have been wanting to buy a popcorn maker for a while (just never do) but this looks great! Thx for sharing the video. My kids are gonna love it! 🙂