Homemade Popcorn - The Healthy Budget Snack

Did you know that making homemade popcorn can not only be good for your tummy but also good for your budget?

Just think about all of the money that most people spend on snack foods throughout the year.

Now, I must admit that I really enjoy eating them, but paying more than $4 for a 6 ounce bag of sweet potato chips?  Well, using my junior high math tells me that those chips cost approximately $11 per pound.  Now that's absurd!

This may seem like an "over the top" analysis to some of you, but it was a fun project today for me since we were planning on making popcorn for a Nourishing Ways meeting anyway.  I made 4 batches that worked out to 13.75 ounces of unpopped corn.

That small amount cost only $.88.  Add to that the expense of 4-8 Tbsp of organic coconut oil and our secret popcorn topping recipe ingredients and you have the total cost to provide snacks for at least 75 people.  Now that's a bargain!

I admit that our family purchases our organic popcorn in bulk from Country Life Natural Foods via a buying club out of my home, and so we get it for only $.95/lb.  But even if your popcorn costs more, you are getting a lot of snacking bang for your buck out of this!

In our home, we lean on lots of out-of-the-ordinary snacks.  In fact, this may not be where you are in your walk towards a healthy diet or a healthy budget, but we really almost never purchase processed foods.  That wasn't always the case, but it is now.

Every once in awhile I will splurge on something at a deep discount or if I get a coupon for a free bag of something that is pretty healthy, I will bring it home.  But for the most part we eat things like my Homemade Almond Joy, Focaccia Flax Bread, Oat Bran Muffins and others that I will post about in the future like Dandy Candy.  I know, I should get out fresh veggies and Savory Hummus and have my kids dip into that, but the truth is that my son with Asperger's doesn't like to dip veggies into anything.  Go figure.  He doesn't fit the mold in many ways.  But that's what makes him so special :-)!

Now that I think about it, there are lots of things that we bring out to snack on so I will have more ideas to share with you in the future.

The point is, here is one more idea to add to your arsenal as you work to get your budget and health more where you would like it to be.

I recommend organic popcorn since corn is one of the most genetically modified foods on the market (UPDATE - I have been hearing that popcorn isn't genetically modified--yet--but I am not completely sure about this).  Even with the increase in price there, you are still way ahead compared to those sweet potato chips!

And I highly recommend popping your popcorn on a stainless steel popcorn popper.* We originally had another brand until I realized it was made out of aluminum.  There began my quest for the stainless popper that we have had ever since.

It's great fun to use and the popcorn comes out tasting great!

So grab a big bowl, some organic popping corn, and lighten the load on your wallet!

I'll post my secret popcorn topping recipes soon.

Looking for other tips to help your budget?  How about Homemade Foaming Soap.

*Please note that the popper that you see when clicking on the popcorn popper link here is not the same brand that I originally bought because it appears that they have gone out of business.  However, the construction appears to be identical.

Do you have a favorite budget-friendly snack in your family? Please share!

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