Thrifty Thursday: Stove Top Popcorn the affordable snack

Fall is here!! My favorite fall snack is popcorn.  What is yours??

I make my popcorn on the stove with a little bit of butter flavored popcorn salt in my big stock pot.

I use a container of popcorn salt that I got through our big popcorn machine which looks like this:

But given that most people don't have an industrial popcorn maker (and I don't want to clean it), most people can buy the seasoning on the store shelf that looks like these or use salt and melted butter.

Great storage tip is to get a nice jar (like I have which is from my parents and looks to be from a jar of Planter's peanuts but any jar will do) and fill it up.  Keep in the fridge for storage and if you don't eat it very quickly, keep the rest in the freezer.  It will make sure the popcorn is fresh when you go to use it.

It makes a healthy and high fiber snack at a low cost.  The best part is that a whole bag of popcorn is under $2 and it makes lots and lots of snacks.  I bought my last bag for $1.88 at Wal-mart and the one before that for $1.87 at Harris Teeter. Add a little bit of oil to the pot and you have a tasty treat.

A bag of chips costs between $3 and $4 and it lasts for about one sitting in this house.  It doesn't have a lot of nutritional value and doesn't fill you up.  Although we are a family who loves our chips, we also keep a bowl of popcorn on hand at all time for snacks.  It makes for a quick and easy snack that is as easy to grab as a bag of chips.

If you want to skip the oil, you can go with the microwave version but the salt doesn't stick to the kernels this way and you have to use alternate seasoning methods.  You can microwave in a paper lunch bag or there is a handy microwave popcorn popper that I got at Target for around $10 in the section with the microwaves and you put in 2 tbsps of popcorn and pop for two minutes.  You get a great fluffy popcorn with no mess or fuss!!!

Try some Kettle Corn to mix it up a little for a sweet treat!!!  For the recipe, click here.  There is another popcorn that I have tried which is great for the fall weather which is Cinnamon and Sugar Popcorn. Click here for the recipe!!  They are both tasty but Kettle Corn has become our after our son is asleep snack to have hot out of the pot but we only make it after I have already made this popcorn during the day so that we only have to clean the pot once.

I hope that you try this thrifty snack in your house.  With a little preparation, you can have this one hand and save tons of money with a filling treat!!  I hope that you try some popcorn soon.