Catch me tomorrow morning on WTHR Weekend Sunrise at 7:45 AM! Here’s a sneak peek of some of the money saving tips I’ll share.
The snack industry is big business. They want you to crave munchies around the clock and they want you to pay big bucks for the munchies you do crave. In fact, in the US the snack industry makes over $27 BILLION dollars. Whether you need a midmorning pick me up or a little something something to nosh while watching tv, there’s no reason to overpay for your snacks!
Choose a Snack that Will Satisfy. I’m not talking about a candy bar here. I often here that people want to choose healthier foods but they’re too expensive. This simply isn’t true. Fruits, veggies, and raw nuts oftentimes work out to be cheaper per ounce. But beyond that, the junk food snacks we’re often tempted with don’t really fill our bellies up. Fruits, veggies, cheese, nuts, and lean meat are the best choices both for your body and overall for your wallet. They’ll keep you fuller for longer and more often than not you won’t be tempted to grab a sugary drink to wash it down, unlike salty snacks that are high in sodium. Your budget and waistline would both be better if you skip the chip aisle.
Stay Away from Snack Packs. Individually pre-packaged foods and snacks rank high for convenience but low on cost effectiveness. Instead of buying the 12 package multi-pack of cereal, crackers, cute pre-bagged apples/carrots, or apple sauce buy a large box and portion things out into your own plastic bags or reusable containers.
Go Homemade. It always costs less to make your own snack foods {and you get to know exactly what ingredients are in the snack and who has prepared them}. We are fond of making both our own Granola and Homemade Popcorn. Both are easy and require very few ingredients. And you can make them in bulk and store up what you want. Plus they are extremely cheap! In fact the popcorn recipe I’m using today works out to be $0.36 for 9 1/2 cups of popcorn. WOW.
Ingredients:
~1/4 c of Cooking Oil {I use Canola}
~1/2 c Popcorn Kernels {I prefer White or Blue Popcorn over Yellow}
Salt or Other Toppings
- Pour your oil into the bottom of your pan so that it covers the base entirely. You don’t need a lot but you will want the enter bottom of the pan covered.
- Turn the heat on your stove to medium. This is VERY important. Turning the heat up too high will result in burning the popcorn & perhaps your entire house down to the ground.
- Place 2-3 popcorn kernels in the bottom of the pan & cover with the lid. These are your “test” kernels
- Wait and listen for the kernels to pop.
- Once all of the “test” kernels have popped, place enough popcorn into the pan to cover the bottom in a single layer. Too many es no bueno and will again result in burning or simply un-popped kernels. Be careful because the oil will be hot & you don’t want to burn yourself.
- Recover the pan again & move the pan on the burner to get all of the kernels equally distributed.
- You may want to wear oven mitts as you shake & agitate the pan while it pops. Your lid may pop right off if you’ve got an excess of kernels. Once the pops have become few and far between or you hear little to no rattling of kernels, remove from heat and take off the lid.
- Place immediately into a large bowl and sprinkle with toppings.
- Place a large lid or plate over your bowl and shake vigorously to equally coat.
Share & enjoy!
[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:9]
What’s your favorite way to snack without dropping a lot of dough?
[…] Popcorn: I’ve talked about our Stovetop Popcorn on WTHR before. It’s easy to make, fairly healthy (no weird chemicals that you can’t […]