Have the Munchies? Here's a Healthier Snack.

Way back when, after I had my second child, I discovered that the oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and milk that I craved while I was pregnant didn't seem to want to leave me. I decided to join Weight Watchers and attended a weekly meeting in the basement of a church where I was weighed in and learned all about the points system. I managed to be successful and adopted some pretty good eating habits. From what I hear about the new Weight Watchers, it is even better now and seems to pay more attention to protein and complex carbs as opposed to just staying within your points regardless of what you choose to eat.

I discovered Smart Pop microwave popcorn. I bought it by the case. It was one of my go-to snacks while I was on Weight Watchers. I did not care what was in it, as long as I stayed within my points. Unfortunately if you look at the ingredients, it isn't just plain old popcorn in that flat sealed up bag. There are other ingredients that may be a little disconcerting to some.

I used to have a hot air popcorn popper which would have been a much healthier way to make popcorn, but alas it was no more. In fact, I don't even know what happened to it. Did it get sold in a yard sale?

Then  I found out that you can pop corn in a paper bag. Yes, you can use a regular paper bag with ordinary popcorn in your microwave. Easy. Let me show you how.

Use a regular lunch size paper bag.

Any kind of popping corn will suffice.

A level 1/4 cup of popping corn is the right amount for that size of bag.

Pour the popcorn into the bag.

Fold the top of the bag over a couple of times.

Lay the bag down in the microwave with the folded end facing down.

In my microwave, two minutes is the right amount of time. You want to listen to the popping and when it slows down to just a pop or two every few seconds, you should probably stop the microwave so it doesn't taste burnt. (I also noticed I need to wipe the front of my microwave. It's a bit fingerprinty right now!)

Ta Daaaaa! Popcorn.

You can enjoy it plain, sprinkled with salt, or...

you can melt a little bit of butter in a measuring cup which makes it easier to pour on your popcorn. I find it's better to put a little butter on, then the salt so the salt will stick to the popcorn.

Not only is this a healthier way to have a bowl of popcorn, but it is far more economical. As you could see, I started with 100 paper bags and have barely put a dent in them. It is far cheaper to buy a bag of popcorn, rather than buying the microwavable popcorn packages. The paper bag comes out in good shape, so you could likely reuse it, either for popcorn again, or for some other use. (Did you know that mushrooms stay fresher longer in a paper bag in your fridge?) Now, I am going to wrap this up, because that same bowl of popcorn has been sitting beside me on the coffee table while I have been writing up this post and it is awfully hard to type and eat popcorn at the same time!