Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Snacking on cash...


I was in the grocery store the other day and about fell over when I saw the price potato chips have risen to and got to thinking about the 2 most popular snack foods, chips and popcorn. A box of Old Dutch potato chips was on SALE for a whopping $3.48 and Orville Rednbacher's microwave popcorn was also $3.48 on sale. In the Orville Rednbacher's package there are 3 bags of popcorn, that makes each one $1.16 when in comparison you could by a 30oz jar of the same popcorn for popping for about $5.00 with no coupon. Breaking down the cost for the jar with 7.5 servings the popcorn the cost is about .65 cents and there are no carcinogens in it. You can make the popcorn as per the instruction on the jar which takes really no more time than microwave popcorn, you can also microwave on the fly in a bowl with a plate over it and just put a thin layer of kernels in the bottom of the bowl and microwave away, or you can make your own microwave popcorn to bring to work and have the best and freshest popcorn in the office.

Fresh Microwave Popcorn:

1/2 cup unpopped popcorn
2 to 3 tablespoons melted butter
Popcorn salt or table salt, to taste
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese or other cheese sprinkle
(optional)

Pour the popcorn in the paper bag and fold the top of the bag over twice to close. (Each fold should be 1/2 inch deep; the kernels need room to pop.) Seal the bag with two small staples (no more, no less), making sure to place the staples at least 2 to 3 inches apart.

Put the bag in the microwave and cook on high power for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the pops are 5 seconds apart.

Remove the bag from the oven and open it carefully, avoiding the steam. Pour the popcorn into a bowl and drizzle it with butter, then toss with salt and cheese, if desired.


That brings me to the potato chips. A 5 pound bag of potatoes at my local market is $2.98, already less then the box of chips, but lets keep going... of that I only need about 5 potatoes or about 1/2 the bag, so my equivalent cost is $1.49 for a box of homemade wonderful tasting no preservative chips. You can also substitute sweet potatoes for an extra gourmet touch.


Classic Homemade Potato Chips Recipe:

4-6 white potatoes
water
vegetable oil (for deep frying)
salt

Wash and scrub the skins of your potatoes well. Remove potato skins. Using a paring knife or food processor, cut thin round or oval slices. Remove any bad spots. Fill a large bowl with cold tap water and soak your slices in the water for 30 minutes. Remove slices from water and pat them dry with paper towels. Turn your deep fryer on and set the temperature at 350 degrees. When the oil has reached the desired temperature, place a handful of slices into the frying basket and drop down into the oil. Deep fry your slices until they are crisp and lightly browned. This usually takes 2-4 minutes. Remove the basket from the oil and let drain over the deep fryer for 2-3 minutes. Line a large plate with 3-5 thick paper towels. Pour the chips onto the plate and use a separate paper towel to blot off excess oil. Season with salt if desired.

**If you like your potato chips seasoned with Old Bay or any other spices, place some the spice in an old salt shaker. Shake the desired amount on the chips. Wait 1 minute, flip the chips over and season the other side.


There are a ton of different recipes on line for a lot of the snacks we like to purchase in the grocery stores, its worth the time to find some that sound good and try, they are healthier and far less expensive, they can also provide something fun the whole family can help put together on the weekends to have on hand.

Hope this gets you all thinking.

C.Q.

1 comment:

  1. Love the popcorn on. Where did you dig that up? The staples in the microwave don't spark?

    ReplyDelete

I love to read your comments, but due to spamming I have had to turn on the word verification again. Sorry for the extra step.