I stopped using microwave popcorn some time ago when it came out that the vapors when you open the bag are toxic and can damage your lungs. Also, microwave popcorn is quite expensive when compared to buying the more traditional stuff. I picked up a hot air popper at a thrift store which I used a lot for the kids in my classroom when I was a teacher, but now it is in a hard to access cupboard and it’s just not convenient to use.
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Yesterday the TV was on in the background. I wasn’t paying attention but then I saw something that made me stop what I was doing and listen up. It was the Dr. Oz show and as a New Years resolution weight loss bit he was showing how to make a low calorie filling snack to tame the late night munchies by making popcorn. But here’s the thing. He was making REGULAR popcorn in the MICROWAVE. This I had to try.
I got rid of our microwave some time ago so Eli and I trundled over to Aunt Jacki’s house to do our little experiment. (Thanks, Jacki!)
All you do is put 1/4 cup of popcorn in a lunch sack.
See, nothing but popcorn!
Fold the top down a couple of times and put it in the microwave.
Microwave on high for 2 minutes or until it stops popping.
Pour into a bowl.
Spray it lightly with cooking spray.
Dust with cinnamon or garlic salt. Toss, spray and dust until it’s how you like it.
Eat.
Yup, IT WORKS… and it is really that simple!
Maybe I need to get a microwave again.
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Tuesday:
At Home With K, Not Just a Housewife, Hope Studios, Funky Polkadot Giraffe,
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Saturday:
The Gingerbread Blog, Too Much Time On My Hands,
Six Sisters Stuff, Serenity You, Be Different Act Normal
Sunday:
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C.R.A.F.T., diy home sweet home, Craft-O Maniac, Sew Chatty, Artful Rising,
Folk Haven 
Jessica said,
January 3, 2012 at 4:23 pm
Thanks so much for visiting my blog. I posted a reply to your question on my blog so that others could see as well! Have a lovely day!
ReStitch Me said,
January 3, 2012 at 4:42 pm
I rarely buy popcorn for similar reasons, but will give this a try! Thanks for sharing this.
MJ, Nonstepmom said,
January 4, 2012 at 5:27 pm
I’m a popcorn addict, and long ago gave up the microwave stuff (fat, chemicals) and have since found Target sells a “microwave corn popper” for about $12 which I use instead of gobs of bags. For alittle extra once in awhile, parmessan cheese is yummy too!
folkhavenkaren said,
January 4, 2012 at 8:43 pm
I have to agree that parmesan cheese is a great addition! Thank for visiting and for your comment!
Maysem said,
January 5, 2012 at 7:22 am
I learned this little trick from my husband about a couple years ago, but he refused to tell me where he got it from. He claimed he’s the genius behind the idea..LOL! Eventually though, he did admit he got it off of the internet:D It’s a pretty neat idea and it actually does taste healthier. I do love popcorn too!
folkhavenkaren said,
January 5, 2012 at 5:35 pm
I had never heard of it but it seems like a lot of other people had. I just can’t get over how much money I wasted back when I bought the commercial stuff.
Heather from Tatter and Fray said,
January 5, 2012 at 9:30 am
I remember my dad doing this when I was a kid, before microwave popcorn was sold in stores. Thanks for reminding me…I’ll have to give it a try!
Inder said,
January 5, 2012 at 2:54 pm
We totally do this! But we also have an old school stovetop popper which is totally awesome. We use olive oil in that, and my favorite topping is brewer’s yeast. What can I say? I was raised by hippies. 🙂
folkhavenkaren said,
January 5, 2012 at 5:41 pm
I bet being raised by hippies could be quite fun 🙂 Brewer’s yeast on popcorn would be tasty.
aseedinspired said,
January 5, 2012 at 6:51 pm
Oh we always did this as kids! We never understood why our friends bought popcorn already in bags?! Lol…
My sister loves soy sauce so she would sprinkle hers with soy sauce and I would hit mine with butter…. I think we tried cinnamon and sugar too
Great.. Now I am hungry for popcorn. Lol.
T
Melanie said,
January 6, 2012 at 7:16 am
Neat idea! I think I will try it!
Melanie
http://www.bearrabbitbear.com
Sue @ Cakeballs, cookies and more said,
January 6, 2012 at 7:46 am
great idea, I love this!
Deidre~ said,
January 6, 2012 at 10:27 am
AWESOME IDEA!! Thank you so much for this very helpful tip:) This will be my New Popcorn! Deidre~ http://simplysimplisticated4.blogspot.com stop over sometime and chat!
folkhavenkaren said,
January 6, 2012 at 10:01 pm
I’m glad you find it useful! I’ll stop by your blog soon. 🙂
Maureen said,
January 7, 2012 at 10:38 am
I never realized you could do your own! AWESOME!
folkhavenkaren said,
January 7, 2012 at 11:20 am
Oh, good. So I’m not the only one who didn’t already know this! Thanks for your comment. 🙂
RubyJeans said,
January 7, 2012 at 11:51 am
Oh how FUN!! I know my children would LOVE to try this… Thank you for sharing it with us… http://shoprubyjean.com/2012/01/sew-crafty-tuesday-linky-4-and-giveaway/
Laurel@Ducks in a Row said,
January 8, 2012 at 7:48 pm
We never eat microwave popcorn – but have done this many many times! It’s the best!
Holly said,
January 9, 2012 at 11:20 am
Thank you so much for sharing this! I’ve never thought of using a paper bag… I’m trying this soon! I’m following you via email… please stop by bellanest.blogspot.com if you get a chance. Blessings to you!
Ashlee said,
January 9, 2012 at 1:34 pm
What a great idea! We LOVE homemade popcorn at our house, but our popper broke so we have all those kernels going to waste right now! We are going to start doing this right away! Thanks so much for the great post. I’m featuring it as the treat of the week on Topsy Turvy Tuesday’s!
Libby said,
January 9, 2012 at 8:13 pm
Ok, this is something I must try and since I like the natural popcorn anyways, this sounds like the way to go. Thanks for sharing. (Also, didn’t know all that harmful info about microwave popcorn.)
(Stopping by from Everything Under the Moon’s linky party.)
Topsy Turvy Tuesday’s - I'm Topsy Turvy said,
January 9, 2012 at 9:02 pm
[…] treat of the week is homemade microwave popcorn! Made with brown paper bags, regular popcorn kernels and a microwave! We LOVE popcorn around here […]
cathy@ My 1929 Charmer said,
January 11, 2012 at 4:22 pm
Thanks for sharing this, I started WW so I will be using. I never heard of cinnamon on top? Do you like it that way? Thanks for sharing the recipe at Sunday’s Best!
folkhavenkaren said,
January 11, 2012 at 4:43 pm
I prefer salty popcorn over sweet, but I do like cinnamon (especially if there is sugar added as well). Actually you can use Xylitol in place of sugar so it could be sweet, yet healthy and still natural.
Sherry said,
January 11, 2012 at 5:19 pm
How smart is that! I am for healthier food. Thank you for linking it to Home Sweet Home!
Sherry
folkhavenkaren said,
January 13, 2012 at 9:08 pm
Thank you for hosting a great link party!
six sisters said,
January 12, 2012 at 4:59 pm
Great healtlhy snack! Thank you for linking up to Strut Your Stuff Saturday. We would love to have you come back next Saturday and share more of your incredible ideas. -The Sisters
Angela said,
January 13, 2012 at 12:18 pm
I have been doing this for years and my kids favorite topping is hot chocolate. I personally love with garlic powder and paprika.
Angela said,
January 13, 2012 at 12:21 pm
oh and I never use canned spray oil instead I use an oil mister where you can use any oil you like. much healthier.
folkhavenkaren said,
January 13, 2012 at 3:44 pm
I so want one of those! Where did you get yours?
Natasha said,
January 14, 2012 at 4:40 am
Thanks for linking up to Serenity Saturday link party
Hope to see you there again this week
http://serenityyou.blogspot.com/search/label/Serenity%20Saturday
Natasha
Just Winging It said,
January 14, 2012 at 6:59 am
Thank you for linking up last week for Show Your Stuff, I have this weeks edition up and running:
http://juliejewels1.blogspot.com/2012/01/show-your-stuff-6.html
Tonia @ The Gunny Sack said,
January 14, 2012 at 2:49 pm
Yum! I love popcorn! Thanks for sharing this simple idea!
Karah @ thespacebetweenblog said,
March 30, 2012 at 7:40 pm
This is so great! I need to try it. 🙂
nickysqueak said,
May 14, 2012 at 6:44 am
you can also do it in a pan on the stove, with just a little oil in the bottom. Make sure you put the top on quickly, then turn the heat of when the popping slows right down, before taking the lid off. Simple and requires no extra equipment!
nestedinstitches said,
May 14, 2012 at 5:01 pm
good idea! we love to cook ours on the stove with a wee bit of canola oil. it’s so good that way!
Dame Gussie said,
May 20, 2012 at 4:57 pm
I’ve been doing that for years, but my favorite sprinkle on is Mexican Chocolate ground to a powder with a little extra Chili powder after the vegetable spray.
Karen @ Folk Haven said,
May 20, 2012 at 5:16 pm
Oh, that does sound good!
thislittlebirdie said,
May 22, 2012 at 5:11 am
Gonna do this today! More popcorn for less money…I’m in! 🙂
Amanda Stephan said,
May 25, 2012 at 4:30 am
Ha! What an excellent post ~ thank you so much for sharing it! Going to try to make some this evening. 🙂
Ashley said,
June 3, 2012 at 3:08 am
Awesome! I LOVE popcorn, but I make it on the stove using coconut oil- this would be way less calories! I wonder if you can re-used the lunch sack several times? I hate to waste the paper…. Thanks for sharing!
Karen @ Folk Haven said,
June 3, 2012 at 9:14 am
Way less calories, yes. But I love coconut oil! Using it to make popcorn sounds really yummy! As for reusing the bag… maybe you could a time or two since it doesn’t get oil stained, but the paper may get a bit brittle from the steam of the popcorn and the drying in the microwave.
devoncountrydiary said,
November 10, 2012 at 4:15 am
Thanks for stopping by my blog, have just started reading yours and I’m hooked already, especially the popcorn tip!
Karen @ Folk Haven said,
November 10, 2012 at 7:44 am
Thank you! The last week or so I’ve been addicted to making popcorn. Must be the cooler weather!
kim0710 said,
December 27, 2012 at 9:00 pm
We do this with spray butter from I cant believe its not butter 🙂
Stacey Zwiers said,
January 8, 2013 at 10:37 am
how many calories is it??
Karen @ Folk Haven said,
January 8, 2013 at 10:42 am
That would depend on what you put on it, I imagine. With nothing adding additional calories being used my bag of popcorn says that there are 20 calories in one cup of popped corn.
Stacey said,
January 8, 2013 at 1:38 pm
Just a little cooking spray and salt…Thanks soo much…eating it right now…YUM!
Karen @ Folk Haven said,
January 8, 2013 at 2:15 pm
You’re welcome! Glad the post was helpful to you! 🙂
Heather said,
February 11, 2013 at 8:13 pm
This is a fabulous idea. The only thing I will say is you are adding chemicals back by using cooking spray (same point for using I can’t believe it’s not butter).
Regina Partain said,
October 19, 2013 at 8:29 pm
I am going to have to give this a try. Of course, when I was going up we didn’t have microwaves or microwave popcorn. We cooked it on the stove top. We had one pan that was reserved just for cooking popcorn. It was delicious.
cortney said,
September 7, 2014 at 6:11 pm
My micro just caught fire trying this. Be careful.
Karen @ Folk Haven said,
September 13, 2014 at 1:14 pm
Oh my! I hadn’t heard or experienced that happening with doing this before! Did it run beyond the time that the popcorn was still popping before the fire started?