Homemade Microwave Popcorn

I love popcorn, but I'm not fond of the chemicals that line the bags of store-bought microwave popcorn. So one evening I decided to try popping my own. The results were surprisingly easy, and delicious! So I'm going to pass on this little secret to the rest of you.

 What you'll need:

-1 brown paper lunch bag
-Popcorn kernels (I like to use organic, because that's how I roll)
-1 tablespoon measure
-1 microwave in good working order
-1 large bowl
-Butter (optional)
-Salt (optional)

Directions:

Pour 2 or 3 tablespoons of popcorn kernels into your brown paper bag. Fold over the top of the bag (you could probably tape it closed, but I've never had it come open with a double fold). Place the bag in your microwave and cook it for 2 to 3 minutes, until you hear a delay of 3 to 5 seconds between pops. Take the bag out of the microwave (careful, the popcorn will be hot!), and dump the popcorn into a bowl. Repeat this process until you have the amount of popcorn you want.

To make buttered popcorn, melt one tablespoon (or more!) of butter for every two bags of popcorn that you pop. When you're finished popping your kernels, drizzle the melted butter over the popcorn, stirring to evenly distribute. Salt it, if desired. I use a popcorn salt, available in the same section as the large jars of popcorn kernels.

I love making popcorn this way. It tastes fresh and yummy. Your family doesn't consume all those chemicals in commercially-packaged bags and it's healthier and lighter-tasting than oil-popped. You don't need an air popper and and you can get as creative as you want.

Creative Ideas

1. Make popcorn balls! Allrecipes.com has a recipe for Old-Time Molasses popcorn balls here.

2. Make popcorn garland for your Christmas tree.

3. Get creative with your seasonings. Try garlic and herbs on your popcorn, or caramel.

Champagne Grapes

Last August I stumbled across a little gem—technically a cluster of little gems—at the grocery store. Organic champagne grapes.
Any mother will tell you that the quest for healthy snacks never ends. So I snatched up a box and took them home. My then-three-year-old son fell in love with them. Big sister, not so much. But she did declare them better than regular grapes.
I had to agree. These tiny grapes are delicious, sweet, and easy to eat. Plus, they’re so small, I don’t have to worry about little throats getting choked on them.
The drawback: they’re only in season August and the first part of September. So you can imagine my elation when I found them in the produce department at Whole Foods this week. I bought the last two boxes.
Children are finicky, and this year my son isn’t enamored with them anymore, although he says they're okay when the skins don't stick to the roof of his mouth.
I say they're delicious, and I don't even like grapes.

How Extreme is Your Green?

I'm big on feeding my kids organic food, buying local produce and fair trade products when possible, baking my own bread, etc. I do this for the health benefits to my family, but I do also enjoy the fact that such products are better for the environment.
We also tried using compact fluorescent light bulbs exclusively (in every lamp and fixture that was suitable for them), but as you may recall from one of my previous blog posts, that didn't work out so well for us. Not every green option is a perfect fit for every family. After three years, we removed most of them for a number of reasons, but I will note that since going back to incandescents, my daily migraines have become much less of a problem. We still use some CFLs, but not exclusively.
My husband's office is an hour from our home, so he and 15 other employees who live in our town ride a carpool van every day to work. This saves us more than $300 a month in gas and auto wear and tear (our primary reason). It also reduces pollution. There is a fee for the carpool, but the monetary benefits far outweigh it.
I'm also big on recycling. My city has made it easy for me with weekly curbside pickup of recycled goods, so how can I not take full advantage of that convenience? Yet as I sorted through the mail yesterday and found myself standing over the trash can, ripping the bits of cellophane from windowed envelopes (the city says they can't recycle the cellophane), I had to wonder if I'm being a little bit obsessive with this recycling effort.
Do you obsess over green? If so, in what ways? Share your green extremes with me.