Thrifty Thursday: Cheap Treats Made at Home

I saw this neat idea for homemade popcorn over at The Frugal Girls and got me to thinking about cheap treats to make at home. So here you go! Quick, thrifty ideas to feed your family after a long day of school or just for a great snack!



Homemade Microwave Popcorn from The Frugal Girls

• 1/3 cup Popping Corn
• 1 brown Paper Bag {lunch sack size}
• 1 piece of Tape
• Salt {optional}
• Melted Butter {optional… and delicious!}

Pour popcorn in bag, fold top closed and tape shut. Place bag in microwave flat with folded side facing up. Pop until there are about 5 seconds between each pop. Varies for each microwave but I would guess about 1 1/2-2 minutes. Pour in your bowl then add salt and butter to your liking!

Chex Mix

1 stick (1/2 c.) butter
1 1/4 tsp. seasoned salt
4 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 2/3 c. Rice Chex
2 2/3 c. Wheat Chex
2 2/3 c. Corn Chex
1 c. salted mixed nuts (optional)

1 c. mini pretzels or pretzel sticks (optional)

1 c. cheese its (optional)

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Heat butter in large shallow roasting pan in oven until melted. Stir in seasoned salt and Worcestershire sauce. Add Chex and nuts. Mix until all pieces are coated. Heat in oven 1 hour, stir every 15 minutes. Spread on absorbent paper to cool.Microwave Directions: In large bowl, melt butter on High 1 minute. Stir in seasoned salt and Worcestershire sauce. Add Chex and nuts/other additions. Mix until all pieces are coated. Microwave on high 6 to 7 minutes. Stir every 2 minutes.
For hot and spicy variation, add 1/2 teaspoon chili powder and 1/4 teaspoon bottled hot pepper sauce. Follow same directions.

For MANY other chex mix ideas head over to Chex.




Pudding Pops


Make cook and serve pudding per directions. Pour into popsicle molds or paper cups(insert plastic spoon or popsicle stick) and freeze for about 4-5 hours.

All images courtesy of a Google search!