Frugal Friday: Healthy Homemade Corn Chips

A couple of weeks ago, I went to a friend's birthday lunch on a Saturday afternoon and left my husband home with the girls. We was fine with staying with them; his only complaint was that I left him to eat lunch with no chips! Horrors!

Being the creative and ingenious guy he is, Michael decided to create his own corn chips, and the rest is history! When I came home I was very impressed with his creation (and that he had taken pictures for my blog).

The chips are not replicas of commerical tortilla chips; the taste and texture are definitely different. However, they are very tasty with dip, and they are much healthier and cheaper than purchased chips.

Here's what he did:

He mixed a cup of cornmeal with half a cup of all-purpose flour and added enough water to form a paste (about 3/4 cup). He also added 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. baking soda.

Then he spread it out on a greased cookie sheet and patted it down with a sheet of waxed paper on top, to about a thickness of 1/8 inch. He baked it at 300 degrees for about 10 minutes, until it was set, then took it out and brushed the top with olive oil and sprinkled it with salt. Then it went back in the oven at 400 until crispy and brown around the edges.

After that, he simply took it off the pan while it was still warm and broke it into pieces. Yum!

We have since tried different combinations of seasonings on top, as well as several batches using whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose. The whole wheat flour makes a softer chip, but one that is even healthier.

My new favorite healthy snack is these chips with salsa or black bean dip. It's a high-fiber, low-calorie snack, but it still tastes like having chips and dip. Can't beat that!