Tortilla Chips: Easy and Quick Tutorial

A few nights ago I made burritos for dinner.  Personally, I think burritos can be healthy if made in house and using the right ingredients.  I always use beef and beans as main ingredients, tomatoes and lettuce as fillers and guacamole as a spread.  Of course there are a lot more ingredients you could add to make it taste even better (cream cheese, rice, sour cream, cheddar cheese, etc) but I try to stay away from those unless there is a special occassion.   In any case, as we are a family of 4 and 2 under the age of 3, we never finish a tortilla package (there are usually 6 to 8 tortillas in a package) and the leftover is usually left in the fridge with the good intention of eating it next day as a wrap of some sorts, but it never really happens and I always end up throwing the leftover tortillas away.  However, this week, I was really set in the "do not throw away leftover tortilla" mood and so I decided to make tortilla chips (tostito style). 

It is really simple, basically cut the tortillas with a knife or with cookie cutters (I thought this would make it more fun for the kids), brush olive oil on both sides of the chips, add salt and other spices if you like ( I added pasta & pizza spicy spices to some of the chips, but chili or oregano or italian herbs would also probably taste delicious).  Put in the oven 150C (300F) and bake until golden and crisp.  Around 30 minutes (it could be less so check often).

I served the tortilla chips with the leftover guacamole and hummus.  We all loved it and the best of all is that there were no leftovers.

Before baking

After 30 minute baking

Mustard Sauce Recipe

Making dinner that is tasty, easy and fast is a daily struggle when 5:00pm hits (except for weekends when my husband cooks).  Friday evening was not that much different.  I looked into my fridge and decided on making chicken nuggets with honey mustard sauce.  I was set on the idea,

I had cut the chicken, covered it with bread crumbs and italian herbs, put the tray with the nuggets in the oven and when I was about to start with the sauce, I realized I was out of honey.  My head started coming up with all sort of different "solutions" like adding brown sugar, cane sugar, or even soya sauce instead but I wasn't sold on any of the alternatives.  I then searched my pantry and found sugar molasses, (which are quite common in Belgium and used as a syrup for pancakes) and used that to make a sweet mustard sauce instead.  I am sure you can find the molasses in the same isle were maple syrup is found. 

Getting back to the sweet mustard sauce...all my family loved it (see the simple and quick recipe below).  We used it not only for the nuggets but also for the boiled potatoes and the fresh cucumber.  Its tanginess worked great with all of Friday's dinner different elements.  I really like the versatility of this sauce,  I am certain it can be used with baked chicken, BBQ chicken, salmon fillets, fresh tomatoes and surely celery fans will appreciate it as a delicious alternative to Ranch dressing.  Just be careful not to eat it too much of it as the mayonnaise in it makes the sauce high in calories.  (You can always replace it with plain yogurt or low fat mayo though.)  Enjoy!

 Ingredients:                                                                                                                                                  -1/2 cup Mayonaisse

-1 tbsp Mustard

-1/2 tbsp Red Wine Vinegar

-2 1/2 tbsp Sugar Molasses

 Preparation:  Just mix all ingredients together (serves 4)

Voila!