One of the easiest ways to get a lot of unwanted empty calories is through “hidden” oils. You may not be adding oils to your foods or getting them through salad dressings, but oils, like that darn cat, just keep showing up in the foods you love to eat. Like corn tortilla chips. And these obnoxious empty calories encourage weight gain if you’re not careful and/or make it very difficult to lose those undesired pounds.
I have yet to find a brand of baked corn tortilla chips that I really like. Guiltless Gourmet is one brand that carries a decent tasting kind, but is kinda expensive and comes in a small package.
My solution: make your own! Very simple and quick. Corn tortillas are very inexpensive and some places even make theirs fresh the same day you buy it.
One serving of regular corn tortilla chips has on average about 7 grams of fat and 140 calories (usually about 10 chips). I don’t know about you but I don’t only eat 10 chips, it’s more like double that. So you can easily consume several servings of chips and get 14 to 21 grams of fat (empty calories!) just from the chips alone. Home-made chips are about 110 calories per serving and 1.5 grams of fat.
Here’s how I make mine:
Baked Corn Tortilla Chips
makes 4 servings
(8 large chips=1 serving)
It’s really about baking the chips for the perfect amount of time. If you don’t leave it in long enough, you’re going to have chewy chips (bleh!), too long, you’re going to have burnt, rock-hard chips, also not good. But if you cook it just right, and allow about 5 minutes for the chips to cool, you’ll have the desired crunch and taste you’ve been craving. These chips are great with any meal–my kids are excellent “dippers.” They expect chips, which can replace a spoon (or atleast in my house), with nearly every meal, especially with soups. If you want to make tostadas, just skip the step where you cut the tortillas.
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8 corn tortillas
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1/4 c. water
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salt and/or other seasoning
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Preheat oven to 400 F.
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With a cooking brush, brush the tops of the tortillas with water. Don’t overdo it, you don’t want them to be sopping wet.
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Sprinkle the tortillas with a little salt or other seasonings like a mix of herbs and spices.
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Stack the tortillas on top of each other.
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With a pizza cutter, cut the tortillas in quarters or eighths for smaller chips.
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Bake for 5 minutes, then turn the chips over and continue to bake for 5-7 more minutes, or until they are nearly crispy (they will harden more once you allow them to cool.
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