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Baked Fritos (regular McDougall plan)

2 cups cornmeal
4 cups boiling water
1 teaspoon salt (optional)
1-2 teaspoons nutritional yeast (not baker's yeast) optional
1 teaspoons chili powder

Preheat oven to 275 degrees.

Put cornmeal in a large bowl. Stir salt into boiling water. Pour boiling water into the cornmeal in the bowl. Mix well. Spread mixture onto a non-stick baking sheet. Place a piece of waxed paper on top of the mixture and then roll it out 1/8" to 1/4 " thick (the thinner the better) using a rolling pin on top of the waxed paper. Sprinkle with nutritional yeast (optional) and chili powder. Bake for 45 minutes until it starts to get firm. Take out of oven and cut into Frito like rectangles (about 1/2 inch by 1 inch). Put back into oven and bake another 45 minutes or until moisture is completely absorbed and Fritos are crisp. Do not let them burn.

These are good with salsa. They really satisfy my need for something crunchy.

These sound good. Cornmeal is going on the grocery list. Thanks.

Is this okay to eat when you first start out? I have cornmeal at home and everything else.
Thanks!

It's not MWL.

I am doing the regular plan, not Maximum Weight Loss. The main difference between the 2 plans is that flour and milled grains are not allowed on MWL.

I will make a note of which plan my recipes are for so that there is no confusion.

I do MWL 6 days a week and regular McDougall on my "splurge" day. That's so I can feed my pasta cravings!

I'm going to try these Fritos and then maybe make them for those times I need to take something to share.

Did you use regular cornmeal or coarse ground polenta style cornmeal?

Yer is this like the stuff I would use for cornbread, or not?

Yes I used regular cornmeal like you use for cornbread.

Gonna give this a shot today, my wife sounded excited when I told her about this recipe. I am sure I will post a pic and let you know how they turned out.

Would love to see a pic, thanks Steve.

The Fritos are currently baking...

Okay they are done! As with cooking many of these recipes for the first time I have learned a few things. First, the ratio of corn meal to water was spot on. Unfortunately I tried to get it all on a single cooking sheet. The problem, not being able to spread the paste like dough to the desired thickness. Both ends of the pan were thin and the middle was a bit thick. I probably should have taken a bit more time to thin the dough/batter out more. Even then, I think going with two batches would have been a better idea.

Since some of the "chips" were a bit thick that increased the cooking time. I used the two sessions of 45 minutes, but many were still not crunchy, so I decided to go with the broil to see how it would work. It worked well enough that is dried out much of the remaining moisture. Some got a bit too cooked, but did have a nice crunch. LOL.

The wife is actually using then now to dip in a homemade salsa. I think I would like a bit more flavoring too. I did use what the recipe called for. You can see how they came out below.

Thanks Steve. I think I might try a half batch later in the week.

This looks wonderful. When I get the gumption I'll try it.

However, an embarrassingly easy one I think I got from this forum is the following:

Corn tortillas that have nothing in them but corn, lime and salt. (I get these at Wal-Mart. They have no preservatives or oil.)

Put one tortilla on either a microwave-proof plate or paper plate. Mist it with a little water, sprinkle a little salt if you want to. Microwave for 1 minute. (It will be a little soft when you take it out.)

Let it sit for a minute for it to crisp up. Break into pieces. Eat your Fritos.

Nettie