Homemade Fritos and Cheez Whiz

Homemade Fritos and cheez whiz

If you're like me, you LOVE snack food...problem is, most chips and things like that have skyrocketed in price in this new, wonderful economy. We're all looking for ways to pinch a dollar here and there, and here is one way to do so in your snacking....do it homemade!

I love Fritos. Love them. A lot. But I'm not about to pay $3 and up for a bag when I can make them better and cheaper at home. And you can't eat Fritos without Cheez Whiz, but again, $3 or more for a jar is ridiculous, so I'll show you how to make that too.

Let's start with the Fritos.

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup boiling water
1 teaspoon olive oil

First of all, preheat the oven to 450F degrees.
Combine the cornmeal and salt in a mixing bowl. Pour in boiling water and stir, add olive oil, and stir until well blended.
Drop mixture by heaping teaspoonfuls onto a well-greased baking sheet and press each one with the bottom of a glass. Now a little trick I've learned is to use wax paper for this. Lay some on a baking sheet, drop a heaping tsp full and lay another sheet on top. Then press it with the glass....it doesn't have to be totally flat, but pretty close.

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Makes approximately 3 dozen chips.

While they cool, it's time to make the Cheez Whiz.
Store bought Cheez Whiz is full of preservatives and other nasty crap like that....We're gonna make it all natural, and it's gonna taste a lot better. You're gonna need a double boiler for this. If you don't have one, that's ok...you can make one. Take a large pot and fill it about a quarter of the way full. (This may take some trial and error to get it right) Then put a smaller pot inside it and put the cheese in that one. The top of the smaller pot should be level with the larger one. Be careful, if you add too much water, it'll boil over past the small pot. If you put too little, the cheese won't melt properly. Like I said, it'll take some practice, or just go to one of those specialty kitchen stores and get a double boiler...I'm pretty sure you can even get one at a cheaper dept store. Either way, the concept is the same. You're using the indirect heat from the boiling water to melt the cheese. This way, it melts more evenly, and it doesn't stick as bad, if at all, to the pot. Anyway, let's make some cheez whiz.

Ingredients:
1 pound cheddar cheese, cubed
2 cups evaporated milk
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
2 beaten eggs


Directions:

Melt the cheese in your double boiler. When melted, add evaporated milk, salt and mustard. (Any time you make a yellow cheese sauce, you will use dry mustard. It's readily available at most, if not all grocery stores. It helps with the flavor and gives the cheese a color without using artificial colors....which suck. Remove from heat and stir in eggs. Return to double boiler and stir and cook until eggs thicken slightly. Remove from heat.

Pour into a dish and cool slowly. Stir as it cools to prevent a crust from forming. (Cover with plastic wrap.) Put in jars, cover and store in refrigerator. If you're like me, you have several jars of sauces you've bought in the past, and some of them might even be Cheez Whiz jars....perfect size. Just be sure to refrigerate it and it'll keep for a couple of weeks...(unless you eat it all the first day, lol)

Enjoy!!
Greg