Super Snacks: Faux-Ritos

Our Superbowl traditions are probably our least healthy of the year.  To begin, it's one of the very few times we order pizza to be delivered to the house.

Secondly, Thatboy uses it as a time to indulge in soda and Doritos.  We really don't keep junkfood in the house.  Our freezer is completely devoid of ice cream.  There are no chips and cookies in the pantry.  And the only drink in our fridge is milk.

But for the Superbowl?  Well, it's an easy concession to make when it occurs once a year.   The only problem is Thatbaby is much more aware this year than last year.  And he wants whatever we have.  And while I am more than willing to make a concession for Thatboy, I don't think my young son needs Doritos and soda, even once a year.

So I got it into my head to try and make my own Doritos - so I could control the ingredients.  It sounded easy enough, all I had to do was make tortilla chips and coat them with a cheese powder.  I just had to figure out how to make cheese powder from real cheddar cheese.

Luckily someone responded to my query on a message board and pointed me in the right direction.

1. Preheat your oven to 200.  Spread about 2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese on a cookie sheet.  Bake for 1 hour, then blot with a paper towel and bake for another 2 hours.

2.   When it's done you'll have a nice, hard, cheese crisp

3. Break up the cheese crisp and pulverize it to a powder in your food processor or coffee grinder.

4. Raise the heat of the oven to 350.  Cut up some corn tortillas into eighths.  Place them on a baking sheet and spray with cooking spray. (If you're not serving these to your toddler, sprinkle with salt) Bake for 10-15 minutes.

5. Remove the chips from the oven and place in a brown paper bag with the cheese powder.  Shake to evenly coat the chips.  (You can also add some other spices like chili powder, cumin, whatever you'd like!)

So Thatboy had his Doritos and rootbeer, and Thatbaby had some coconut water and Faux-ritos.

And the verdict?

Well, to be honest, most of the chips were dumped on the couch or fed to Thatdog, but at least he showed no interest in the Doritos!