Making tortilla chips

I am always on the lookout for ways to do things more inexpensively. Andy calls this aspect of me "my frugal." There are many things in China that are very inexpensive (most fresh fruit and veggies), but other comfort and familiar things that are "import foods" can be really expensive. Tortillas, cheese, salsa, and pretzels are just a few things that can be twice as expensive as in the U.S.! Some things (like cheese), we buy and really eat a lot less of here than back in the States. And others, I make myself. Taco night means making the tortillas, salsa, and sometimes even the refried beans. A friend recently told me a way to make chips using jiaozi pi (dumpling wrappers). So instead of spending 35-40 Yuan on one bag of tortilla chips that are often stale (this converts to about $5-6), I spent 6 Yuan (less than $1) and made the equivalent of 2-3 bags! At the vegetable market, you can easily find the wrappers. I cut them, brushed a little oil on them, sprinkled salt, baked them. Voile! Tortilla chips! I cannot tell you how excited I am by this find.

This was only 1 of 3 stacks that I bought. Originally, I thought that I might need to roll them out a bit but that proved unnecessary.

A batch ready to go in the oven.

Then finished. They reminded me of baked pita chips. Oh, so yummy!