Frugal Mexican Night

Our most expensive meal of the week is Mexican night, but we have found a few ways to bring the cost down.

-Make homemade salsa

Our official recipe isn’t about precise measurements, it is to taste, and we do have a name brand we won’t sway from, but it is still better, and less expensive than the alternative.

Homemade Salsa {Makes a lot}

• One 28 ounce can Hunt’s Whole Tomatoes
• One white onion
• One jalapeño pepper {more if you have a better stomach than me}
• Garlic cloves {to taste}
• Juice of 1/2 to 1 whole lime {to taste}
• Sea salt & freshly ground pepper {to taste}
• pinch of sugar
• cilantro {we don’t, but some won’t eat it without}

Directions:

I take half the onion {the other half for my fajitas} garlic and jalapeño and blend them up in food processor with seasonings, then I add lime juice and tomatoes. Finally, I add ppinch of sugar and taste, seasoning to taste as needed.

The other big expense for Mexican night is fajitas. We decided to make them homemade, and even invested in a press, only to discover we hated the corn tortillas. I then stumbled upon this recipe on Facebook from my friend Sharra.

Homemade Tortillas {makes 8 tortillas}

• 2 cups of flour (we use unbleached flour; you can use other varieties)
• 1.5 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon of sea salt
• 2 teaspoon of vegetable oil (I use olive)
• ¾ cup of warm water or milk

Directions:
Mix flour, baking powder, salt, and oil in your favorite mixing bowl. Slowly stir in warm milk or water. The liquid should be warm but not hot.
Knead on floured surface for approx two minutes. The dough should be firm and soft. Cover for 20 minutes and let the dough rest. Cook up your other toppings.
Divide the dough into 8 sections after dough rested. Roll out with rolling pin. {We also used a press before rolling further.} You can roll the tortillas thick or thin, depending upon your preference.

Sprinkle a bit of flour for each ball rolled. Pick up the tortilla as you roll it out, flip it over, roll again until it is the size you want for your skillet. I only use cast iron for cooking, on a medium-high-ish setting, 30 seconds or so. Watch them closely, they burn easily.

Warm in oven or foil until finished with all, or serve one at a time like we do, to order.

How do you save money on your favorite dinner? If you have any frugal tips, link up with us!

© 2013, Sam. All rights reserved.