I think it is time for me to get back to posting more frugal dinners for Frugal Fridays. I have been cooking a lot of unexpensive dinners lately, but either the pictures didn’t turn out good, the batteries were dead or I just kept forgetting to take pictures. But now I won’t be able to use the bad pictures excuse. Well, at least the bad lighting excuse. This week I received a new toy I found on eBay. For only 20 some bucks plus shipping costs I got these two very helpful guys:

It is so hard to get good natural light in the winter in this house so I decided to get the extra little help. They really make a difference and the best part is that they were really not that expensive and are very versatile. I really recommend the investment if you are looking for ways to get better food pics. It’s all about lighting!

Anyway, for this edition of Frugal Fridays I made a very simple yet delicious Mexican dish, Flautas de papa or fried potato tacos. It is frugal because all you need for them is corn tortillas, mashed potatoes for the filling, some cheese (grated queso fresco works great), sour cream, shredded lettuce (I added some cabbage, too) and avocado.

The preparation is not at all complicated. First, you have to prepare your mashed potatoes. I boiled some potatoes and garlic cloves togeter with salt. Mashed them, added butter, ground pepper and a little bit of milk. It needs to remain somehow dry.

Before stuffing and rolling the corn tortillas make sure they are warm. If they are cold they will break making it impossible to roll them. I don’t like warming them up in the microwave because the become mushy, but if you do it that way, make sure to wrap them in a kitchen cloth. Once they are warm just stuffed them with the mashed potatoes and fry them. Then top them with the lettuce, grated queso fresco, cream and avocado. That’s it. You’ve got a tasty, frugal dinner.

Remember that Frugal Fridays is all about cooking a dinner for 4 with around $10 US dollars. Right now that the economy is in the verge of collapse we all can use some frugality.

¡Buen provecho!