Fast Food Leftover Madness

Ever wonder what to do with those fast food leftovers in your fridge? Maybe you ordered more than you really wanted, or the kids didn’t polish off all their fries. If it’s substantial enough to warrant tossing in the fridge, it’s plenty to fix for a meal or side for the next day.

Note that wherever “french fries” are mentioned, this could be regular french fries, seasoned curly fries, waffle fries, or even steak fries. They all work wonderfully in your leftover madness.

FRIED CHICKEN SALAD
Cold fried chicken, de-boned and diced make a wonderful chicken salad for sandwiches or wraps with your favorite ingredients. Mayo, brown mustard, chopped onion and peppers are one variation. Another is mayo, yellow curry and purple seedless grapes served up in a pita half!

FRIED CHICKEN TACOS
Strip that chicken off the bone, toss it with garlic and chili powder in a skillet with a spritz of olive oil, then fill your tacos with chicken, cheese and whatever else you may desire.

HASH-BROWN FRENCH FRIES
Take those cold french fries out of the fridge and dice them. Give a skillet a spritz of olive oil and heat some diced garlic. Toss in those fry bits and treat them like hash-brown potatoes. They will cook up to whatever consistence you desire, from soft to slightly crunchy.

Crack and egg into the middle and serve it sunny side up in a ring of hash-brown fries.

CHILI CHEESE CHICKEN NUGGETS/STRIPS
Got some chicken nuggets or strips left over? Arrange them on a dish and heat in the microwave. Smother them in hot chili and your choice of cheese and enjoy.

Garnish with a bit of sour cream and sliced black olives for some complementary flavors and textures.

CHICKEN ENCHILADAS
De-boned fried chicken makes a great filling for enchiladas. Wrap the chicken and some cheese into tortillas, cover in enchilada sauce, heat and serve with fresh guacamole and sour cream.

HUNTSMAN’S BREAKFAST
Start a skillet with a spritz of olive oil and some diced garlic and onion. Cook until the onion is just beginning to soften. Add in a meat, like diced sausage or chicken strips, and cook until hot. Dice the leftover french fries and add the to the skillet, stir this mixture fairly often to keep it from sticking. Whisk up an appropriate number of eggs for the contents of the skillet, adding your spices of choice. Add this to the skillet and cook until the eggs are done.

You might serve this up on a plate with a few dashes of hot sauce, or in tortillas with cheese as breakfast tacos. Either way, it’s a quick and simple breakfast plan.

MORE DICED DELIGHTS
Diced french fries, and other leftover potatoes, with or without onions also make filling additions to stews, bean pots, and even home-made chili. Diced onion rings are great in chili and in hashbrowns.

We’ve actually bought chicken nuggets from the Golden Arches specifically to take home and smother in chili and cheese for supper. It wasn’t the healthiest meal we have ever enjoyed, but it was so tasty we didn’t mind.

— Ann Cathey

Food Porn 5

I pulled a few photos from an album I started on Facebook a few of years ago. The food photos were, as they have been in this series, culled from stock photography. They were previously marked with where they were taken, in case you find any of them interesting enough to track down and sample.

This trip was taken to Austin, where we discovered some very tasty eateries – and not all in permanent buildings! The food trucks in Austin are not to be taken lightly!

We start with Torchy’s Tacos, move on to the Old School Bar & Grill on 6th street, and end with a food truck snack found on Congress.

— Ann Cathey

Fast Food Tacos with a Sense of Humor

Here I go, yapping about a fast food chain again.

Surprising decor! A flower arrangement on every other table with taco sauce!

There are tons of taco shops and shacks out there, and a lot of them are truly wonderful, tasty creations. Torchy’s Tacos out of Austin, Taco Cabana, and all those food stands in Houston and Conroe are great examples.

 

The latest exterior for Taco Bell.

Then there is Taco Bell. Some locations are snazzier than others. It probably has to do with the clientele, but don’t tell them I said that.

 

 

 

Soft and crunchy tacos, with a side of burrito.

I swear they put something addictive in the meat, like a mineral or vitamin that tons of people are craving and don’t know it. We jokingly call their tacos “crack tacos”. When a craving strikes nothing else will do to quiet it but that we make a Taco Bell run.

 

 

A crunchy taco with sour cream.

Soft taco in mid-munch.

Anyone else out there have this craving?

 

 

 

My traveling companion and I can’t seem to get enough on some trips!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why, yes! Yes, of course!

–Ann Cathey