Fried Potatoes

I was told before I got home tonight that I would be on my own for dinner, and have to find something to feed the boys too. I looked around at the available ingredients and spied the bag of potatoes in the closet. Fried potatoes seems to be a semi-regular stand-by for me since we usually have potatoes around and don't use them fast enough. On top of that the kids actually like my fried potatoes, at least most of the time. The problem is that I never make them the same way twice.

Ingredients:

• Chopped onion, celery and/or garlic - whatever is available.
• oil for the bottom of the skillet.
  
• potatoes, pre-cooked in the microwave, and cubed to about 1 inch or so.
• seasoning - usually includes salt, paprika, pepper, crushed red pepper, (onion or garlic powder if you didn't include those above) and anything else that suits your fancy for the moment.

Heat skillet with oil. Dump the chopped veggies in and lightly brown in the oil. Dump the potatoes in and stir to mix with the veggies. Keep turning potatoes over as you add the seasonings. The paprika gives a nice color and should be evenly distributed. Keep turning until the potatoes are completely cooked.

A friend of ours provided a large container of Pappy's choice seasoning which contains all the seasonings that I've mentioned above and a few more. I use a lot, so the results are a tad salty. This is a good choice if you have it and want more consistent flavoring.

This evening I threw the potatoes in a bowl, added a number of jalapenos from a jar, and dumped half a can of chili over top. Very tasty.