Chimichangas, aka leftover Macho Burrito

The only reason I normally make my tortillas from scratch is because I can, and also because what in the hell would I do with a pack of 4 million tortillas?? Is it SO hard to sell tortillas in smaller quantities? I HATE waste. So I make my tortillas in smaller quantities. But lately, I've had neither the time nor the energy to invest in making them from scratch, and I figured I would rather throw away a dollar's worth of unused tortillas than spend an hour in the hot kitchen making them. And that turned out to be a lot of big talk at the store, because then I found myself SADDLED with 8 gigantic burrito sized flour tortillas, and now I am feeling so guilty that I am trying to use them.  The first one, of course, became the macho burrito.  And the second one was a cheese quesadilla. Since I try to keep my gluten intake low, I am not pleased with the dilemma of having to choose between eating gluten or throwing away food. I have to remind myself that the cost is insignificant, and that the universe won't relegate me to an untimely end due to spontaneously combustion for my sin of throwing away 6 flour tortillas.  Just to be safe, though, I thought I should make one more dish from the tortillas. And somehow, that meant pulling out the deep fat fryer. YAY!!!!!

Essentially, the chimichanga is just a fried burrito.  And this one is just the same macho burrito from only a few nights ago, only this time it's fried in 375 degree oil.  I did cut back on the filling a bit, because chimichangas do better with less filling and a tighter roll. And, while I patted myself on my back for my being conservative and non-gluttony, I pulled out more cheese to make a flauta. Hey, I had the fryer going anyhow, I may as well make use of the oil after I used the energy to heat it up, right? RIGHT?!? Okay, so I can't pass up fried food. I TOTALLY admit it.  It's just so... HAPPY.

I DID cut the flauta tortilla in half before I rolled it, because even I can see that a giant cheese filled flauta is ridiculous. And because I wanted to save room the chimichanga. ; )

It''s amazing, really, how much a difference frying makes; the tortilla becomes crisp flaky, and the flavors are deeper and pronounced. I seriously had to leave the kitchen before I started cutting up tortilla for giant chips, which would have turned out to be giant nachos. See? I totally have self control. hahahaha.... ; )