UPDATED 1/5/2019
I got an air fryer for Christmas! I have several friends who swear by them and say they are amazing. So tonight, I started slow….making french fries, which seems to be one of the foods that the air fryer does so amazingly. After inquiring on Facebook, I found out that most of my friends use frozen fries in their air fryers. That’s fine, but I want FIVE GUYS fries, not McDonald’s!!! I want fries from fresh, raw potatoes!! After inquiring some more on Facebook, I found out that it was possible to use raw fries.
The recipe in the mini-cookbook included with the fryer says to first “blanch the potatoes until tender.” WHAT? I microwaved them instead for a few minutes, but when I peeled and cut them it turned into a bowl of mashed potatoes! So I started over with raw, fresh cut potatoes.
I realized that raw spuds would take longer than “blanched”, so rather than expecting my fries to be done in 18 minutes at 400 degrees as the recipe said, I figured it would take longer. I had no idea how much longer…and still don’t, because I had to keep increasing the time. Frankly, it seemed like it would be quicker to simply bake the fries in a standard oven. I’ve made fries that way, too, and they were just as good as these. Plus, you have to stop the air fryer and shake the basket every few minutes. I did it five times over 30(?) minutes. I had to watch over a batch of fries which kind of took away all the convenience….which is one reason I got the fryer!
The other reason I got the fryer was to reduce calories. It only takes a tablespoon of olive oil to prepare these fries. That’s awesome. But you can do the same thing in a convention oven…even a toaster oven.
FINAL GRADES:
Ease of use: C – Having to stop the fryer every few minutes to shake the fries is more difficult than baking in a standard oven or deep frying.
Final product: B+ – Deep fried fries are still better. I realize I saved a lot of calories, but standard oven baked fries are just as good and just as quick and only require one turning, rather than several shakes.
Cleanup: A – Very quick cleanup. Cleaner than baked fries and way cleaner than fried.
Overall assessments: Upgraded to B+ – as a fries cooker. We have cooked two more batches of fries and have improved our game. Cutting the potato thinner helped a lot. STILL INCOMPLETE – as a cooking tool. We tried Cornish Hen and it turned out very good, although we had to halve the bird and it still took 30 minutes.
WalMart coleslaw and Amish potato salad. This is a staple of my diet. I have made special trips to WalMart to get both so I have my fix before they run out. And they WILL run out, usually before 4pm. 
Take a half day off of work if you have to. It is worth it. Note: You MUST buy the slaw and salad that they scoop into the containers. DO NOT get the pre-packaged stuff. It is NOT the same!
UPDATE 7/19/2018: WalMart quit making slaw in the store! Nooooooo!!
Spicy Black Bean Burgers are the best, but the Grillers are good and 
Papa John’s
ut I always come back, even though every time I see “Papa John” on TV I wish I could punch him in the face. I think if he nicked himself shaving his whole face would peel off due to so many facelifts. Okay, that’s mean…..buy his pizza, it’s good.
My chili recipe. This is one of the dishes I survived on in college. It’s much better than Ramen noodles. This is simple and takes about 3 minutes to make…that includes microwave time. Here it is:
If you’re too lazy to make the burrito or chili recipe (man, that’s real lazy), you can always grab one of my favorites, 
Jif peanut butter. I know it is more expensive than Skippy or Peter Pan. Twice as much as Great Value or Food Lion brand, but it is worth it. Choosy 
mothers choose Jif and I’m a choosy mutha when it comes to peanut butter. If I was a contestant on Naked and Afraid, a jar of Jif would be my survival item.
Nabs. The square meal. These can ONLY be Lance brand. Keebler uses lard in their version of nabs, or at least I heard they did 30 years ago. Regardless, Lance brand blows every other cracker away. Don’t bother with the Nip Chees or Nekots or Toastys. There is only one Nab, aka Toast Chees.
8. Beer. A good source of grains (hops, rice, malt). I prefer Miller High Life just because I like the old commercials and I hate craft beers. Keep the coriander, pumpkin, sugar and spice, and other foreign objects out of my beer! Be aware that English beers like Fosters are not vegetarian (yes, Fosters is made in the UK, not Australia). Apparently they contain traces of gelatin which is made from animal products. You know what…if you want a Fosters or a Guinness, have one. I won’t tell.