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When making mashed potatoes for dinner, use Carnation milk in them. It makes them delicious and fluffy. They become creamier and richer in flavor. You can use instant or peeled potatoes
By mamacrafter from TN
A small amount of vinegar or lemon juice added to potatoes before draining will make them extra white when mashed.
By mamacrafter from TN
I love canned spuds. As a diabetic, I can have two servings from each one. If you love steamed spuds and keep the real ones, this works great too.
When I put the other half in a baggie, it occurred to me that I didn't need to make a plate or cutting board and a 5 star masher dirty. So, I simply pressed on/pounded on the baggie and "squished" them. Then it was into the skillet and onto the plate. Easy Peasy with no mess.
N-JOY!
A lot of old recipes from the 1940's give an easy way to mash a small amount of potato or any soft fruit or vegetable. "Rub through a sieve" is a typical instruction in old recipes. I didn't know what this meant, so I tried it.
What you get: A soft, lump-free mashed vegetable.
To try it: Bake a potato until soft. Scoop out the insides. Keep the shells intact if you're making stuffed potatoes.
Next, rub the potato through a metal sieve with the back of a large spoon. Scrape the potato off the outside of the sieve with the spoon and drop it in a bowl.
You'll soon have a perfectly smooth mashed potato. Add milk, butter, and salt and heat for mashed potatoes or fill and bake for stuffed potatoes.
It doesn't just work for potatoes. As long as it's soft enough and has no skin it will sieve.
I ended up draining the potatoes in a large strainer and riced them by pushing through the holes with a meat tenderizer. Add your warmed milk or half and half and butter, yum!
I like to stir a tablespoon of seedy Dijon mustard into mashed potatoes, with a little butter and cream.
Dry powdered milk added to soggy mashed potatoes will restore them back to perfection.
Add 1/2 teaspoon baking powder to potatoes and whip them with a hand blender! By ElectricChameleon
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
Tips and ideas for making mashed potatoes. Post your ideas.
Isn't it silly to throw away the potato cooking water that contains so many nutrients, and then add just milk to the potatoes for mashing? A much better idea is to save the potato water & mix it according to the directions on the box with dry milk for mashing. This way, you get the benefits of the potato water & the milk and save some money to boot. Happy mashing.
By joesgirl
Our family loves when I put basil, garlic, and butter in the mashed potatoes.
My grandma made something we called sugar potatoes...nutmeg, sugar, butter, and milk. Still a family favorite.
Add chicken broth and milk to soften and a little butter. I use a hand masher instead of a mixer as I like a few chunks. Salt an Pepper.
Garlic Mashed pototoes: Roast a whole bulb of garlic. Slice end of garlic so it will stand in a pie tin or small baking pan. Drizzle some olive oil over it and bake it in a 400 degree oven for about thirty minutes. Let cool and squeeze the yummy roasted garlic out of the peel. Make potatoes as above.
I add milk to my mashed potatoes, but I use the water that I cook the potatoes to make the gravy. Usually one uses the pan drippings from a beef roast, ham or turkey and adds a little water and thickening, so I just use the potato water. I mix a little cornstarch into a little cold water and stir it in to thicken the gravy. Lots of the nutrients from the potatoes are in the water.
MY GRANDMOTHER ALWAYS PUT THE POTATO WATER IN HER GRAVY. SHE TAUGHT ME THIS TRICK WHEN I WAS A LITTLE GIRL. MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS THINK MY GRAVY IS THE BEST. WE NEVER HAVE ANYONE WITH INDIGESTION PROBLEMS FROM EATING THE GRAVY MADE WITH THE POTATO WATER.
ALSO.....IF I AM NOT MAKING GRAVY BUT HAVING MASHED POTATOES, I ALWAYS SAVE THE POTATO WATER FOR STOCK IN SOUPS AND STEWS.
TUEY
I use the water left from boiling my potatoes to make the very best gravy. After I have fried my chicken or cubed steak, I make a roux(pour off the extra oil from cooking the meat. Keep the browned bit in the pan- this is the flavor. add a couple of tablespoons of flour, salt and pepper.
I add about 1/2 cup of Ranch dressing to my mashed potatoes.
By Annette
Mashed potatoes will be fluffier if you warm (not boil) the milk or cream before adding.
cj
When I make mashed potatoes I boil the potatoes whole with the skin on, then peel (if I don't just mash with peel a la Cracker Barrel) after they're cooked (usually about an hour). Then I add salt, pepper, and a little margerine or butter and mash first, and milk last.
milk,butter and a mixer best mashed potatoes ever
when the potatoes are mashed , I add chez whiz to taste and mix in.
instead of using milk, I use 0%fat Carnation evaporated milk,, saves a lot on calories and gives a great taste with extra calcium no butter needed
Throwing caution and my coronary arteries to the wind(!) a large tablespoon of mayonnaise is nice in potatoes - already mashed with full cream milk and a knob of butter - makes them extra creamy. Here in Australia most mayonnaise has sugar as the main ingredient, yuk! I always choose the ones, (I've only found 2), with eggs as the main ingredient.
Regards
Jo
For left over mashed potatoes I always add a egg, some chopped onion, celery salt, any seasonings you like,mix up and fry tablessoons full in a skillet in a little olive oil. We love potato patties this way.
Mix powdered milk instead of fresh milk when you make mashed potatoes. Not only will you save money, but you'll find your potatoes are firmer and less liquidy.
By Robin
Try using Russet baking potatoes for your mashed potatoes. Delicious!
By Ginny
Try mixing some sour cream into the mashed potatoe mix.. it makes for a great taste!
I boil mashed potatoes with boullion cubes beef or chicken. sometimes when i forget to add a few during boiling i will blend it in during mixing giving the potatoes extra flavor.
TRY USING BUTTERMILK INSTEAD OF REGULAR MILK.
ALSO USE REAL BUTTER INSTEAD OF MARGARINE.
FOR A REAL TREAT USE NEW POTATOES BOILED WITH THE SKINS ON.
YUMMY !!!
I use golden Yukon potatoes with skins on and boil until soft. I drain off the water (but now going to save after reading the other posts). Mash with a pototo masher. Leave some chunks. Put in a few table spoons of butter, milk or cream a small amount, chopped green onions (2 sprigs), 1/4 cup of 4 cheese Mexican shredded by Kraft, dash of salt and a few turns of fresh pepper and I add one dash of garlic powder. I have even added some real bacon bits.
Adding wholegrain mustard at the mashing stage tastes delicious!
I add a couple big pinches of baking powder which makes potatoes fluffy and add half and half and real butter. They are great!
I add a couple big pinches of baking powder which makes potatoes extra fluffy and add half and half and real butter. These are great!
How many pounds of raw potatoes equal 6 cups riced potatoes?
One pound of potatoes equals 2-3 cups mashed or riced.
The rule I have always used is 2 pounds = 7 cups of shredded/grated/riced.
A trick I use to keep them from turning brown/gray when I grate is grate them into ice cold water. Be sure to squeeze all the water out of the grated potatoes before using them. Press them into a metal or plastic sieve to do the drain and squeeze process.
I refrigerated uncooked, but peeled potatoes for a couple of days because I couldn't fit them all in the pan that was cooking up a huge batch of mashed potatoes. When I did cook them up and made mashed potatoes, they tasted pasty instead of like the original. Is there any way to avoid this?
By Carol C.
I never peel potatoes until ready to boil them. They will also get gluey if you let them sit in the water after they're cooked before you mash them.
You should have put them in ice water and left them on the counter. That is the secret to crispy French fries. It will prevent mushy mashed potatoes, too.
How do I increase the shelf life of boiled, peeled, and mashed potatoes by 7 days in ambient temperature? What packaging material should be used?
Kindly advice and suggest.
Regards.
By shabbir from Vashi, Navi Mumbai
I am not sure about cooked and/or mashed but you will need to do 'canning'. Here is a link for how to can peeled and cubed raw potatoes but you might want to check out a few other sites to be sure you understand 'safe canning' or you will risk getting food poisoning if not done and sealed correctly.
www.pickyourown.org/
Hopefully someone else here at ThriftyFun can give you more tips and links on canning potatoes :-)
Oh, and here's another link that will give you a guideline of how long the shelf life is for properly processed home canned foods:
preparedness.families.com/
One other thing to keep in mind is that no cooked food is safe at ambient/room temperature for more than three to four hours. Even leaving out in a closed container for longer than that is risking food poisoning. Please refrigerate or freeze cooked foods, even potatoes, as soon as possible.
Adding some mayonnaise to your mashed potatoes can make them creamy and delicious. This is a page about creamier mashed potatoes with mayo.
This is a page about making mashed potatoes with ranch dressing. A delicious addition to mashed potatoes can be a creamy ranch dressing.
Mashed potatoes can easily be made ahead of time to make meal planning and dinner preparation easier. This page contains make ahead mashed potatoes recipes.
