Boxed Potatoes. Are they really that bad?

[Bess]

Do you use boxed mashed potatoes? Aren't they just dehydrated potatoes? I'm talking about the kind that are just potatoes. Just boxed.

[Tap]

no, no, no (shaking head) :ack2:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I do have a friend who uses them but, I only Loooosly call her a friend because of it :0)

[Remudamom]

They'll do in a pinch if you put in enough milk, butter, sour cream.

[Tap]

Stay away....they are a gateway food!

 

First it will be fake spuds, then fake butter, then.....who knows, you may end up using 'immitation carrot-like flavored' food. :D

[LizzyBee]

I can't eat them. :ack2:

[KS_]

I don't use them because regular potatoes are so inexpensive (most of the time) and taste so much better, and some of the dehydrated ones have sulfites in them, and sulfites don't agree with me . . .

[Veritaserum]

Yes, they are really that bad. :tongue_smilie: Real potatoes aren't expensive and they taste soooo much better.

[magistramom]

Hmmm... Well, I can't be all high and mighty because we eat them:) But if you are a principled person, it's always best to eat close to the natural source. If you really want to know how good your food is, research. I imagine that many boxed and pre-processed foods are made from veggies that have GMOs included, or are hybrids. It's good to also look at what we put in our gardens, as many seeds and seedlings contain GMOs, antibiotics, and are terminator plants (only produce for one season). Try to eat fresh, and try to eat pure (even better than organic). Save the box in your food stores for use in an emergency - it will be easy to "revive" with water.

 

Enjoy dinner:)

[Laurie4b]

I think they are fine. Yes, they are simply dehydrated potatoes. They don't taste exactly like peeled, boiled, and mashed potatoes, but the consistency is the same. I like both flavors. I don't serve them to company, but it is a time-saver for us during the week.

 

It's no different than making orange juice from concentrate, or using dried milk in principle. Just the water is taken out.

[fivetails]

eh... we eat them sometimes....

 

Dh loves them, the kids like them, and I don't mind them - but I bury them in ketchup anyway, so I don't really know what they taste like alone. :lol:

 

'course, we also eat Kraft Dinner and Hamburger Helper too (well, they do - I'm a vegetarian) which have both been treated like the plague on this board before. ;)

[Frontier Mom]

Just don't cook them in your Rival Crockpot.

 

I'm still pouting about this, BTW. I loved that thing.

[KRG]

we're having them tonight... ';)

[TraceyS/FL]

Same here - had them tonight! LOL!!

 

Mainly because i can't buy regular potatoes. They sprout on me in a few days.... drives me crazy!

[mamaof2andtwins]

:ack2: I really, really dislike them.

[Ria]

Oh, ick. You couldn't pay me to eat that, much less to serve it to my family. The one and only time I ever used them was to make a sourdough starter.

 

Ria

[Tammy]

....it would be a crime if I did, LOL!

[MamaT]

I've only had them once, at someone else's house. They were gross to me - I like real potatos.

[gardening momma]

I think they're fine. I do have to add more milk than what the directions say. I've also noticed that some kinds have just dehydrated potatoes, and some have additives.

[Prairie~Phlox]

yuck here. I have a friend that fixes them, my daughter said something to her once when she was at her house about how nasty they were. :tongue_smilie:

[TKDmom]

I remember the first time I had real mashed potatoes. It was at a friend's house on Easter my freshman year of college. I called up my mom to tell her how good they were and asked why she'd never made them. I'd especially liked the little lumps of potato that I came across while I was eating them. Her response? "Your father doesn't like the lumps. Boxed mashed potatoes are smoother." :)

 

Personally, if I'm eating mashed potatoes as a side dish, I prefer real ones. If I'm putting them on top of shepherd's pie or some such thing, I use the flakes--I don't think you can tell the difference with all the other stronger flavors and textures mixed in.

[tajott]

The only thing I use instant mashed potoatoes for is when i make sourdough potato bread.

[Sparkle]

I use the frozen mashed potatoes that you can buy at Trader Joe's, and add butter and sour cream. :blink:

[Jen in PA]

I have always detested them, but have come to appreciate a few new uses for them since having to strictly limit my wheat intake. They can be used in place of bread crumbs in a lot of recipes. But I wouldn't want to eat them as mashed potatoes.

[Kelli in TN]

I keep some in my freezer to add to homemade bread dough. But to actually eat them as a side dish? Nope.

[LibraryLover]

Barabara's brand Mashed Potatoes have no preservatives or artifical ingredients. It's potatoes and citric acid only.

 

I think they are great in pinch, and I have used the flakes to thicken soups.

[Kimberly in IN]

The shame, I probably shouldn't admit this a in public space. It wasn't until my junior year in high school, the required home ec course, that I learned mashed potatoes could be made from scratch. I thought that they had to be made from a box. My mom was/is a box cook. We had to make mashed potatoes from scratch in class, what was the teacher talking about???? Home ec was a difficult class, calculus was nothing in comparison. Mashed potatoes is what I remember most from high school. Grad degrees are nothing, learning about mashed potatoes sticks w/ me.

 

So, I don't think they are that bad.

[Angela in GA]

Personally, I think they're gross. However, my family doesn't mind them. Mashed potatoes don't fit in with my diet plan, so I make them for the fam. That way, I'm not tempted to eat the carbs. :p

[Aubrey]

You mean potatoes actually *grow,* like...on...TREES??? Next thing you're going to tell me, sweet potatoes grow on trees, too. Everybody knows they only come in cans, like all other good vegetables. Except potatoes, of course, which come in a box.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

;) Raised by a box-cook here, too. :lol: Several generations, in fact. The box potatoes on my pantry shelf came from my grm, who recently discovered she was diabetic & brought me all her "food." White pasta, potato flakes, etc. And then she ate the kids' Halloween candy. (I wasn't looking.) :lol:

[Spy Car]

Instant mashed potatoes? In a box? Really???

 

I've never had them. Sounds exotic :D

 

Bill

[katemary63]

I think they are fine. Yes, they are simply dehydrated potatoes. They don't taste exactly like peeled, boiled, and mashed potatoes, but the consistency is the same. I like both flavors. I don't serve them to company, but it is a time-saver for us during the week.

 

It's no different than making orange juice from concentrate, or using dried milk in principle. Just the water is taken out.

:iagree::iagree:

 

We always have both in the house. If my time is crunched, I'll use boxed, if it's not, I'll use real. My family likes both. It's a matter of convenience and I LOVE convenience!! The kind I use says 100% potatoes.

[Rosie_0801]

You guys can buy sweet potato in cans?! I'm already freaked out that you can buy pumpkin in cans.

No way Jose to boxed potato. Do you know what that stuff does to your blood sugar levels? You might as well be eating tim tams; they taste better.

 

Rosie

[Aubrey]

Instant mashed potatoes? In a box? Really???

 

I've never had them. Sounds exotic :D

 

Bill

 

:rofl:

[funschooler5]

I like them. So there. :tongue_smilie:

 

What's so bad about them?

[Alison in KY]

A year ago I would have laughed in the face of boxed mashed potatoes...well, this year I'm not laughing :001_smile:

 

We actually had some last night. Look at your labels, some are just potatoes, some have other stuff of which I can't recall. For quick potatoes to ease your life then go for it. However, do actually follow the directions on these. I usually don't follow directions on recipes, but on boxed mashed potatoes it really helps.

 

Alison

[Blessedfamily]

I use the frozen mashed potatoes that you can buy at Trader Joe's, and add butter and sour cream. :blink:

 

I haven't seen these. I was going to say I sometimes buy the boxed from Trader Joe's. I'll check for these on my next trip.

[Pajama Mama]

I tend to buy real potatoes when they are on sale-buy one get one free. I'll peel and make 10-20 lbs of mashed potatoes on a Saturday. I then freeze most of them in separate freezer bags. When we want mashed potatoes I just take a bag out of the freezer. It's super easy--except for the Saturday that I peel 20 lbs of potatoes.

 

We do occasionally use boxed potatoes though. They are fine in a pinch, I guess. My kids like them. My son told me they were great. They taste just like Denny's:glare:

[Firefly]

Ugh! I like my food to be as little-processed as possible, not Jetson's food. I also don't trust food companies to not put some kind of filler in there to cut corners, no matter what it says on the box.

 

I did have these once at a friend's and thought they were horrible... the consistency was way too smooth and they were tasteless. It was like eating paste. :ack2:

[abbeyej]

You mean potatoes actually *grow,* like...on...TREES??? Next thing you're going to tell me, sweet potatoes grow on trees, too.

 

whispering: (Aubrey? You're joking, right? You know potatoes and sweet potatoes don't grow on trees...)

[Tammyla]

I keep a box for the sour dough feeds and occasional thickening of soups too.

[ereks mom]

And for the record, the BEST instant potatoes are Betty Crocker Potato Buds. I also like Hungry Jack -- the ones my grandmother used. ;)

Edited March 27, 2009 by ereks mom

[ereks mom]

When ER was little (preschool age) he did not like *real* mashed potatoes because he said they had "lumps" in them. Those "lumps" were little pieces of real potato that didn't get smushed up by the mixer or spoon! He preferred instant potatoes, and since they are so much easier, I happily complied. ;)

[BikeBookBread]

I keep a box for bread-baking. I have a delicioso focaccia recipe that calls for mashed potato, and I never seem to have a potato on hand when I need it. I use the "Idahoan" brand, but they may be a west-coast only bread. I have failed to find any, though, without added stuff (which I assume are preservatives...I don't mean added sour cream or milk or anything). I can't find any that are just 100% dehydrated potato and nothing else. Anyone else had luck?

 

PS Think twice before you use Potato Buds in the King Arthur guaranteed 100% whole wheat bread recipe...I had little "potato polka dots" :lol: throughout the bread. Didn't taste wierd, just looked funny!

[Amy loves Bud]

They are really that bad. The taste is very different than real potatoes, and not in a good way.

[Blessedfamily]

My mother never peeled a potato in her life, so I couldn't tell you what the difference is...:tongue_smilie:

[runamuk]

I was raised by a box cook, but got real mashed potatoes every year at Christmas when we visited my grandmother.

 

I used them when I was in my early 20's and learning to cook, but switched over to real potatoes when our second daughter wouldn't eat smooth textured foods. Now my family prefers the real stuff and I can't get away with sneaking box potatoes onto their plates anymore.

[elegantlion]

When ER was little (preschool age) he did not like *real* mashed potatoes because he said they had "lumps" in them. Those "lumps" were little pieces of real potato that didn't get smushed up by the mixer or spoon! He preferred instant potatoes, and since they are so much easier, I happily complied. ;)

 

I can't stand real mashed potatoes, yes, I'm weird. I like the box kind. I hate lumpy food. :D

[elise1mds]

You guys can buy sweet potato in cans?! I'm already freaked out that you can buy pumpkin in cans.

No way Jose to boxed potato. Do you know what that stuff does to your blood sugar levels? You might as well be eating tim tams; they taste better.

 

Rosie

 

 

I am assuming here that you know that pumpkin in the USA is a sweet, not a savory. I couldn't imagine buying butternut and other types of squash in a can, and that's what my MIL still terms 'pumpkin.' And Tim-Tams.... *drool* We just ran out.

 

As for boxed potato, I only use it to make my tuna or salmon rissoles. Other than that, I can't stand them.

 

And they're highly flammable. One of my friends uses them and has set her kitchen on fire twice because she was dumping them in the pot on her flat-top stove and some stray pieces ignited.

 

Just sayin'.

[SquirrellyMama]

We don't use them because it's easy to make real ones but I love, love, love fake taters. I would eat my friends' fake taters in high school because I loved them so much. Gotta love the salt in those puppies!

 

I should add that I would be incredibly sick after eating all those fake potatoes that I would lie across the desks in my next class and just moan. They are thick and coat your insides. But boy do they taste good.

 

Kelly

Edited March 27, 2009 by kwiech

[Bess]

Well, it's funny because my mom only made real mashed potatoes. In fact, I didn't even realize until I was an adult that you could buy them in a box. But I'm thinking lately, wow, how much easier it is to just open a box and dump 'em. I think making them from scratch is truly time consuming. I agree that real taste better, but my question was really are they *that* nutritionally superior to boxed?

[Desert Rat]

I secretly love them! Shhh. Don't tell!