Mashed Potatoes

We love mashed potatoes in our house - loads of butter and sometimes sour cream or cream cheese.  Mmmmm.  And I'll have to say... I did something VERY exciting with these mashed potatoes...

OMGoodness - I made a famous bowl, just like KFC, but better (and sans chicken)

Back to the mashed potatoes:

The Store Brand: Betty Crocker Creamy Butter

My Recipe (adapted from from http://www.allrecipes.com/):
Ingredients:
6 medium russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1/2 cup warm milk
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/2 teaspoon salt
Dash pepper

Directions:
- Place potatoes in a saucepan and cover with water.

- Boil for 20-25 minutes or until very tender.
- Drain well (I add the potatoes back to the hot pan to evaporate all the water).

- Add milk (make sure it's warm), butter, salt and pepper; mash until light and fluffy - I used my mixer to get them super creamy.

So great.  I love mashed potatoes.  If I were going to eat them plain, I would mix in some extras, but today they will have PLENTY of pizzaz.

Mike are on the left and Betty Crocker's on the right

Taste test is interesting - I can't lie, Betty Crocker's weren't terrible.  They were a little too salty for me, but they were pretty darn creamy.  There were two options - microwave with all water or stovetop with milk and water, so I went with the latter.  They really were pretty tasty, but I mean the homemade are just better.

And how about the cost? So potatoes are really cheap, which helps out on this recipe.  Even though the Betty Crocker mix is pretty inexpensive, it just can't win.

	Amount	Price	Cost/cup
Betty Crocker	2.25 cups	$     1.25	$          0.56
Homemade	4.5 cups	$     1.55	$          0.34

Bake or Buy?  BAKE!

     And now for the good part.
     Mashed potato bowls:
       3 cups mashed potatoes
       1/2 cup prepared gravy
       1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
       1/2 cup frozen corn
       dash hot sauce

     Once the mashed potatoes are made, the rest is history.  Layer with gravy, corn, and cheddar cheese, then top with liberal amount of Frank's Red Hot.  Amazingness.