Over | TheProjectPile.com

Doesn’t almost every traditional family dinner end up serving one of the most classic dishes, mashed potatoes, for almost every holiday?! I mean, think about it… you have Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter and more! And if you are anything like my family and I, you always make extra because you don’t want anyone to end up hungry, and also, because you just never know who might end up stopping by!

We always end up with a LOT of left-over mashed potatoes. And yes, you can heat them up with left-over gravy for lunch or supper the next day and they still taste fantastic… but, boring! Total yawn!

Umm… One of my most favorite things to do is to actually make a mashed potato poutine! Mmm…. So good! Just throw a little cheese and gravy on your mashed potatoes, and you are good to go! And yes – Somebody always rolls their eyes at me when I do this! Although this is like the best idea ever, there are actually, so many more things that you can do with left-over mashed potatoes!

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Since my family doesn’t share the same feelings as I do for mashed potato poutines, I decided to compile this list of six amazing things to do with left-over mashed potatoes! I found these recipes on Pinterest, and let me tell you… they are amazing and definitely not even close to being boring!

Mashed Potato Puffs devised by The Cooking Jar

Mashed Potato Soup devised by The Yummy Life

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Potato Pierogi Pizza devised by Potato Goodness

Homemade Gnocchi devised by The Art of Doing Stuff

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Cheesy Leftover Mashed Potato Pancakes devised by Just A Taste

Shepard’s Pie devised by The Project Pile (This one is my very own recipe… It’s really easy to prepare and you can use fresh veggies if you like, or frozen work great too! It’s perfect for busy mom’s or dad’s on the go!)

Hey! Did you know that you can actually make mashed potatoes in your crock pot?! The Creek Line House has really easy-to-follow instructions, and you can get them right, here!

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If you caught last week’s post, you’ll remember that I was super-excited, because I finally tried Chalk Paint! And you know what…. I’m still super-excited about it! Woo-hoo!!!

So, without any further a due, I now present to you, my beautiful Hutch Make-Over!

I love, love, love this piece! I always have…. growing up as a little girl in my parents 180+ year old farm house, it was always a main feature piece in their beautiful dining room. As my parent’s decor-taste changed, as people’s often does, this gorgeous piece was moved out into the barn for storage, where it has probably sat for roughly ten years.

I was so excited to bring this hutch home and start working on it! Needless to say, it was in a little bit of rough shape…. I reinforced the piece using staples and finishing nails, and used wood filler to fill in any cracks. I then started sanding. One front foot was missing a piece, so to make them match, I took my trusty old hammer and tapped off the identical piece on the other front foot. I then sanded them down to round out the edges and make them match. This turned out to be such an easy solution to my major dilemma!

I then sanded down the top of the hutch, and the two front legs. The reason for doing this comes from that age old question — “To paint, or not to paint?”…. So I always try to compromise with myself and do a little of both! 😉

Since I was going to use chalk paint to paint the rest of my hutch, all that I needed to do was sand down any of the previous finish that was flaking. I then chalk painted the body of the hutch. It only took two coats with this amazing chalk paint! If you like, check out some of the reasons of why I decided to use chalk paint, and why I completely love chalk paint!

To finish the top and front legs of the hutch, I decided to use the dark wax that can be used to create a different finish with the chalk paint. I would normally use a stain here, but wanted to try this out instead. And the result? Amazing! I completely love how it turned out!

Ok, and here is the finished product! LOVE IT!