Six Amazing Things To Do With Left-Over Mashed Potatoes!

Posted on December 11, 2016 by Sarah

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!

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

Potato Pierogi Pizza devised by Potato Goodness

Homemade Gnocchi devised by The Art of Doing Stuff

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!

Quick & Easy Shepard’s Pie (For the busy family!)

Posted on December 8, 2016 by Sarah

Shepard’s Pie is one of those really yummy dishes that taste really good, but seem like they take a lot of work to make. However, this does not have to be the case!

I’ve now learned that when I’m making a nice home-cooked meal, if I make extra mashed potatoes, then I can use them to quickly whip up a super delicious Shepard’s Pie! This means that I’m actually slightly ahead of the game called “life” since dinner for the next night is already half-prepared!

Perfect for those busy Mom’s or Dad’s on the go, here is my very easy recipe!

All you’ll Need:

– 1.5lbs of Ground Beef
– Salt & Pepper
– 2tbsp of Soya-Sauce
– 1 small, diced Onion
Utopia Kitchen Stainless Steel 6 Piece Knives Set (5 Knives plus and Acrylic Stand)
– 3 cups of mixed frozen Peas, Carrots, Green Beans and Corn (You can use fresh vegetables in place of frozen, if you like. Frozen just seem to be a little bit faster and easier when you don’t have a lot of time!)
– 1 can of Condensed Mushroom Soup
– 3 cups of Mashed Potatoes
– ½ cup of Shredded Cheese (I’ve made this dish using both Cheddar Cheese and Mozzarella Cheese before, and both tasted great!)
– 4oz of Cream Cheese

What to do:

Step One: Using a nice big pan, start out by frying up your ground beef, onions and Soya-Sauce. Once the meat is fully cooked, drain off and dispose of the fat.

Step Two: (You can perform this step while you are waiting for step one to cook!) In a separate bowl, mix the mashed potatoes with the shredded cheese, cream cheese and pepper. Set aside.

Step Three: Add the mixed vegetables and a dash of salt to the pan with the ground beef and onion mixture.

Step Four: Add the condensed mushroom soup to the vegetable and ground beef mixture. Stir and then let it simmer for about 2-5 minutes.

Step Five: Pour the ground beef and vegetable mixture into a medium sized casserole dish, and then layer the potato mixture on top and cover.

Pyrex Easy Grab 8-Piece Glass Bakeware and Food Storage Set

Step Six: Bake in the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 45 minutes, then remove the lid and let the dish bake for another 15 minutes.

Step Seven: Serve and enjoy!

Savory Southern Stew

Posted on January 16, 2016 by Sarah

Savory Southern Stew!

I’m so excited that it finally got a little bit cold here in Southern-Ontario! In order to celebrate, I decided to make my favorite stew and I thought…. why not share it with you! It is seriously the easiest stew to make… All you have to do is lightly saute the beef, and then throw everything into the crock pot to simmer for the day!

What you’ll need:

1 cup of chopped or baby carrots
1 cup of diced potatoes
1 cup of mushrooms
1.5 lbs of cubed beef
2 tbsp of butter or margarine
1 can of condensed tomato soup
1/4 tsp each, of salt, pepper and thyme

Step 1: Lightly saute about 1.5 lbs of cubed beef in a frying pan in butter and pepper.

While sauteing your cubes of beef, this is where you could add in one and a half tablespoons of flour for a thicker stew. I chose to leave the flour out, since I’ve been trying really, really hard to eat super-healthy! If you are looking for a thicker stew, after your meat is sauteed, toss it in the flour until all of the flour has been absorbed… It will later mix in nice with the rest of the contents of your stew, causing it to thicken, but by mixing it in with the meat first, you will prevent the flour from clumping!

Step 2: Add beef, carrots, potatoes, mushrooms, onions, spices, and one can of condensed tomato soup into the crock pot.

For this stew, I chose to use some of my favorite vegetables; carrots, potatoes, mushrooms and onions…. but really, you can use whatever kind of vegetables you like, or even whatever you already have on hand! I also used just a few of my favorite spices to keep it nice and simple, but you can also choose to use your favorite spices too!

Step 3: Let simmer for at least 4 to 6 hours.

I like to let my stew simmer all day long to make it extra savory! But since the meat is pre-sauteed, you really only have to make sure that your vegetables are cooked all of the way through before serving. Remember, that the smaller you chop your vegetables, the quicker they will be ready!

Step 4: Serve and enjoy! 🙂

A nice dinner roll or slice of bread with butter (plus maybe, a glass of wine)…. make the perfect accessories for this meal!

Double-Baked-SMASHED! Potatoes

Posted on August 3, 2015 by Sarah

Double-Baked-SMASHED! Potatoes — Prep Time: 60 minutes, Bake Time 20 min

These Double-Baked-Smashed!-Potatoes are probably my most favorite BBQ/dinner side! Not only are these potatoes super yummy, they are also very simple to make…. Just follow the recipe below for detailed instructions, and enjoy! 🙂

All you’ll need is:

8 Potatoes
1 package of Cream Cheese
1 small Onion, chopped
1/8 cup of Ranch Dressing
1 1/2 cups of Cheddar Cheese, shredded
1 Tbsp. of Margarine or Butter
1/4 cup of Milk or Cream
1/4 Tsp. of crushed Garlic
1/2 package of diced, cooked Bacon or Bacon Bits
Dash of Salt & Pepper
Fresh Chives for garnish

Step One: Wash and slice all of the potatoes in half, the long way. Place all potato halves face down on a baking sheet. Cover the bottom of the baking sheet with 1cm of water, and bake in the oven for 45 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Tip: If you are worried about the potatoes sticking, cover the baking sheet with a light coating of vegetable oil or butter.

Step Two: After potatoes have been baked and cooled to touch, use a spoon to carefully scrape out the potato skins into a large bowl.

Step Three: Add the milk and butter to the potatoes, and mash as you would in order to make “regular” mashed potatoes.

Tip: Reheat the mixture in the microwave to help with mashing.

Step Four: Set aside 1 cup of cheese and 1/2 of the bacon. Mix and mash — (or SMASH!), all of the other ingredients into the bowl, (except for the chives).

Step Five: Spoon the mashed potato mixture back into the potato skins and place them back on to the cookie sheet. Next sprinkle the remaining cheese and bacon on top.

Tip: I like to pre-mix the bacon and cheese in a separate bowl before sprinkling it onto the potatoes. This helps to ensure and even-distribution to each potato!

Step Six: Place the potatoes back into the oven bake for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit, or until the cheese is melted on top.

Step Seven: Sprinkle fresh chives on top, serve with sour cream, and enjoy!