So as we all know, guys in general hate to shop.  This holds true when it comes to grocery shopping.  We simply will not go to the store until there is absolutely nothing edible that can be made and even then, we may try to make it anyways…

This recipe is actually a very good and easy one, I got props on it from the fam when we had it over Christmas.  I just like flashy names for stuff…

So anyways… Like I was saying… we hate to shop which can lead to looking for things to substitute other things when making things…  For instance… these insta mashed potatoes.  They came around when I had a craving for some potatoes (Starch is the bomb!) and well, being a guy who hates to shop, I just so happened to not have any milk on hand… so I thought to my self… "ok… wtf can I do to get some damn starch around here!?"  And after further thought I came to the conclusion that the milk is only used to give the powder that can be called potatoes its/their/them/what ever fluff and creaminess.  So with that in mind and being a guy… I start to think more… it's what little cream is in the milk that does it!  So I look around for a substitute… and what do I find?!  Cream of chicken soup!  That's right folks, Cream of anything can take the place of milk… at least in the context of potatoes.

So on with the recipe….

Over Christmas we applied this recipe to real potatoes but shit if can remember how much was used.

So the recipe on the back of the Hungry Jack Mashed Potatoes ~Naturally Flavored (you know because something in these make them not natural so the natural flavor needs to be added to trick you into thinking they are natural): I like to eat so when I make stuff I make a lot or well… enough for some left overs or enough to fill me up for the day as well… 1 meal a day can do that to ya some times (I just get lazy and/or tied up at work that I forget to eat or just don't have time).  So I go with the 6 servings instructions…

"6 servings = 1 ¾ (cups) water, 3 (Tbsp.) margarine or butter, ¾ (tsp.)(optional) salt, 1 (cups) milk, 2 (cups) flakes."  (now I summarize what they say for cooking it)  Dump everything except the flakes into a pot and brink it to a boil… Remove from heat and add flakes… Beat it hard… like it's the red headed step child you always wanted… and your done.

Here we go… finally to the recipe!

For the most part I use these instructions but put the J twist to it which makes it totally different.

For 6 servings….

1:  Dump the 1 can of cream of chicken soup into the pot… (try to get as much out of the can as possible as this is what makes the recipe).

2:  Using the can that is now as empty as possible fill it all the way up with water.

3:  Stir the water in the can so that you can get more of that oh so good soup stuff out….

4:  Dump the can of water in the pot.

5:  Fill the can up again with water and stir that and then dump it in the pot.

6:  Add 2-3 Tbps of butter or what ever you like to use. (leave Fabio out of this)

7:  Sprinkle some garlic powder in (I duno how much but I like my garlic so its more than you think)

8:  Sprinkle some parsley flakes in

9:  Sprinkle some oregano flakes in

(now at this point when you look into the pot it looks like a mess of something horrible)

10:  Turn the heat up on the stove to what ever, it don't mater, we want to bring this to a boil.

11:  Stir everything together so that its not so nasty looking but it may still leave you questioning what your making.

12:  (optional) I like my salt and well just adding normal salt is bland, so I add a whole cube of chicken bullion to the pot and continue to stir… at this point you may not want to have the heat up too high yet, we want to make sure the cube can fully dissolve first.

13:  When the stuff starts to boil turn the heat down really fast as it will boil over really fast and stink up the place.

14:  give the pot of stuff a few more stirs for good measure.

15:  add the potato flakes

16 whip/beat the contents of the pot together like it's that red headed step child.

One all the lumps are whipped/beat out of the potatoes you are ready to eat it… just let it cool a bit first

You can use other things instead of cream of chicken for this, so far I have tried cream of mushroom (not to bad, but needs a different set of seasoning), cream of shrimp (not bad but you don't taste the shrimp flavor, so still needs some work, am thinking old bay for seasoning, we shall see), cream of celery (have yet to try this one) and cream of what ever the hell you wanna try.

Post comments and any other ideas… Failures… Successes… what ever…

Enjoy,

Jason