Simple Survival Foods - Instant Mashed Potatoes

Most people can tell the difference between real mashed potatoes and the dehydrated potato flakes that come in a box or a bag. But if you can boil water, they are quite simple to prepare and can add a great deal of variety to your meals when properly prepared. You can even enhance the recipe for instant mashed potatoes to make them taste almost as good as the real thing!

Different Uses for Instant Mashed Potatoes

Instant mashed potatoes or potato flakes can be used as a substitute for flour or corn starch as a thickening agent for soups, stews, and gravy. You can even use them to make a potato soup or simply add some to your recipe for potato bread.

Meatloaf which is usually made with bread crumbs, rice, or oatmeal, can also be made with instant mashed potatoes by simply substituting ingredients on a cup for cup basis. This will give you some variety in your meals.

Instant mashed potatoes or potato flakes can also be used to make an excellent substitute batter or coating for different food items when frying fish, chicken or vegetables. Just dip your favorite food item into an egg wash or oil and then coat with some seasoned instant mashed potatoes and fry as you normally would. This works great if you just finished grinding flour for bread and aren’t quite up to the task of grinding a little more.

If the instructions call for 1 cup of milk, replace that with 3/4 cup of sweetened condensed milk and 1/4 cup of chicken broth. Add your butter, salt, pepper or other seasonings you normally use. It will be difficult to distinguish the difference between instant mashed potatoes and the genuine article.

Instant mashed potatoes also have an excellent shelf-life of approximately 18 months when stored in a cool, dry environment. Instant mashed potatoes are a great alternative in an emergency when real potatoes may be unavailable.

Staying above the water line!

Riverwalker