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My parents raised me on instant potatoes. They didn't know how to make them from scratch since it was a foreign food to them and they didn't know any other way to make them.

I used sauce from a jar... I make my own as often as I can, but sometimes it's just so easy to microwave some sauce and boil up some pasta.

Cream of mushroom soup. Here is the recipe for our family's favorite way to fix pork chops. Brown 4 to 6 pork chops and put in baking dish. Peel 4 to 6 potatoes, cut potatoes in half and layer on top of the pork chops. Go light with the salt and generous with the pepper. Deglaze the pan used to brown the chops with 1 can cream of mushroom soup and 1/2 soup can of water. Pour over chops and potatoes. Bake 1 hour and 15 minutes at 350 degrees. Tender chops, delicious oven roasted potatoes, and great gravy!

This is not a secret ingredient, but my boyfriend dreamed this up and we eat it when we need a quick dinner. A morningstar chik patty with mozz. cheese melted on top with jarred tomato sauce and pasta. Chik Parmesan... it is truly embarrassing.

SPAM. Or similar 'canned pork products'.

I think SPAM gets a bad rap in America (Hawaii is the only exception). In many Asian countries, there's no 'stigma' attached. What makes it so different from other 'processed meat' products that others regularly eat? Anyway...

I use it in sandwiches (sliced thin and sauteed in a little oil/butter, topped with a fried egg) and in soups and fried rice (diced; where I don't want the smokiness of bacon/ham).

And no, I'm not embarrassed (there are too many food snobs already).

Mary Kitchen or Hormel canned corned beef or roast beef hash.

@Suzzanne: well I'm pissing on folks cooking instant mashed potatoes and you made me think - I LOVE pork chops in mushroom soup. Although I always thought it less "trailer trash" when I used 1 can cream of mushroom and 1 can "GOLDEN" mushroom! The Golden always made me feel I was creating something closer to less "trailer trash". Of course I added fresh mushies, onions and garlic... soooo much more refined don't you think... ha.

Don't get me wrong - I'm as trailer as they get - but I can take a piss out of myself...

@cucumberpandan: yes there are too many food snobs. I am most definitely one, who isn't really... cause I have no leg to stand on... I'm a FRAUD! and I was curious.

And to Spam lovers... like instant mash lovers... I don't get it.

Although to be fair, I haven't had instant mash in - well... since I can remember... so maybe it's good... but...

I just realized a few days ago this Navy Bean & Ham Soup that I get from my local deli, which I had once and was weirded out by the "mystery" meat and vowed never to get it again and then of course DID! It must be spam or canned ham - I couldn't eat it AGAIN.

Is Spam canned Ham? I don't even know. But this perticular "meat" in the Navy Bean & Ham Soup was NOT "real" Ham. Must have been Spam. And the texture was just wrong on all levels...

Not to say Spam lovers shouldn't unite.

hahaha.

Oh and @kathyvegas: LARD is awesome in so many ways - is that bad.

My secret to Greek Potatoes is lard. Whenever anyone of my friends ask for the recipe I tell them... LARD. The secret is LARD. They cringe. So, they should given todays health freakouts!

I don't think they make the potatoes but they always request them!

LARD rules. Pastry and Potatoes! Go for it. Any other uses?

b.

I keep a box in the pantry for those times the hubby wants mashed potatoes and we don't have any fresh ones at home. Saves me a trip to the store. I doctor them with some butter, garlic, garlic salt, pepper, and heavy cream. My husband loves any kind of potatoes and is a BIG food critic, and he couldn't tell the difference. It's a great convenience item!

I have to confess I've started using instant potato flakes, PLEASE dont throw stones! For some reason recently, I've had cravings for them, and since it's at least better than nothing, I've indulged. For some reason real potatoes just dont stay down the way the instant do. My biggest shame is that i keep and use campbells golden mushroom soup to make meatloaf. I dont know why, but I cant bring myself to change the recipe since SO loves it beyond belief.

Lard is actually good for you! As opposed to crisco and other hydrogenated oils, it contains no trans fats....and....it actually has compounds in it that are beneficial. Google it and you'll see. So...nothing to be ashamed of when buying Lard!

I'm not sure if my leftover Bacon Grease/lard that I keep in the fridge is as healthy....but....I do save it for a variety of uses.

Instant potatoes: Love Them! But I make them only with whole milk & sour cream, no water. I view instant potatoes the same way as boxed mac & cheese...Is it the same as homemade? NO....but...is it still good for what it is....Yes!

@pthom check me. I did not pull those carb counts out of the air. I had to fix my husband's diet and I got schooled on the dehyrated mashed. I stated the carb count from the actual box, and I will now show you the facts, since my science is in question.

http://www.idahoan.com/products/original-mashed-17-serving.html/
thats the potato buds total carb count for 8 ounces (1/2 cup) 18 g

now the baked potato PLAIN about 4 ounces
http://www.mvproduce.com/spudfacts.html
24-26 g carb if you add anything even fake buttery spread that count goes up. That is a small potato btw.

Try and not knee cap someone here without at least checking the facts.
I did. The water in the product drains a lot of the starch when you remove it. In this case do the homework.

It is a great day in dehydated potato land for potato heads LOL

I love adding bacon fat to canned green beans it just makes them yummy and greasy. I also add it my canned refried beans.

@JerzeeTomato: (I don't mean to stir the waters here, but this chain of comments made me curious so I just had to do the calculations...err, I'm a nerd?) I'm afraid I must actually agree with pthom, it doesn't inherently make sense that the carbohydrate content of a foodstuff would decrease during the process. Of course, I'm no expert on the manufacturing process of instant mashed potatoes, so who knows, maybe some of the starch is leached as a step in the process?

Anyways, let's take a look at the numbers based on the two sources you cited; the basic problem is that the two sites list the nutritional information using differing units of measurement, and the two cannot be compared directly. Thankfully though, the Idahoan site also gives the serving size in grams. w00t! Thus we can calculate:

Real potatoes: 23 g Carbs / 150 g Potato = 0.153 g Carbs / g Potato

Idahoan potatoes: 18 g Carbs / 23 g Potatoes (using the unprepared serving measure; this is equal to the 1/2 cup cooked serving size) = 0.782 g Carbs / g Potato

From this, we can clearly see that the Idahoan potatoes actually have nearly 5 times more carbs per a given serving size than 'real' potatoes....or at least, based on the sources you gave. Since it looks like you also found info somewhere that 4 oz baked potatoes have much more carbs than the Idahoan, I think the only real conclusion we can make is that nutritional information really seems to vary!

(If we do the same calculation for a baked potato, using the info given on the mvproduce site, then it turns out that a baking potato actually has even less carbs per gram potato than a regular potato! That would be:

(23 g Carbs *1.6) / 250 g Baking Potato = 0.1472 g Carbs / g baking potato )

...and oh yes... psst @ag3208: I like shake and bake too! My mum used to make it a lot growing up

This isn't an ingredient that I use but something I eat pretty regularly:
Chipotle burritos the size of puppies

My fried eggs tend to stick in bacon fat! What's my problem?? It doesn't seem to matter how little or how much bacon fat I use. STICK!! I use a gas stove. WTH?? I am dejected.... ; (

COMMENT FAIL!

I heart you abstract duck! Being nerdy and doing the math is nothing to be ashamed of!

i second WSLunch stovetop stuffing is pure comfort straight outta the pot.

@ arm1970... get the pan no hotter than 250-255 degrees F. It quite frankly doesnt matter what kind of pan you use, that is the "Magic" heat setting for eggs. get yourself an infrared thermometer one you can point at your pan and it will tell you the temp. Find out where 250-255 is and off you go!

Lard in refried beans make the best beans. That is one of the reason that refried beans in Mexican restaurants taste so good. I also use it in my masa when I make tamales. Yum!

Potato flakesss.

However, I don't make mashed potatoes with them...I drop blobs of them into a pan and make my version of a potato latke. That's what my mom did when I came home from a friend's and asked for them. Hey, we're italian and she went through a phase! lol :)

oh, and stuffing mix. I don't know why the Pepperidge farm bread is so much better stale and cubed...but it is!

my 'secret' ingredient is dehydrated onions....I use them whenever I want to thicken something & add onion flavor....for instance, making cole slaw....it helps absorb the extra liquid. I also put them in my bbq sauce, meatballs, meatloaf....I find they have a more 'oniony' flavor than fresh sometimes.
I'm a fan of bacon grease & lard too...all things in moderation.
Can't do the instant potatoes though...my dad said even as a kid I refused the potatoes if we went out & they were instant. I can tell by the smell immediately...without even tasting them.