Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Mashed Potato Casserole

Hot dang it is muggy uggy down here along the Gulf Coast. Geez... you'd think it was July already for pete's sake. I was tryin' to get some pics of a few flowers earlier and had to keep wiping the lens and viewfinder between every shot because it kept foggin' up! All I can say is thank the Lord for central air conditioning. How I grew up in a house the same size as this one, with 5 people livin' in it and only one window unit is beyond me. And rain? We got about 2 tablespoons of rain again. I know people north of us are gettin' some bad storms, but we sure could use a good rainstorm down here to give me a break on watering veggie plants, flowers and grass!

For dinner tonight, I had it pretty easy though so guess I can't complain too much. We had one of those frozen dinner entrees that come in the Angel Food Ministries signature {basic} boxes sometimes - this one, charbroiled beef patties with onion gravy. I had some potato flakes in the pantry that I needed to use, so thought that I would prepare a mashed potato casserole to go along with the dinner. Nothing beats mashed potatoes made from raw potatoes but this is one of those side dishes for when you don't feel like dealing with the peelin' and the boilin' but want to take the instant taters up a notch or three. Easy, yummy, and a great side for many main dishes. Choose your topping or heck, combine 'em all if you're feelin' adventurous.

Oh, and should you be lucky enough to have some leftovers, give these Tater Cakes a try!

Mashed Potato Casserole
Posted at http://mynew30.blogspot.com/

1/2 cup of milk
1/2 cup of heavy cream
2 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup of sour cream
Dash or two of garlic powder
Dash or two of onion powder (omit if using onion topping)
8 ounce block of Philadelphia cream cheese, softened to room temperature
2 cups of water
1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt
1/2 stick of Land O'Lakes unsalted butter
3 cups of instant potato flakes

Toppings:

Additional butter, sliced on top of casserole
French fried onion bits (like French's)
Shredded cheese, any kind
Cooked and crumbled bacon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 2-quart casserole with non-stick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, whisk the milk, cream, eggs, sour cream, garlic powder and onion powder together, except omit onion powder if using the onion topping. Add in the softened cream cheese and whisk until smooth; set aside.

Heat the 2 cups of water, salt and butter in the microwave or stovetop to boiling. Stir in the potato flakes and add to the cream cheese mixture, stirring together well. Transfer to the prepared casserole dish.

Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes, or until hot; remove cover, sprinkle top with one or more of the toppings, and return to the oven for about 5 minutes.

Give me a PRINTABLE COPY please!

12 comments:

  1. I'm here from Southern Illinois with 5 days straight worth of rain just for you!

    Taters looks awesome!
    Very comforting.

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  2. I'll send some of our rain your way!

    This mashed potato casserole looks good! My husband could eat mashed potatoes all day long. I'll have to try this one for him.

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  3. Oh how I remember the foggy lens problem. You break a sweat just getting th epaper in the morning!

    Those mashed potatoes are pure D comfort food. They look so savory and decadent!

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  4. How I would love just a bit of that rain y'all! I'm wore slap out just trying to keep stuff watered down here already.

    Ain't that the truth Katherine! I couldn't bear to be out there but a few minutes at a time yesterday. Already. Please Lord no hurricanes this year.

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  5. I'll have to add this one to my recipe collection. Love mashed potatoes with all kinds of stuff thrown in with them!

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  6. My gosh Mary, you could mash up old shoes and add to those ingredients and it would be fabulous! I always think I should buy potato flakes to have around for an emergency but then I think "what would I do with them otherwise?". Now I know!

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  7. Looks good.

    You can definitely have all the rain hitting the east coast this week.

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  8. This sounds so good! Some of the instant mashed potato packets are really quite good. I don't make mashed potatoes very often because dh likes gravy with them and I'm not a big gravy maker, so this casserole would be ideal... no need for gravy!

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  9. What a wonderful side dish. It sounds so easy and so delicious.

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  10. LOL We "add" mositure to our air!!
    Swamp Coolers.
    And we have great tasting instant potatoes here.... Paradise Valley. They're really good.

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  11. Oh this looks fantastic, my family will love it!!

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  12. Oh LOL Nanette! I keep mashed potato flakes around for one of my white bread recipes but with this heat {already} I haven't been baking much bread, though I sure do miss it. Well, at least I'm getting my whole grain bread back in, in the meantime, right?

    I've made them right out of the packet for meals too - no gravy, just a bit of butter on top - you know I have! And believe it or not Hubs LOVES them out of the box. Could care less if they're instant or straight from a raw potato!! He's weird LOL...

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