Freezer Friday: Mashed Potatoes

It is Freezer Friday again and this week all sorts of things have made it into my freezer!  As I start to head into September and October, my focus turns to my craft fairs and less on preparing meals.  So right now I'm working on stockpiling meals and carry-over ingredients to make dinnertime a little easier as I'm pouring candles, packing for craft fairs.

This week I added  three meals worth of Three Bean Chili, ten- 1 cup packets of shredded zucchini to be used for baking this fall and winter. I also made some more sweet-potato baby food as it continues to be a GBaby favorite.  My other freezer stashing started when my friend Jenny popped up on my Facebook wall with this question:



That got me thinking and I sent her in the direction of the Grilled Potatoes as well as steak fries.  I was glad she got me thinking because I had 5 pounds of potatoes sprouting in my bin that I needed to do something with.  Jenny ended up going with the Grilled Potatoes method and put her packet in the oven with some yummy spices she'd picked up at the Farmer's market.  I ended up mashing my potatoes.

When it comes to working with potatoes, I am admittedly lazy.  I hate peeling potatoes so I usually buy red or white potatoes with thin skins that don't have to be peeled to be used and cook well.  So, yesterday, I chopped out the eyes, washed and chopped the potatoes and made a mess of mashed potatoes- also known as batch cooking.  After we had some potatoes with the chili for lunch, I ended up with three quarts of mashed potatoes headed for the freezer for other meals.  Everyone has their own version of mashed potatoes, here's mine:

TM Mashed Potatoes

5 Pounds Red or White Potatoes

1/2 cup Butter or Margarine

2 cups Milk

1-1/2 teaspoons Salt

1 teaspoon Pepper

1.  Wash potatoes and remove any eyes or bad spots (and peel if you so choose).  Chop clean potatoes into 1" cubes.  While washing, bring a half pot of water to a boil that will hold the amount of potatoes you're preparing.

2.  Add potatoes to the boiling water and cook until the are fork tender (break apart when stabbed with a fork).

3.  Drain potatoes and put in bowl to mash (or back into pot).  Add other ingredients.

4. Mash thoroughly with a masher or hand mixer.  I use the MamaMixer for about 4 minutes on a low setting to get them nice and smooth.

Serve up and enjoy or put in containers and freeze them for later.  Click here for a printable version of this recipe.  Have a question or challenge for me?  Find me on Facebook through the links on the top-right side of the page or leave a reply on any of my posts here!