It's the moment you have all been waiting for! My Thrive mashed potatoes came in the mail yesterday, just in time for me to put it to the test. So, for dinner last night, I made two batches of mashed potatoes: one batch from fresh potatoes with the skins still on, and one batch from Thrive.
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| Left: Fresh Mashed Potatoes; Right: Thrive Mashed Potatoes |
So....how did the Thrive freeze dried mashed potatoes compare to my Gold Standard of fresh mashed potatoes? I would say they came close, but we could all still taste a difference. The texture was good, the flavor was decent, but it didn't taste the same as the fresh mashed potatoes. Part of that could be simply that they were just different potatoes grown in different regions. I put the same ingredients in both potatoes to make it as equal as possible, with butter, cream cheese, whole milk, salt, and seasoning in both batches. If I were to rate the potatoes, I would rate the fresh mashed potatoes a 5, while the Thrive mashed potatoes came close with a rating of a 4.
With that said...I guess you just have to weigh what is the most important thing to you? Flavor, or cooking time? The Thrive potatoes definitely win as far as cooking time goes - I whipped up the pan of potatoes in 10 minutes, and that includes waiting for the water to boil. Fresh mashed potatoes definitely take longer to make - washing and cutting potatoes (I don't bother peeling them), boiling and then mashing them. My conclusion is that there is a place for both in this world and in my house - and it will always just depend on what my needs are that day. If less time in the kitchen is important that day, I'll go ahead and whip up those Thrive mashed potatoes so I can put a meal on in a matter of minutes. And there will always be days when I'm willing to go to the extra time and effort to make mashed potatoes from scratch.
One more thing to note about the Thrive mashed potatoes that I appreciate: there is nothing added to the potatoes. No sodium or weird preservatives, no nothing. What this means to you, is that if you are watching your sodium, you can still have the convenience of instant mashed potatoes without worrying about added sodium. Or if you don't like the taste of weird preservatives, these potatoes are for you!
I know you're all dying to know my recipe. It's not that exact, really. But the most important part is the CREAM CHEESE and BUTTER! Mmmmmm. When I make my mashed potatoes, I just start adding milk, salt, cream cheese and butter, until I am satisfied with it's creamy, buttery goodness. So here's what I did:
Sabrina's Creamy Mashed Potatoes
3 cups Thrive mashed potatoes
6 Tbsp. butter
1 cup milk
2 oz. cream cheese
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. Thrive Chef's Choice seasoning
Directions:
1. Boil water in a sauce pan.
2. Wisk in mashed potato flakes. You can add more flakes if desired, but I felt like this was a good consistency...and it seemed to soak up more moisture the longer it sat.
3. Heat up milk in microwave or on stove until warm, then stir into mashed potatoes.
4. Stir in remaining ingredients until smooth. If you like the butter/cream cheese flavor and want more flavor...by all means, add more!
Once you have tried mashed potatoes with cream cheese along with butter in it...you'll never go back!!
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| I made Swedish Meatballs to go on top of the mashed potatoes, using Thrive Espagnole sauce and Costco meatballs. Yummy! So what kind of mashed potatoes will you be serving this week for your feast? |
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