random thoughts – Day 1,714 – (Monday) – potaytoe, potahtoe

Realizing the forgotten instant potatoes after arriving home from the grocery store on Sunday forced a trip to Family Dollar on Monday. Family Dollar is a frequent destination for random items due to proximity. Located about a half mile from home, I can be there and back before I would even arrive at the closest Market Basket or Hannaford.

There are some annoying characteristics at this specific Family Dollar that I haven’t seen at other locations. It almost always looks like a tornado tore through the place. The most egregious characteristic has to do with shelf tags. If there are any shelf tags, they are incorrect about 95% of the time. There are two price checker kiosks in the store, and I am usually prepared for the trek to one of them to learn the pricing before reaching the register.

In addition to untrustworthy shelf tags, tonight’s shopping was compounded by confusing information on the instant potato packaging. The situation is, I need two cups of instant mashed potatoes for the stuffing recipe (“dressing” for my Southern friends). Yes, I could make homemaade potatoes, but I wold also have to go buy some , so it's quick and easy instant for the win. 

The instant potato packages noted four servings on the small package and eight servings on the large package, but didn’t say how big a serving is. Thimble? Small scoop? The massive mounds most people I know seem to enjoy? The Idahoan folks aren't telling, but I'm guessing it's on the small side.

The package noted that ¼ cup of dry flakes yields 140 grams prepared, so there I was, in the pantry aisle at Family Dollar, doing a Google search on what 140 grams converts to. (The answer is one cup.) Thank goodness I took my phone into the store. Then I studied the ingredients on the packet like I was preparing for a final exam. Oy. The packets of “Homestyle Buttery” instant potatoes had lots of extra sciencey words that did not seem based in nature or actual food. 

Luckily, there was an option in the private label box of potato flakes which are surprisingly mostly just dried potato with fewer lab-type words, and I get to add fresh butter and the milk I also had to buy because I don’t drink the stuff and only ever need it for recipes. 

The 13.3 ounce box box of potato flakes cost less than the four pounce packet of the name brand flakes and is large enough for this week’s project and a month of recipes using potato flakes, which I will be searching for shortly. It’s fun when projects lead to other new and exciting projects, right?