Give Leftover Mashed Potatoes New Life

I love mashed potatoes. Generally speaking, when I go to a restaurant, a big part of my entree choice depends on whether or not mashed potatoes are involved. Sometimes, I even request them as a substitute for whatever inferior selection they've already made for me (I know chefs love that!). And when I order my favorite dish of all, eggplant Parmesean, at a place that has mashed potatoes, I ask for them instead of spaghetti, with the marinara. Mmmmm. Don't knock it til you try it.

Anyway, that being said, sometimes it will come to pass that, in my zeal for ensuring we have enough mashed potatoes with certain meals, I'll over prepare these fluffy, delightful treats. Throwing them away would be out of the question, though sometimes that has come to pass, I'm ashamed to say. But in the past week, I've made two delightful dishes with leftover mashed potatoes that turns them into a whole new meal.

While I'd heard of making potato soup out of left over mashed potatoes, I just tried it for the first time. It turned out really good. I didn't use mushrooms (Rick doesn't like 'em), and I used dried chives instead of scallions, and I substituted regular old one percent milk for the half-and-half.

Today, I made Mashed Potato Quesadillas from a recipe I just got in an allrecipes newsletter. Yummy! Again, I didn't have green onions, so I just used dried chives. And I didn't measure anything - just guessed at what I'd need to make enough for one (2 slices of bacon, etc.). Enjoyed this delicacy with salsa and sour cream on the side - tasty!

So next time you have leftover mashed potatoes, give them new life with one of these recipes.