What to do with an abundance of potatoes?
4While making my grocery list this week, the Albertson’s app (same chain as Tom Thumb, Safeway, Randalls, Vons, etc) let me know that I could get a 10lb bag of potatoes for free! Woo-hoo! Free food! and a whole 10 lbs of it! So, of course, while grocery shopping I picked up my free 10lb bag of potatoes. The only problem is I’m single and live alone. I’ve already eaten two microwave baked potatoes and roasted a few more to eat later this week (a well as freezing some of the roasted potatoes). But I still have at least seven pounds of potatoes. I’ve been trying to give some potatoes away to friends but there doesn’t seem to be much interest (my dad has this problem when his garden overproduces something. I once came home from a visit with two cucumbers he had stashed in my backpack without me realizing it.) Before I start leaving potatoes randomly in coworkers cubes or tossing them over the fence for my neighbors’ dogs to gnaw on (do dogs like potatoes? My cats are indifferent to them.) does anyone have any suggestions for other simple ways to prepare potatoes for consumption (or anything else to do with them?).
About half of my remaining potatoes - 1oz raisin box for scale…I didn’t have any bananas:
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https://media4.giphy.com/media/4Fvqh5TKRzXP2/giphy.webp?cid=6c09b95256b9d544faa14cbe264b2397ccb8849760d792fa&rid=giphy.webp&ct=g
Baked potato salad. Scalloped potatoes. Potato soup. Hash browns. Chips. Fries.
More creative with your baked potato- I put nearly everything on them. I switch out bread or pasta because I prefer the potato. Taco stuff, ground beef and gravy, salad dressing, I bet those sauce bottles a few days ago would be good.
Now I am hungry
@speediedelivery
Just 2 days ago I bought some loaded potato soup, it ended up being a great base for me to expand on. Sure did sound delicious when I saw it and really would’ve been if it wasn’t mostly broth. It’s the first time I remember ever seeing or hearing about such a thing/soup. YUM!
You can make shepherd’s pie, gnocchi, tater tots, hash browns, breakfast hash, etc. These all freeze well for weeks if not months
@valkyrio Don’t forget twice-baked potatoes.
@mike808 @valkyrio yes! That sounds so awesome right now
MEALS! DEALS! EELS! AWESOME!
If you have a dehydrator, you can grate them, blanch them, then dehydrate hash browns for a later date.
Or, you know….
Boil ‘em, mash ‘em, stick ‘em in a stew.
@oregonoxalis I’ve just gone straight to frying them up as hash browns and freezing portions to nuke for breakfast. It works well as long as you don’t insist upon them being crisp when eaten. For that, partially fry the flattened portions, stack in slabs separated by plastic wrap, and finish by nuking to heat and then frying to make crisp.
And now I find myself wanting to make a big batch of hash browns to freeze. I guess it’s time to get out the Mouli.
@oregonoxalis @werehatrack home fries, yes! Or cut into crinkle fries and freeze – you can toss them with oil and cook from frozen in the air fryer.
@brasscupcakes @oregonoxalis @werehatrack
French fries has been my favorite food since I was a little girl.
Funny story…
My mom always tried to restrict my French fry intake. (she wasn’t going to have a overweight child, but that’s another story!
) She’d ALWAYS correct my order for large fries whenever I was ordering them at a restaurant, replacing it with a small order AND she’d be the first one to grab at least half of them before I even got them in front of me! 
or Mickey D’s. My dream was to order 5 or 6 super sized orders of french fries and devour them ALL BY MYSELF!! Well, after dreaming of that day for many years, it finally came. I ended up at Burger doodles and placed my order, pulled over under the big trees where all the birds hung out and emptied ALL of the fries into one big bag and started stuffing my face. I’m pretty sure I didn’t even share any with the birds, like I’d said, I was dealing with a messed up psyche. So after ALL those years of dreaming about my french fry feast, I must’ve ate the equivalent of 1 small to medium size order before I was on total grease overload and ready to puke! I ended up throwing the entire bag out the window for the birds to enjoy and I NEVER dreamed about french fries again! They’re still my favorite food, I just don’t dream about stuffing my face with them. And I’m ALWAYS the first one to offer mom as many fries as she wants! 
It really did a number on my psyche! I couldn’t wait until I was 16 years old and able to drive myself to Burger King
Cook some scalloped potatoes or similar and freeze them in smaller portions. Heck, you can make mashed potatoes in a giant batch and freeze those for individual servings. Freezer, use your freezer.
make a song about them?
what shall we do with a bunch of potatoes
what shall we do with a bunch of potatoes
what shall we do with a bunch of potatoes
er-lie in the morning
put em in a sack into boiling water
put em in a sack into boiling water
put em in a sack into boiling water
er-lie in the morning
cut em all up and fry them deeply
cut em all up and fry them deeply
cut em all up and fry them deeply
er-lie in the morning
put em in a car pipe n’ watch it stutter
put em in a car pipe n’ watch it stutter
put em in a car pipe n’ watch it stutter
er-lie in the morning
launch em into orbit with a cannon
launch em into orbit with a cannon
launch em into orbit with a cannon
er-lie in the morning
i could do this all day, but you get the idea
@carl669 my dad did the car tailpipe thing once to a car as a teen. I would have launched them in the ship’s cannon if they would have fit. Alas only a frozen hotdog would fit in that one… although the ones on the Susan Constance (Jamestown, VA) a beer can fits perfectly… and shoots pretty far.
@carl669 hey hey and up she frieses!
Regular potato salad is always good, bring into work for everyone to eat.
Too bad it’s not October:
https://meh.com/forum/topics/merry-christmas-2#61cdef7b5295e6001bc6a85f
But maybe you can amuse your cats with them?
https://meh.com/forum/topics/merry-christmas-2#61d2440f5295e6001bcdf37f
(Thanks to @blaineg for both!)
@Kyeh The idea of giving kids a chance to choose a potato on Halloween is pretty awesome. I’ve given out things other than candy or things in addition to candy multiple years and the kids seem to love it (although I still have boatloads of fidget spinners. I bought when they were cheap and then had bad weather so no kids for a few years…then there was this stupid pandemic). I have a theory that the novelty of candy wears off after a few houses and kids just get excited about something new and surprising.
And I have tried to interest my cats in playing with the potatoes. One of them just ignores the potato. The other one looks at me with that “What the heck is this? Why is it on my floor in my house? Please remove it from my sight this instant and lavish me with pets and ear scritches and a few treats to make up for the trauma you have put me through.” look. (She’s a bit of a drama queen, but makes up for it by snuggling in my lap regularly.
POPSOCKETS! SPROCKETS! DAVY CROCKETT! AWESOME!
@gt0163c Yeah, my cat doesn’t react to vegetables either. I tried the cucumber thing and he just sniffed at it and that was it.
Kittens will play with anything, though!
(NOT my cat!)
@gt0163c @Kyeh
How about let thrm grow some eyes and plant them? Then you can grow MORE potatoes
@tinamarie1974 I suppose that’s one way of pushing the problem downstream.
@gt0163c
/giphy giggle
latkes!
Here’s a few recipes to get you going
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipes/973/holidays-and-events/hanukkah/latkes/
Here’s a thought on what to do with potatoes.
Picadillo is good…
https://www.laurainthekitchen.com/recipes/mexican-style-picadillo/
@heartny I am taking some to work tomorrow to pass on to a coworker. Is that kinda the same thing? What if I drop them on her desk from over the cubewall?
@gt0163c That might work, as long as they are in a spiffy carton.
America’s Test Kitchen has the best baked potato recipe. Crispy skin, fluffy inside. Every time.
In the movie Parallel Mothers, which I don’t recommend, Penelope Cruz’s character cooks a potato omelet, which I do recommend. We’d never heard of it, and we made one for our Oscar party. People loved it. Fried onions and potatoes and eggs. Can’t go wrong.
@kostia Egg, potato, and onion breakfast tacos are common here in Texas. The diced spuds & onions go into the very hot, well-greased pan first, fry until the spuds start to brown, then add the eggs and stir well. Season to taste, wrap in a tortilla, optionally with the salsa of choice added.
Peel and cook 2 potato’s…mash…add 1/2 c. Cornstarch…1 cup shredded mozzarella and salt. Stuff into a freezer bag and smash flat. Chill for 1 hour. remove from bag in a slab…slice into sticks the size of mozzarella sticks…then fry these babies up…this is what you get if a potato and a mozz stick had a baby…crispy,crunchy,cheesy,potato goodness…you’re welcome
@sweetjoey Gonna try this in the air fryer!
Boil 'em, mash 'em, stick 'em in a stew.
When life gives you potatoes, mash those fuckers up.
/image potato clock
Make some chowder, some col cannon, some British chips (wedges, boiled then baked), a vichyssoise, one more baked tater stuffed with blue cheese and bacon, throw one at a neighbor, chit one and plant it in your garden, use a box grater and make some epic hash browns. I married an Irish woman, potatoes are a life style. (But seriously, you have lots of options. And apparently the internet… go to youtube and type inPOTATO)
@earlyre
Worth watching, IMO.
Use them for potato printing!
Nice beginning tutorial:
https://linocutboy.com/potato-print-wrapping-paper/
And here’s someone doing some incredibly complex fine art prints this way!
http://iskrafineart.com/marking-time-tracy-simpson-and-the-contemplative-art-of-potato-printing/
When I have extra potatoes, I make a big batch of homefries. They’ll keep in the fridge for about two weeks.
Buy couple sets of these, and leave them with neighborhood kids, along with a potato each. Put the rest of the potatoes handy on the sidewalk, and the issue will take care of itself. (You might want to watch from a spot safe from kids and parents.)
https://www.amazon.com/Potato-Popper-Shooter-Gun-Pack/dp/B077Q1L3PG/ref=pd_bxgy_1/133-6596389-5845423
Rösti.
The national potato dish of Switzerland.
Boil potatoes in their skins until fork tender (25-30 minutes). Refrigerate overnight. Peel/scrape the thin skin from the cold, boiled potatoes with a small paring knife and shred on a grater.
Place the shredded cooked strips in a relatively thin layer in a non-stick fry pan with lots of budda. Fry until well browned and crisp. Plate over the pan. Flip. Fry on the other side. Salt to taste.
Or if you have one, use a Flipwich Non-Stick Grilled Sandwich and Panini Maker (Amazon) Perfect, except you can only make one at a time, but it makes flipping the cakes a breeze.
Delish.
Serve with anything: eggs, sausage, bacon, ham, steak, cheese, sour cream and chives, bratwurst and onion gravy or “Zürigeschnetzeltes,” sliced veal or pork in a cream sauce, salmon – you name it. This is a side so versatile and so simple, no one will pass it up. There is unlikely to be left overs. Hint: make more than you think you will need.
Onions are not usually added as in a potato pancake, but if desired, par cook them, and put them in the middle with potato shreds on either side.
Boiling and refrigeration causes the starch in the potatoes to gelatinize. Refrigeration causes the starch to partially retrograde (viz., recrystallize). This totally makes the potatoes prepared in this way different from hash browns.
Check out Daniel Gritzer’s column at Serious Eats on Rösti or do your own web search.
I don’t know I didn’t think about it, but those things will last for a very long time just in dark storage
Your problem is not an easy one, but don’t despair! You have already been given a lot of useful advice, maybe my recommendations will help you out!
@liahughes @Ignorant @narfcake @ExtraMedium
Very thoughtfully written, but still spam?