Yummy instant potato find

[Kaylee]

Firtree: Great score & thanks for sharing that deal!

New Challenge:
Up-thread, I posted a successful experiment making Shephard's Pie using mashed potato powder, freeze dried veg, and MRE meat patties.
The patties had a sauce that jazzed it up.
What would you do to jazz up Shephard's Pie made with TVP instead of meat?
I have a #2 can of beef "flavored" TVP that I opened during my engine failure stuck-in-place period, and I'm thinking this would be a great way to use it up.

( TVP == Textured Vegetable Protein, which is supposedly a meat "substitute" but doesn't fool anybody. It's not terrible, and a few years ago I used it in a packaged Velveeta Shephard's Pie "meal kit" (I suspect the Velveeta was the key to making that pretty good).)

 

[Kaylee]

Non-obvious tip:
Mashed potato flakes can be rehydrated with room temperature water.

Did this last time I was in town, when I decided to make sandwiches to use up some items and because it was above 90F in the van (i.e. didn't want to cook).
Took my first bite, and had instant craving for potato chips.
I rarely stock 'em (cuz I'm trying to eat less-badly), and the closest place to buy them has high prices, then I remembered I had an open envelope of potato flakes!
Dumped some in a cup, added water (by eye), stirred, added more water & stirred until it was the right consistency.
Started eating it immediately, totally fine.
Went very well with my salami & cheese sandwiches (DollarTree Genoa Salami - yummy!).

I'm not sure if I had ever done this before (room temp vs hot/warm water), but was certain it would work.
Will definitely do more often when it's hot.


P.S. No Shepherd's Pie tips?!?
Ok, pulled down some recipes, and will probably try one this week.
Still have some MRE Beef Patty retorts in my storage unit, but am deferring that visit for a bit (have been busier than I expected lately).

 

[highdesertranger]

yeah the flakes rehydrate easily. I scored three packaged in 2017 MRE's for 5 bucks at a garage last Saturday. that's less than 2 bucks each. highdesertranger

 

[Kaylee]

Ohhhhh, shiny score HDR! Typical pricing is around $6 to $8 each, plus those will most likely be in excellent condition.

Which meals did you get?
It's ok to post just the menu numbers, if you don't want to open them up.
Here's what will be inside:
https://www.mreinfo.com/mres/mre-menus/mre-menus-2017/

That site is The Best (bar none!) MRE site on the planet.

Your username initials are also one of the kewlest-ever US government Rations:
https://www.mreinfo.com/other-us-rations/current-us-rations/humanitarian-daily-ration/
I still have a few complete "HDR"s meals, and need to rotate them out (they're getting old).
Years ago, I got some great deals during the Drawdown, and had stocked up, but have been slow rotating. The upside is I've been going thru the oldest first, and have been impressed with their longevity.
The Beef Patty I posted upthread was probably about 5 to 7 years old, and was great.

 

[Cammalu]

Aren’t all those powdered and processed foods much more expensive than fresh? You can buy a LOT of potatoes for a few bucks and they sure taste better than that flaky stuff


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[highdesertranger]

I got the Pork Rib, Sloppy Joe, Meat Loaf with Gravy. so that is a number 2, a number 24, and a number 17. around here retail price for MRE's are approaching 9 bucks each. hey I didn't know about those HDR's. I have some of the Training meals I forget what the acronym for those are. they have less calories then regular MRE's. highdesertranger

 

[Kaylee]

TOTM == Tailored Operational Training Meal

Great selection!
The "Pork Rib" is reasonably comparable to a McRib, but without the nice bun. It's also roughly comparable to the "Banquet" brand pork fake rib frozen meal.
Years ago, someone recommended combining it with the "Mexican Macaroni & Cheese" MRE side, and I can confirm that they're superb together.

The "Sloppy Joe" is comparable to the canned variety.

The Meat Loaf was phased out over a decade ago, so that one is almost certainly much older than they claimed. I've never had it, but did a trade with someone who sent me a Canadian one, and it was superb. Came with a packet of dry potato flakes, which was probably my first experience with them. They went together very well.

Don't stress over its age. I recently ate my first 11 year old entree and it was ok. It had definitely degraded in appearance, but tasted fine (though definitely not as good as the same entree had a decade before - that was part of the very first batch I ever bought, and I had intentionally "aged" all the duplicate entrees).

Given their probable age, I strongly recommend eating them sooner, and having backup food item(s) in case some items are "less" palateable.
The FRHs (Flameless Ration Heaters) will almost certainly be duds by now, but they're worth testing.


If you're interested in an HDR (complete or just select items) and/or a "Mexican Macaroni & Cheese" side, and other stuff, if you pay for shipping, I could put together a "flatrate box" care package for you. I'd even throw in samples of that Hoosier Hill sour cream powder and at least two types of freeze dried cheese.
No pressure.
I'm planning to gift/trade some of my stuff, to reduce my storage unit.
Plus, as some may have noticed, I really love turning folks onto shelf stable food. It's such a natural match for dispersed vehicle dwelling!

P.S. Heading out shortly, and won't have internet for about one week.

 

[geogentry]

Aren’t all those powdered and processed foods much more expensive than fresh? You can buy a LOT of potatoes for a few bucks and they sure taste better than that flaky stuff


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Yes, they are more expensive. What you get for the added price is reduced size, reduced weight, and the ability to keep the items for years instead of weeks. As for taste - some of the potatoes are very close in taste to fresh. Depends on the brand. And those nice little packages on store shelves to help people make things like potatoes au gratin or scalloped potatoes all use dehydrated potatoes - selling point convenience. Fresh is always best but not always possible or convenient.

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[Kaylee]

AAR: Shepherd's Pie w/TVP

AAR == After Action Report
TVP == Textured Vegetable Protein

Last week, I did a quick google search for recipes, opened the top three that looked like a good match, and a few days later dug thru them.
It appears there is no Magic Set of Spices/etc that are standard for Shepherd's Pie.

Decided to wing it, and used: garlic powder, Italian seasoning (from DollarTree), and freshly ground black pepper (yeah for the Aldi peppercorn!).
Then had a cool thought: half of a beef ramen flavor packet.

Boiled some water, added roughly a third of a cup of TVP to a bowl, freeze dried green peas & yellow corn (about a 1/4 cup total), all the spices, and enough hot water to cover plus a bit.
Let sit for about half an hour (with dehydrated/freeze-dried stuff, longer is always better).

Coated the inside of a pot with oil, added the mixture, reused the bowl to mix up some potato flakes (made waaaaay too much!), then added a thick layer of that.
Final touch was cheese on top, partly cuz cheese rulz, partly to provide visual proof of internal cooking.
Covered, and cooked on my butane campstove on low for about 5-6 minutes.
The cheese was well melted, and the inside was a great temp.
The pot was easy to clean.

It tasted a lot better and was considerably easier than I expected.
I plan to make it again, soon.

Esthetically & taste wise, it didn't have the nice baked crust you'd get from baking in an oven for half an hour, but I knew that upfront, and the total heating cost on a stove was much more affordable, as well as being insanely easy.

Next week, I should have porn.

 

[66788]

Not as easy but is probably a little cheaper.  Doesn't take long to boil a little water to mix in versus a long boil to cook a potato.  Then you have to mash the potatoes versus just stirring and letting sit a short time.  I like homemade better but I will eat the Idahoans all day and the packages keep a long time versus the somewhat short life of a potato.  They are good especially if you mix in a little butter.

I found a few pouches of these in the far rear of my van cupboard that were 4+ years old.   Tasted just fine!   They might not be the healthiest potato product, but are cheap, convenient, and have a great shelf life.   A trifecta in my book.

 

[Kaylee]

As promised, pie porn...

That's from my second batch (last week).
Made it mostly the same as above (i.e. Shepherd's Pie with TVP, freeze dried peas & corn, potato flakes).
This time I left the TVP & veg & spices to soak in hot water for a full hour, and it was definitely better (juicier).

It's simple, frugal, and doesn't require a refrigerator.

 

[Kaylee]

Last weekend, I found my #2 can of dehydrated carrot dices.
They really punched this up!
I also tried much longer soaks, in the 5-14 hour range, and the results were so tastee-yet-easy, I made it three times last week (twice with TVP, once with an MRE Beefy Patty).
Bonus: the prolonged soaks produced prolonged Aroma Therapy.
I experimented with shorter cooking times, and had good results with as little as two minutes on medium-low.

This is a very easy, very frugal, very tasty meal.