The only judgment for this is "wise". The instant mashed, while not something you'd serve at a homemade holiday meal, are actually very good and have a lot of uses. Shepherd's pie is a great example, especially for either a nice smooth or piped surface. You can use the flakes to thicken a soup or sauce, and they make good breading for fish (and probably other things). We always have a few packs on hand.

Thanks! I never thought about using them as breading. The shepherd's pie was interesting as I didn't bother crusting it, but it wasn't supposed to be a feast, more "let's clear out the freezer of some stuff since we have this"... Getting better at rotating foods before they get freezer burn.

Next project... might try to make something like gnocchi (never done it before, going to hide any evidence of failure)... then we'll see. Unfortunately I don't know how they were stored previously (looks like they likely just sat in the box they came in) but I'd keep some on hand in case of a power failure... we've had quite a few brownouts as of late and while I don't expect any blackouts to last long, having a variety of "instant" things I can whip up when hungry always helps. Ramen can only take you so far.

You are trying to make gnocchi or want to cook already made and packaged gnocchi? If the later, the instructions should be on the package...usually just drop into boiling salted water for a few minutes.

Making gnocchi from the instant mashed potatoes. Then I can dress it up a bit... Only realized this afternoon that I have a whack of green onions that I should start using (been chopping them up and tossing them into my freezer only to forget them... So want to add that and see what else I can toss in...

That's an interesting idea. I assume they'd be cooked first? They seem too thin for gnocchi when cooked, but maybe once you add flour or whatever it works out. Let us know how it goes. If it works, you could really get creative, as the flavored instant potatoes are good -- I can imagine the garlic or parmesan would make tasty gnocchi.

He could cut the liquid in half when making the potatoes. Plus if he refrigerates the mashed potatoes before forming into gnocchi they will firm up.

Was going to try it this weekend, but due to a work issue, it'll have to wait... from the videos I've looked at, semi-cooked. You dump one cup of flakes, one cup of very hot water, work it together, then toss in a cup-ish of flour and an egg for binding.... work into a dough and portion it out. Relatively simple enough. I was thinking the green onions only because I have copious amount of them, but I might try your suggestions or mix in some savoury asian sauces I have sitting in my fridge (one of my bad habits is picking up a bottle/jar of sauce to try it and then forgetting to use it up).... or I do have some goat cheese that might work in well with this stuff..

All good tips. If work doesn't kill me first, then I'll try this weekend, if not, it'll have to wait til next weekend... slow moving disaster in progress.

You are going to put the green onions or asian sauces on the gnocchi??

I might just leave everything out except maybe some butter... Less for me to screw up. Trying to architect a security solution for a client that wants it yesterday is not conducive to relaxing and cooking.

I like salsa on pierogies. PoliMex food.

No. That is just plain wrong.

Lol.... worse than queso on pierogies?

Chocolate on potato chips?

Chocolate on potato chips is great. In fact I make chocolate bark at xmas and put crumbled chips and pretzels in it.
And most pierogies are stuffed with cheese anyway so at least that is in the ballpark.

Pierogies with hoisin sauce.

Actually that might taste alright...