Time to mash some taters

It's definitely been a while. As in over a year and a half. As in my life has totally changed. I still live in Texas, but it might as well be Mexico. I have a baby now. Well, he's not so much a baby any more. He's year old. My husband is deployed. That last part just plain sucks, but he's the reason I'm back to the blog. See, he kept telling me that I really needed to start it back up. I kept meaning to, but life just always got in the way. Honestly, I am surprised that my little piece of the internet is still here! So...here goes.

Mashed potatoes. My husband loves mine. He asks me to make them whenever I make meatloaf, but that's another post for another day. When I make these taters, my sweet husband will eat them right out of the pan. Relax...before you go on about that's unsanitary, it is just us eating them, not the whole neighborhood. These aren't just your plain ole mashed taters. These are fancy! OK, maybe not fancy, but definitely yummy. I don't think you can actually make mashed potatoes fancy.

Ingredients:

Potatoes, scrub the skins good (for the two of us I use about 5-6 potatoes so we can have leftovers)

1/2 stick real butter

1 packet Ranch dressing mix

Milk

Grated cheese

Sour cream

Bacon, cooked and crumbled

Directions:

Peel about half of your potatoes. Leave the skin on the rest of the taters. You want to do this, trust me. Cut the potatoes into chunks, toss in a pan of water and boil until they are soft. If you are lucky like me, you have an awesome pressure cooker, and your potatoes are done in no time flat! Once the potatoes are done, drain and place in a mixing bowl. Now comes the fun part! Add about half a stick of butter, about two handfuls of grated cheese, 1/2 to 1 cup of sour cream, and a few splashes of milk. Then sprinkle in a little of the Ranch dressing mix, because everything goes better with Ranch. I use a hand held mixer to mix 'em up...but you want to leave them a little chunky. Now taste your potatoes and add more of whatever YOU think they need. That's what's so great about this recipe...you add everything to taste. I do promise you, that leaving the skin on some of the potatoes just makes them a little bit better. Sprinkle with crumbled, cooked bacon when serving. Your family will love you for it!