Living alone and only cooking for one person I tend to be rather lazy I have to admit to that! I tend to eat alot of convenience foods or take aways at the minute and when I do cook well I cook for me and my mate who lives in the flat downstairs.

I live in a flat as does she and sometimes it seems silly as we spend most of the day together than dinner time we both go in our kitchens and cook so sometimes we take it in turns. She makes a great chicken pasta and I do her favourite...bangers and mash and I take it down like meals on wheels lol Yep it really is a case of upstairs downstairs here at the moment believe me! lol

So the other day I was in Sainsbury's with another mate browsing when I decided to grab a few bits and pieces. I got some nice sausages and stumbled across this instant mash. Now usually I would make my own but to be honest I've completely revamped my kitchen and don't wanna make a mess of it so decided to cheat....see if my mate noticed! Just add water and cook sounded quick and easy to me and all so in my trolley it went!

The Packaging:

The bag is white and orange in colour and plastic and not resealable. On the front of it we are told that it is Sainsbury's Basics Instant Mashed potato Mix 'Less White, Still Alright' and that it is suitable for Vegetarians and Vegans and and there is an at a glance nutritional chart shown. On the back of the bag other information given includes ingredients, allergy advice and a full nutritional chart is given along with being told how to make it up, the size is given (which is 250g) and contact details for Sainsbury's are also stated. Its cheap looking and very economy looking packaging is this but informative as it needs to be just a shame the bag can't be resealed.

The Mash Itself:

The product is flakes of off white, well flakes. They are small and thin flakes and all you have to do is mix up some water and milk (the exact measurements are on the bag) and bring it the boil and mix up with the flakes after a few minutes. Its simple to do this and then you have to simply mix it all up till a smooth firm mix and potato looking mixture is apparent and then finally seasoned it and add a knob of butter or whatever to finish it off.

Making it up really is simple and when made up it does look like a smooth, moist mash really. Not too soggy and if mixed well you get no lumps at all.

However what lets this down isn't its appearance but simply the flavour of it. It tastes a bit like potato but with a weird artificial sweet taste and I couldn't detect any seasoning at all. It did taste better when I added my own seasoning to it and a knob of real butter and I can't complain on the lumps not being there as I hate them but although it was moist it really did dry my mouth out terribly as it was being consumed.

I wasn't one bit keen on this and all I can say is that I don't hate it and would eat it if strapped for cash or in a hurry to eat or something it really isn't just something I'd go out of my way to track down and eat again...however my mate loved this and believed I had made it myself (something I didn't correct her on!). Her little one and half year old girl though wasn't fooled and did tip it on her own head and gave me funny looks mind you!

Not horrid but not wonderful either, just easy to make up and looks like mash!

Nutritional Information Per Sixth Of A Pack:

Calories: 169
Fat: 0.5g
Sat Fat: 0.1g
Salt: Trace
Total Sugars: 3.8g

Only available in Sainsbury's stores costing 99p a bag and this should make 3 decent servings.