I bought this for two reasons. Firstly, it's cheap. Secondly, I couldn't be bothered with peeling, chopping, boiling and mashing potatoes from scratch. Now I realise all that effort is certainly worth it.

It sounds very simple to make, and it is. You mix some water and milk, boil it, then stir in half the packet of instant mash mix. I like to add a little butter to any mash I do, instant or from scratch, so I popped a little bit in. You could even add cheese if you like.

Once it's all mixed together, the consistency is there, it certainly looks and feels like mashed potato, but there's something not quite right. I can't quite put my finger on it, maybe it's a little too thick, maybe it's a bit off colour, I don't know, perhaps even it's just knowing that it isn't what you'd normally pass off as mashed potato, but there is something nagging at me.

Now, the taste. Even with a bit of butter added, there just wasn't any. As I mentioned before, it feels like mashed potato, and looks like mashed potato, it certainly has the texture of traditional mash when you put it in your mouth, but it just tastes of nothing.

I thought I'd messed up somewhere, so tried again another day, this time adding more butter. But no; it still tasted of nothing. It almost felt as if someone had pulled the plug on my tastebuds.

All in all then, not worth the bother. Especially when you consider that buying a single potato will cost much less than the 45p Sainsbury's charge for a packet of this stuff. Yes; it takes far more effort, but trust me on this, it's worth it.