Loaded Mashed Potatoes

I experience a �food heaven� moment very rarely. It's that moment when the taste in your mouth from the food you're eating is just so amazing, it's almost 'heavenly' and leaves you wanting more. A lot more. And it makes you happy. So happy. Well, these Loaded Mashed Potatoes succeeded in giving me that moment, and hopefully you will experience it too!

This mashed potato recipe is not for carbohydrate avoiders as this is 'loaded' with carbs. Carbohydrates perform numerous roles, including the storage of energy. In food science, the term carbohydrate often means any food that is rich in the complex carbohydrate starch (foods such as cereals, bread, rice, potatoes and pasta) or simple carbohydrates, such as sugar. While carbohydrates are a common source of energy in living organisms, no carbohydrate is an essential nutrient in humans. As humans, we are able to obtain most of our energy through protein and fats. However, many of our beloved foods are full of carbohydrates, this recipe being no exception.

The two ingredients which give this recipe such a wonderfully creamy texture are sour cream and cream cheese. Sour cream is a dairy product created by fermenting regular cream with lactic acid bacteria. The bacterial culture is introduced to sour and thicken the cream. Traditionally produced sour cream usually contains 14 percent milk fat (and may be substituted for a 'fat free' or 'low fat' version which contains less butterfat since it is made from a mixture of cream and milk, rather than just cream). Sour cream is going to take the place of milk for mashing the potatoes. Cream cheese is a soft, mild-tasting fresh cheese also with a high fat content (at least 33% milk fat) and, again, this product may be substituted for a lower fat version. Cream cheese has been produced since as early as 1583 in England and is usually used, in cooking, to thicken sauces and make them creamy. Cream cheese is sometimes used in place of butter.

So, to make this delicious loaded mashed potatoes recipe, along with your sour cream, cream cheese and, of course, potatoes, you're also going to need just a little milk (although you can forgo this ingredient because of the sour cream) as well as a few herbs and spices to make the potato base even tastier, such as garlic salt and parsley flakes (but you can add-in whatever herbs and spiced you prefer in your 'normal' mashed potatoes � I like to use a little bit of Mrs. Dash in mine). You are also going to want shredded cheddar cheese (again, you can use a low-fat version so that there is less fat � and there will be less grease that settles on the top of your dish as well) and cooked and crumbled bacon. Make sure you drain the grease from your bacon by placing it on paper towel and even dabbing it with the paper towel (you don't need any extra fat or grease to make this recipe taste delicious). It is a simple dish but will take a little bit of time since you have to boil the potatoes before you can whip everything together and then bake it for 30 minutes. But trust me, it's well worth the work and the wait!