Bubby and Bean ::: Living Creatively: Mashed Potatoes and Other Small Victories

Thank you Idahoan® Mashed Potatoes for sponsoring this post. Idahoan® Mashed Potatoes are real potatoes, real easy, delivering homemade taste on demand.

One of the greatest lessons in parenting I've learned over the last five years is that you need to celebrate the small victories, because very little goes as planned. Sometimes a small victory can mean simply getting the kids dressed and out the door in time for school, even if they're wearing mismatched clothes and have knots in their hair. When my kids go right to sleep with limited fussing or fighting (key word being 'limited' rather than 'no') that's a small victory. Sometimes a small victory can mean watching my kids stop in the middle of a major sibling fight and hug each other. Other times it just means getting to go to the bathroom by myself.

When it comes to small victories though, I don't know if it applies anywhere in my life with little ones quite as much as it does to meals. When I was pregnant with my daughter, I was absolutely certain she would only consume the uber health conscious foods I provided her, and that she would eat exactly what we were eating, just in smaller portions. (I was a phenomenal parent before I became one.) Well, that did not work out. Then I had a son who actually loved eating what we did, enjoyed trying new foods, and preferred fruits and vegetables to sweets. Unfortunately, that only lasted until about year two, and then he followed in his sister's footsteps. Not only do my kids almost always want to eat different foods than we do, they also want to eat different foods than each other. So when we find a food that we all love, it kind of feels like a miracle.

There are only a few foods that every single person in our house loves to eat: black bean tacos, cheese pizza, smoothies, Thai food, apples, and mashed potatoes. For me, mashed potatoes is probably the winner of all of these, because it can be served along so many other dishes and therefore made multiple times per week. There is a slight problem with mashed potatoes though - they take a lot of time to make, and time isn't something we have before weeknight dinners. This is why I was so stoked to discover Idahoan® Mashed Potatoes. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that Idahoan Mashed Potatoes are not just a small victory, they're a huge one.

Idahoan Mashed Potatoes are made from 100% real Idaho® potatoes, so they have incredible taste and texture. They even earned the title of "America’s Favorite Mashed Potatoes," which was well deserved if you ask me. But here's the best part - they are ready in just minutes. I mean like prepared and on the table in less than ten minutes from start to finish. So whether I'm serving a perfectly prepped, elaborate meal (which let's face it, maybe happens once every other month) or whipping up something simple in just a few minutes, it's easy to make Idahoan Mashed Potatoes a part of it. Even when my kids complain about the rest of the meal, I know they'll love and happily eat them. And obviously, my husband and I will too. (I like eating them alone for lunch or a snack too. Mashed potatoes forever!)

Having kids is admittedly much different than I envisioned before I became a parent. It's awesome and wonderful in ways I could not possibly have imagined, and I am incredibly grateful for every single part of it. It's also hard. Really hard. It's exhausting and dirty and sometimes feels a little soul sucking if we're being honest here. But that is part of what makes it great, because it allows us to so deeply appreciate those small victories. And whether it's getting a toddler to take liquid medication without barfing, realizing your older child's barely worn soccer shoes fit your younger kid, or discovering a food that everyone in the family loves that can also be be made quickly and easily, a small victory is reason to celebrate.

If you're looking for a super convenient way to serve up a small victory in your house via the best mashed potatoes you've ever had, go grab yourself a bag of Idahoan Mashed Potatoes. We love the Buttery Golden Selects (so rich and tasty), but they're also are available in Buttery Homestyle®, Butter and Herb, Bacon & Cheddar Chipotle, Roasted Garlic, and Four Cheese. Yum!

Have you had any small victories in your house lately?