Leftover mashed potatoes

The holidays are over, but did you notice that it's still cold outside???

Garlic mashed potatoes with neufchatel cheese

On New Years Eve, we had pan seared steak, garlic mashed potatoes and broccoli with cheese. Don't worry, it was delicious. However, I found that I had a lot of leftover mashed potatoes, with nothing to accompany it. 

I thought about making llapingachos, an Ecuadorian dish that my friend Paula in NC introduced to me. It's basically a mashed potato patty that is stuffed with cheese, and then fried. Oh sweet merciful mother, I salivate when I think of them, they're THAT good. However, they're a little indulgent, and after eating my mama's cooking for a month, I wanted to make something a little lighter. After a quick google search, I found these recipes, and settled on a mashed potato soup.

Per my usual style, I didn't have all the ingredients called for in the original recipe, and made up my own halfway through. I did my best to take photos of the entire process...Here's what you do:

Chop up some garlic and onions/shallots.

Pop them into a medium pan with a little bit of oil. Once they're soft, plop in the mashed potatoes.

Realize that your pot is too small, and then...

...switch to a bigger pot.

Remember...every single step is extremely important! Do not skip any of the steps! 

In the original recipe, you would have added chicken broth and later cream, but I had a quarter of a jug of skim milk that I needed to use up before the expiration date! So guess what went into the soup instead?

"Skim milk adds creaminess, but is healthier!" I said.

I also had about 2 tbs. of neufchatel cheese leftover, and a third of a block of cheddar leftover from our NYE dinner. So those were also added in once the soup was hot.

Slice up some green onions for garnishing...Oh yeah, most recipes will tell you to fry up some thick cut bacon, and then saute the garlic and onions in the rendered fat. I baked some pre-cooked Oscar Meyer bacon, and crumbled it instead. I'm so clever.*

Potato soup and the Huffington Post...Does this make me a douchebag?

Once all the cheeses have melted, add salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with shredded cheese, green onions, crumbled bacon, sour cream, etc. It's a pretty simple soup, but is a great way to use up leftovers. Really great for a cold day.

What do you do with your leftovers?

*Lazy