Both Pillsbury's Hungry Jack brand and Betty Crocker have brought out instant garlic-flavored mashed potatoes. Each product, as far as instants go, is fairly creamy, acceptable in a pinch. They're good sprinkled into soups as a thickener, too.
Kudos for Carnation, which has introduced packets of powder for easy hot cocoa. The enticing brand name is Double Chocolate Meltdown. This is a good instant cocoa mix. It instantly dissolves in boiling water from a tea kettle; it's deep chocolate in color and flavor, with no head of foam or unsightly residue in the empty cup. However, a simple homemade mixture of cocoa, sugar and milk, with a dash of salt and vanilla, still tastes richer.Another bravo is for the maker of Cream of Wheat, Nabisco Inc., which has created Banana Nut Bread Instant Multigrain Hot Cereal. It's a blend of oats, wheat, barley, real banana chips and almond pieces with a texture different from either oatmeal or wheat. Eight single-serving packets have a suggested retail price of $3.29.