Boiled or steamed mashed cauliflower tastes just like mashed potatoes too. (there is the problem with the smell of the steaming cauliflower, though...)
We lucked out with the dairy allergy and mcdonalds - they put milk in their french fry coating, so he can't have them, and what's the point of going to mcdonalds if you can't eat the fries? or the chicken mcnuggets, which also have milk?
So we happily avoid it.
I had 3 babies in 4.5 years and cut down on my McDonald's intake throughout, to the point where I stopped eating anything there bar an occasional carton of french fries. I eventually came to find the taste of fast food to be rather revolting (took 2-3 years of not really eating it).
THEN I saw the DVD version of Supersize Me. It has a DVD Extra where they did a science experiment. They bought a Filet-o-Fish, a McDonald's hamburger (or a Big Mac or something), a McD's Large Fries, and a burger from the tasty burger place across the road. They put each item in a glass jar, sealed the jars, and then OBSERVED what happened over time. The results were predictable for everything but the french fries....mold, etc. As for the french fries: nothing happened, except that maybe they got a little limpid looking.
After I saw that segment, I never, ever ate McDonald's fries again. And I don't eat most other fast food fries. We like Organic Russet Potato oven chips from Whole Foods. Very tasty.
Val
