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Ketchup and Battered Fries are a vegetable

by vetch

Mess.large
Makin' Salsa

This thought has been pestering me since yesterday.  Several years ago, the USDA determined that ketchup is a vegetable when it comes to schools' hot lunch programs.   Recently, a federal judge approved new USDA regs classifying batter-coated french fries as a fresh vegetable.    My reaction was, "You've got to be kidding me!"    To me, this epitomizes the death of common sense.  It was all about money and politics.  Nothing to do with our kids' health.

On the other hand, I've always classified in my mind, our homegrown salsa as a condiment, but in re-thinking it,  what goes into our salsa is organic and other than minimal pickling salt and lemon juice, it all comes fresh from our garden.  We  eat it year round and store it next to the canned carrots in the pantry.  Perhaps I don't need to feel so bad about not eating a full 5 servings of veggies every day when I dip into my red, yellow, & green pepper and tomatos salsa.  Hmmmmmmm.  

Tags

USDA, politics, fresh vegetables, canning, home preservation, healthy food.

comments

That sounds awesome! You store it all winter?? So cool. I should definitely make salsa this year with the (hopefully) tomatoes I get. Thanks for the idea... <br/> <br/>PS: frech fries as vegetables?? what?
Sprite
FigTree commented on 04/08/11
We can almost everything from the garden. This is cooked salsa (we cook it in our roaster overnight) and waterbath it by the quarts. It works out that one batch in the roaster equals 7 quarts in the waterbath. However, mason jars are made for canning or freezing, and I have some left over salsa in the freezer. It will keep for a year or longer. Just make sure it's got lots of head room and a loose seal when you freeze it. I laughed when my daughter was browsing my kitchen recently... she seemed to be talking to herself when she said, "You need to make more chili (we can huge batches of canned chili, too) and less of the salsa... I mean, how much salsa can one family eat!" I recently read a note here suggesting that you create a place to share recipes and maybe even tips on what to do with what you raise. This year, I want to try making sauerkraut. I can imagine the mess I'm going to make doing it, so will do a photo journal of the adventure.
Sprite
vetch replied: on 04/08/11

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