I've been doing this program on and off for 13 years and I never counted potatos as part of my daily fruit/vegetable allowment. Should I?? I have a hard time fitting veggies in.
A potato is a veggie (at least that is what they told me in elementary school ). Just a starchy... hence the points... but it is still a veggie. Ever slice them up thin and put them on a grill (like the Foreman grill) with a little spray butter, salt and pepper? Yummy
Jules- sounds good to me- I may have to try that this weekend.
I have to share a story about my mom and potatos. You have to understand I come from an Irish family- she grew up on a potato farm even. Years ago when she was raising my older brothers and sisters the goverment came up with the 4 food group stuff and the recomendation of 2 vegetables with lunch and dinner. She said she couldn' t figure out how see was going to fit anymore on the plate- she always had some sort of meat, potatos, and a vegetable- there just was not room for another vegetable- the potatos get in the way. You also have to understand she was very involved in 4-H at the time too so she had to learn this stuff to teach it to the kids so she knew she really had to come up with some sort of ideas on how to fix balenced meals. Took her a long time to realize that potatos ARE VEGETABLES and not in their own little food group-lol. Felicia's post reminded me of that- I had a good laugh thinking about my mom trying to figure out what to do again- I will have to read her the post when I talk to her later today- I am sure she will get a kick out of it too.
Another one a lot of people forget to count is salsa- I think either 1/4 or 1/2 cup counts as a serving of vegetables with all the good stuff it has in it- especially if you can get homemade salsa~ yummmy!
I have a really dumb question. Can you buy potatoes by the potato or do you have to buy the 5lb bag? I looked in my supermarket the other day and only saw the big bags. Since its only me and my 5 y/o the potatoes will probably go bad before we eat all of them. Or would they? How long do they usually last? I hate to sound so naive to these things but I grew up in a big family and a bag of potaoes was gone in a day!
Luckyred, I've always been told that no question is a dumb questions. In the large supermarkets where I live you have your choice of buying potatoes in a 5# or 10# bag but also loose. I too chose to buy a few at a time as they need a dry cool place to store them. Other wise they can spoil. My mother in Mass. has a storage room in her cellar and can keep things like potatoes very well. In S. Ca. we don't have cellars, just garages that are catch alls. I've read you can store potatoes in the refrigerator and I've also read you should not store potatoes in the refrigerator as they turn to sugar. Who knows which is correct. Don't forget you can buy frozen potatoes for hash browns, the shredded kind that you just add water, French frys that you bake in the oven and Tater Tots that you bake also Check the labels for calories and fat. You can also bake your own cut up potatoes for french fries. I'm sure your toddler would like those even if they weren't from Mc D's.
). Just a starchy... hence the points... but it is still a veggie. Ever slice them up thin and put them on a grill (like the Foreman grill) with a little spray butter, salt and pepper? Yummy 
