Portulaca oleracea is edible, but I don't recommend sampling Portulaca grandiflora (and kin) , unless and until you find out it's edible. Portulaca oleracea is one of the richest source of non-fish EPA Essential Fatty acids (Omega 3's) on earth. The entire plant is edible and can be eaten raw, cooked or pickled and has a mild acid taste & a fatty/mucilaginous quality. Some resources note that the leaves and flowers of Portulaca grandiflora (Moss Rose) contain oxalates and are known to cause acute oxalate poisoning. Here is a link that might be useful: Portulaca oleracea

noinwi, thanks. I couldn't sleep Saturday night. I did feel little feet walking across the bed as well as hearing the sweet sounds of kitty talk when the house was quite. I don't know if I believe in visits by those who have passed, but my mind was certainly on Peter. gssh, I am so sorry about your cat as well as the heartbreak and pain you went through. Yes, our time was precious, I hope yours was, too. Sally, thank you. I appreciate every word of advice, and I tried just about everything. I must say the chicken wings and sauteed liver were mouthwatering to my dog, lol. Judy

Jimster, now you've stepped over the line. Remember, I'm Native American, but the other part is Irish. Let's have a bit of respect for my humble potato! Potatoes are not the cause of obesity, it's the stuff you put on them, the gravy, the sour cream, the butter. An average potato has 45% of the daily value for vitamin C, 620 mg potassium, comparable to bananas, spinach and broccoli, trace amounts of thiamin, riboflavin, folate, magnesium, phosphorous, iron and zinc and all for only 110 calories and no fat. And potatoes with the skin on are an excellent source of fiber. In fact, with 2 grams of fiber per serving, a potato equals or exceeds that of many "whole" grain products-whole grain bread, whole wheat pasta and many cereals. Can you tell I love potatoes? (grin) Elery's potato soup is much like Teresa's, with no milk or cream. The potato soup I grew up with was made with items easily grown or produced on the farm, which would be an onion, sauteed in butter, potatoes simmered in a little broth and then mashed and milk added until it was "soup". Salt and pepper to taste. I do agree that our main source of salt is processed food items like canned soup, frozen dinners and specialty meats. Cooking from scratch makes it much easier to control our sodium intake. My Dad was one of those people who salted everything and no amount of salt was too much. I seldom eat processed foods and never salt things like fruit and I always cook potatoes and pasta without salting the water, it used to drive my ex-MIL crazy so I kept doing it. Now I've been on blood pressure meds for several months. Salt doesn't seem to make a difference up or down in my blood pressure and I sure didn't develop high blood pressure because of my salt intake! Annie

Daughter gave me a bowl of potato salad made with her potatoes fresh dug from her garden. So decided to go whole hog and make baked beans to go with it. A lot of carbs, but I was going to make it work. Prepared lemon pepper seasoned chicken breasts to put in the oven when the beans were about 20 minutes from done. Well, when I opened the oven door, I could see a little fire going on in there. The bottom heating element was burning up. Turned the oven off, but it kept burning. Had to throw the breaker on the stove to stop the burning. So now I have no stove to cook on...was planning to sauté some zucchini so we could get by with eating less of those two high carb items on the menu by filling up on the zuch. That plan was out, so I added a plate of veggies to crunch and cooked the chicken in the toaster oven. No dessert tonight, we are all carbed up.