micha

Unless authentically Organic, I think it's wise to assume that every fruit and vegetable has been exposed to some type of pesticide (and 'organics' may have been contaminated by any number of human-transmitted pathogens. Singling out citrus peel as risky doesn't make sense to me. I wash, in mild detergent, and thoroughly rinse just about every fruit and vegetable that we use -- even those with peels that are discarded and not eaten. I understand that the pesticides used on tropical fruits such as bananas are so potent that transfer from hand to fruit is inadvisable. If we were to avoid eating skins that have been exposed to pesticides then we would not be eating sugar snap peas, snow peas, strawberries, asparagus, tomatoes, baked potatoes, etc, etc, etc. IMHO, it's wise to be cautious but not paranoid.

I make great quantities of candied orange and grapefruit peel every Christmas and bring to the boil and drain only twice before cooking in the syrup. However, I use a vegetable peeler to remove the rind with no pith which makes for a very thin product. Perhaps whole peel would require more blanching to prevent bitterness -- must try it this year

A Different Take on Sloppy Joes freshly ground chuck onions lots of garlic chilli sauce (degree of heat depends on kids' tolerance) soy sauce worcestershire sauce S&P tomato sauce or puree fresh bean sprouts Brown chuck, onions and garlic; add remaining ingreds except bean sprouts and simmer til very thick and deep red/brown. Stir in 3 or 4 fistfulls of bean sprouts and simmer until either soft or just heated through (dependent upon your kids' preferences of soft or crunchy) Our kid #1 preferred the sprouts soft and the mixture served on a soft roll; kid #2 liked the sprouts super crunchy and the mixture spooned over oven-crisped torn bread chunks Had no idea that prepared sloppy joe mix (?manwich) was available -- given the track record of canned foodstuffs, it doesn't sound too appealing. If I'm going to eat junky (different than 'junk') food, at least it should be something I've made!