PKU Hero

I came across this article today: http://www.pkuheroes.org/drkoch/. It's about an amazing man who has done so much for PKU'ers like me. Without him I would be mentally retarded. Thank you Dr. Koch!

School Lunches

Some schools have vegetarian choices. My school has a salad, but it's the longest line in the school. So it's not worth it. My past schools haven't even had this choice. I could fight for more choices. But after the school "agree" to do it in my experience... they don't. I once fought for microwave rights in elementary school. It was a waste of time because they didn't let me anyway. They were just avoiding a big scene. So I bring home lunches. It's healthier and cheaper anyways. Plus you don't have to wait in a long line for it. It can be fun too if you get creative. I rarely have time to be creative but it's fun when I am.

Good things to put in a PKU'ers lunch: fruit (apples, pears, grapes, fruit cups...) and vegetables (carrots, salad, celery, raw broccoli...). You can make bread for sandwiches, put vegetable soup in a thermos, pack a couple cookies. You could add a container of ranch to dip your veggies in. For a while I would pack these "fruit chillers" in my lunch with an ice pack (basically it's sorbet). Fruit leathers and fruit snacks are excellent!

Tip: Frozen grapes turn into goop when in your lunch. They taste excellent at home but not on the go.

My lunch on the go is usually an apple, fruit snacks, fruit cup/lemon pudding, and it depends what else in the house at the time. But it has filled my throughout my school life so it works for me.

It's nice to have a dependable menu. Just in case I don't have time to think about what to pack. But sometimes change is good. Get creative! Add a sauce, pack a thermos. smoothies are fun! Just because you bring home lunch doesn't mean you have to bring dull things. You can pack lunches that will make school lunch kids drool! I have (that would be the smoothies). Try something new! :) And have a good day!

Tastiest Way To Get Rid Of Zucchini!

Dear readers,

How was your summer? As you could probably tell I've been a very busy person. I still am, so right onto business we go. :)

Recently my house has been overrun by evil zucchini. It's like a curse we eat/freeze/deal with 1 of them and my dad goes and picks 4 more! He's crazy for planting as many plants as he did. But because we've been overun by zucchini we've been looking for tasty ways to get rid of it. Here by far the yummiest/ weirdest recipe yet! (Thanks to allrecipes.com)

Zucchini Cobbler

Ingredients (serves 25)

• 8 cups peeled, chopped zucchini
• 2/3 cup lemon juice
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups white sugar
• 1 1/2 cups butter, chilled
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

1. In a large saucepan over medium heat, cook and stir zucchini and lemon juice until zucchini is tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Stir in 1 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon and nutmeg and cook one minute more. Remove from heat and set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 10x15 inch baking dish. In a large bowl, combine flour and 2 cups sugar. Cut in butter with pastry blender or two knives until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir 1/2 cup of butter mixture into zucchini mixture. Press half of remaining butter mixture into bottom of prepared pan. Spread zucchini mixture over top of crust, and sprinkle remaining butter mixture over zucchini. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon cinnamon.
3. Bake 35 to 40 minutes, or until top is golden. Serve warm or cold.
   

It's a pretty weird recipe when you think about it. Zucchini in a FRUIT dessert? Yuck! But zucchini actually picks up the taste of whatever it's cooked in. And this recipe makes the zucchini taste like apples! I promise you! When we served it to people who didn't know it's zucchini-like qualities they complimented us on our Apple Cobbler. Their jaws literally fall to the ground when we tell them the truth. It's that good. I couldn't get my mind over how it tasted like apple cobbler yet I knew it was zucchini cobbler. Trust me you've GOT to try this one! :)