Cook For Love

Okay guys, this one is going to be a quickie.  :)

The other day, one of my PKU friends posted a link on facebook: www.cookforlove.org

It's this really cool site that posts good PKU recipe ideas!  

Here's the bio for it:
"Cook for Love evolved out of two stubborn moms’ belief that even given the severe dietary restrictions, people with PKU should not have to settle for less when it comes to the enjoyment of food. When her daughter Molly went to kindergarten, Brenda Winiarski enrolled in culinary school. Together with Rosie Loughran, whose son Liam has PKU, they formed a not-for-profit called Cook for Love, Inc.
The founders recognize and respect that people with PKU lack a liver enzyme, not taste buds. They both struggled in the kitchen when their children were diagnosed with PKU trying to come up with foods that their children could eat and the entire family would enjoy. Their goal is to simply help you avoid some of the frustration they felt.
Through an on-line culinary website, Brenda and Rosie provide step by step instructions to make a meal that you or a loved one will truly enjoy.
Whether you love to cook, or are doing it solely out of love, join them on www.cookforlove.org as they share their recipes and experiences."

I am super excited to start trying some of the recipes out. :)  But if you're in dire need of a new PKU recipe, this is the place to go. 

Now I have been getting a few questions about me.  The mysterious writer.  Here's a quick update on my life:  I am a college student (sophomore) and am still studying to be a teacher. Actually, my technical major is Deaf Education, and I hope to teach at a Deaf School one day. 

That's basically it. :)  Anyways, thanks for reading!  See you again!   
 





 

Veggies... In a Bag

So, the other day a roommate and I tried this recipe for a really easy healthy snack; and it turned out so good, I had to share.

Veggie Bag
(Or at least, that's what I'm naming it. )

Ingredients:

• Olive Oil
• Salt/Pepper
• Garlic
• Lemon juice
• Various RAW Veggies (We used celery, carrots, broccoli.  But I'm sure other veggies would take delicious in this too.)

Instructions 

1. In a small bowl pour some olive oil.
2. Mix in lemon juice, salt, pepper, and garlic (according to taste).
3. Cut veggies into eatable sizes.  
4. Put veggies in a bag (we used a gallon sized bag, but it was for more than 1 person).
5. Pour the dressing into the bag with veggies.     
6. Shake the bag, dance with the bag, and throw it into the air repeatedly.  This will get it all mixed up, so that all the veggies get some dressing on it.  If you feel boring you can just shake the bag, but I really recommend the dancing.
7. Eat it!  Straight from the bag, or poured into a bowl.  It doesn't matter.  

(Sorry I don't have proportions or measurements up here.  My roommate and I literally just smelled the dressing to figure out what it was missing and poured blindly.)

Have fun trying this recipe.  I think it's really tasty.  See you next week! 
   

Must be November...

How lucky are we? 

We all have so many blessings. 

When my Grandma was in nursing school, it said in her textbooks that PKU'ers got permanent brain damage early in life.  There was nothing anyone could do.

Now... PKU'ers can life a perfectly happy life while on a diet.

Maybe in the future there will be one little pill you have to take once a day, that makes it so PKU'ers don't have to be on diet.

But for now.  We're blessed.

The PKU Community is exactly that.  A community.  There are activities, and summer camps.  There are seminars and once a year there's a National PKU Meeting.

We can buy Low-protein foods online.  And not from just one company!  There are a lot of companies out there that cater to PKU'ers:

•  Cambrooke
• Dietspec
• Ener-g
• Med-diet
• Medical Food
• My Special Diet
• Maddy's
• Pku Perspectives
• Taste Connections

There's probably more out there. 

But that just covers the food.  There are a lot of PKU Formula companies as well (some of them serve both PKU food and formula).  If you don't like the taste of your formula... there are so many other options out there.  And they just keep getting better and healthier for you all the time.

I love trying out the new formulas.  Who knows if it'll taste better than the one I have right now?  (I seriously doubt it, because I really like my formula but...)

I digress.  Point is:  PKU'ers are blessed.  We have it a lot easier than those who came before us.  We have so much to be thankful for!  So this Thanksgiving, don't forget to add PKU onto the list of things you're grateful for.

P.S.  I'm also grateful for you!  Because most likely, if you're reading this then you have been following my blog for a while.  And have listened to what I have to say.  So thank you. :)