Adventures in all things food

Currently there is an amazing contest over at Jolly Mom. This contest post will be a bit different though. Instead of just telling you how to enter, I will be blogging about my answer because I hope to win this one for myself. If you want to learn more about winning your own HP Laptop/Printer bundles ENTER HERE . Thanks to HP for the great campaign. For more info on Create a World of Change visit the site.


The question posed is:

"What are you or will you be doing in 2010 to create change and how will winning this technology bundle help your efforts?"


This is such a wonderful giveaway and opportunity for me to update my dying computer and add a much needed printer to the mix! There are 2 ways I would use this prize to effect change. One would be personally for my children, and the other would be for our work and passion... food! And so my blog is an adventure in all things food. Why? Because it always comes down to food around here.

I think change has been the only constant in our family since my son was born 2 years ago. We were so excited to have our first child but were surprised & a little terrified when he was diagnosed with PKU (Phenalkytonuria). We quickly learned that the condition can be managed, though it turned our ideas of food upside down. Our son was diagnosed due to the newborn screening test done at birth and with that early diagnosis & treatment he can lead a long and normal life.

We have since also added a little girl to our family who also has PKU. Yes, we should probably be playing the lottery! We have a handle on their condition. It takes a lot of weighing out food and logging phe, but it is a labor of love. I am happy to say there are some great forums and sites that I try to stay active with and I am always trying to educate others, not only about metabolic disorders, but also the importance of newborn screening.

It is my mission to make any other families being diagnosed as comfortable with the diagnosis as possible. Also to let people know how easy it is to prevent long term damage. If left untreated, my children's condition can lead to severe mental retardation, seizures and death. It amazes me how easy it is to prevent that! Some people are worried about "just another test that is always negative". I have even had people tell me "no one has that". Well, here we are and we do have PKU. Not only could the computer & printer help me to stay connected with the greater PKU world, it would also help me educate others. Since the birth of our daughter, my DH and I have kicked around the idea of putting together a flyer about newborn screening.

We also need to educate people about PKU in general because everyone my kiddos come in contact with will need a quick crash course, or at least a printed out sheet of safe foods and amounts they can eat. Eventually my family will have to break down and buy a printer for this reason, but for now we are dealing with overwhelming formula (this is for life), medical food and Dr.'s bills.

Then on the professional front, my DH's family owns a farm. Not the ee-ai ee-ai-oh version, but a large vegetable farm. Since we have had to take a closer look at how we eat as a family (isn't it amazing how food restrictions do that?), I have become very excited about the local food movement. We have such a great resource with the farm and I want to share it with others. It is wonderfully green to eat in season and from local farmers. Not only can you reduce your carbon footprint, but you can eat produce at it's peak while supporting the local economy. I would love to use that printer to make and print up recipe ideas with what is available. I don't know how many times I have had people ask me how to use various vegetables... eggplant, for example, is gorgeous but what do you do with it? (Anyone tried Ratatoille?) I think people want to eat well, they just don't always know how to. I think this would be a great gift for our community.

So, whew! That was longer than I had planned. I guess I have a lot to get done this year. I am a already educating where I can. This technology bundle would be a real blessing and further my efforts on both fronts. Stay tuned to find out how everything goes. Cross your fingers for me in this fabulous contest!