PKU and the Holidays…..no one should go hungry

 Recently I saw in a facebook group of someone with PKU saying that her and her brother shared a bowl of potato chips at a holiday party and it completely broke my heart.  No one should go hungry on the holidays.  I know my girls NEVER do.  

For anyone worried about the holidays and how to handle foods for your loved ones with PKU…..yesterday we made Christmas lunch…..we had so much food for our girls to eat.  In fact, my oldest said “oh I am so full.”  There were very few options that they couldn’t eat.  

For appetizers we had:

Low protein and regular cheese and crackers

Cranberry bites (cranberry and Brie bites for high protein)

Lots of fruit with dip

Apple and pumpkin pie bites (these were freeze dried and for everyone)

Freeze dried apples

Freeze dried candy

For our meal we had:

Low protein/gluten free fried mushrooms with marinara

Orange fluff (this recipe is in the old Virginia Schultz cookbook)

Garlic butter mushrooms

Cream style corn

Mashed potatoes

Sweet potatoes

Onion potatoes

Glazed carrots

There were only four foods my girls couldn’t eat: ham, turkey, sausage that we put out with the cheese and crackers, and then a cheesy spinach artichoke dip.  To be honest, I planned on making a low protein version, but when I woke up Christmas morning I realized my refrigerator and freezer were not working so had to try to figure that out while cooking.  I let that one recipe slide for my sanity, and my three girls didn’t mind.  

No one should EVER go hungry on a holiday!!!!!  Honestly I cringe every single time I see someone with PKU saying there was nothing for them to eat.  We always put out a lot of options for everyone (including my three girls) to choose from.

This photo is of hubby and I with 8 of our 9 children.  We also had lots of significant others who came and enjoyed the holiday with us too, and my parents.