Need Tips To Safely Be Gluten Free And Keep My Family On Gluten

[Christine0125]

I was recently diagnosed. While I intend to make our family meals gluten free I really don't want to switch the rest of my family to a full gluten free diet. Peanut butter and jelly on whole wheat is my kids staple. I need some tips on how I can effectively segregate their gluten foods to avoid cc. Has anyone been able to do this? I keep reading these posts about major purging and cleaning and I am a little freaked out.

[sharilee]

I have to be gluten free because of celiac and my husband does not. What we do, is have two different containers for peanut butter, butter, jelly, etc. Mine have stickers on them to mark them as the gluten free containers. Then he has his own peanut butter, butter, jelly,etc. Catsup, mayo, etc, we buy squeezeable containers so there is no dipping in the container with a knife to risk cross contamination.

His bread and my gluten free bread are kept separate and both are wrapped well. I have my own shelf in the frig and my own shelves in the cabinets. So gluten foods and non gluten foods are on separate shelves. We cleaned our four slot toaster real well and one side is marked as gluten free and he uses the other side.

As for cleaning the counters, shelves, fridge, we wipe everything out with a good cleaner and then put things back in on the separate shelves. Most of our pots and pans are stainless steel so we did not have much problem there. Pots, pans, etc that are made of porous materials (like plastic) are ones that even with a deep cleaning may have hidden gluten in the cracks. When we cook meals that are gluten free for me and gluten for him, like pasta we use two different pots and two different strainers.

[BabsV]

  On 3/11/2012 at 11:07 PM, Christine0125 said:

I was recently diagnosed. While I intend to make our family meals gluten free I really don't want to switch the rest of my family to a full gluten free diet. Peanut butter and jelly on whole wheat is my kids staple. I need some tips on how I can effectively segregate their gluten foods to avoid cc. Has anyone been able to do this? I keep reading these posts about major purging and cleaning and I am a little freaked out.

I am the only gluten-free person in our family and we have a kitchen that contains some gluten (not much however -- bread, cookies, some chips.) After a major clean of the cabinets and drawers (and their contents) I designated specific shelves and cupboards for gluteny (gluteney?!?!) items -- always the lowest shelf so that if any crumbs or anything is going to fall it will fall on the floor and not on another shelf with gluten-free items. My gluten-free stuff is all on the highest shelves/cabinets -- even in the fridge. We have separate items like peanut butter and butter as my daughter and husband are really bad about remembering to spoon out the stuff and then put it on their bread. I bought new storage containers for gluten-free food (to be fair, the plastic ones I had were a bit beat up) and I now use ziploc bags for a lot of storage. Depending on how old your kids are you can label things with stickers or bright-colored tape, maybe red, so they know that red = stop and they leave it alone. You can designate certain counters or areas in the kitchen as the place for making a sandwich or working with anything containing gluten. My kitchen is very small (we are living in Europe right now) so I don't have that luxury...instead I am manic about wiping down counters. Before I do any sort of food prep I wipe down counters (learned this the hard way by having a just baked loaf of banana bread tumble off the cooling rack while I was tipping it out of the pan and then I could not remember if I'd cleaned that counter before starting to bake!) and I wipe them again after I'm done. I also have taken more and more to prepping on something...a new cutting board, a plate, etc. My husband and daughter I've trained to make their sandwiches on paper plates. Then I follow along behind with a soapy sponge! I wipe down the table multiple times a day. Like I said, I am manic about it. I also wash my hands ALL THE TIME!

Also, I banished any and all types of gluten-containing baking ingredients. If they have to have their store-bought sandwich bread I can deal with it since I don't have to touch it but I refuse to have wheat flour, etc. in the house -- the idea of the dust being in the air and settling on surfaces makes me shudder. I actually felt worse the few days after I cleaned out my kitchen to get rid of all gluten-containing stuff -- I figure it was from all the airborne stuff I breathed in during the cleaning process.

I bought an additional toaster for gluten-free things but haven't used it yet. I'm trying not to eat too much gluten-free replacement foods as I heal. I pitched all my wooden spoons, cutting boards etc. Also replaced strainers, colanders and bought a new sifter (didn't feel I could get the old one 'clean enough' for my taste!)

If I am cooking something it is most likely gluten free -- pasta, etc. I do have some things I have to cook that contain gluten because I am currently living in Poland and can't get gluten-free alternatives, e.g. hotdogs, sausage, bacon. I have a separate frying pan and pan for anything that has gluten in it. I scrub them and then run them through the dishwasher if I use them. I try not to cook gluten-free and gluteny items on the stove-top at the same time but if I do I keep them on separate sides and watch like a hawk for any sort of spatter. Be care to keep your cooking utensils separate if you are cooking items at the same time -- don't use that spoon to stir something that contains gluten and then dip it into the veggies.

It seems like a lot to take in and honestly at the beginning it is. But it becomes habit very quickly.

I'm six months gluten-free and my blood tests show a significant drop in antibodies so this approach seems to be working.

Good luck!

[mamaw]

separating gluten foods from gluten free ------ separate areas saves a lot of confusion. I had a separate cupboard from other gluten foods before my kitchen went gluten-free..

Separate jars ie :jelly peanut butter & such.

If you plan on baking goodies that contain wheat flour remember wheat flour can stay airborn for hours..I used to take my wheat baking outside on the deck to mix or in the garage but never in the kitchen..I used a separate hand mixer for gluten-free, the air vents in a hand mixer can collect alot of debris...& I use rubber gloves when working with wheat..that way no gluten gets hidden on my hands even before washing them..

I also have my own toothpaste that way gluten eaters are not squeesing out toothpaste onto their gluten toothbrush & then I use it.

I should have bought stock in paper towels because everything that comes out a bag goes on to a paper towel....bread, chips . never any crumbs on counters to deal with..

If someone reaches in my pretzel, chip bag I make them wash hands or else I dig in the bag... They all know now I share all my gluten-free goodies but they have to follow the guidelines...

If you have pets remember most pet food contains gluten. Our pets are fed grain free. Pet food as been a problem for many...Be knid to furry friends , feed them grain free...

[tracytucker]

i am so with you on this one I defintaltey injested gluten somehow and it was probably from making supper for my kids... This is so frustrating.. I might put the kids on a gluten free diet at home.