20 replies to this topic

[John (BBJ)]

Ditto what several others said. My kitchen is gluten-free, but my husband is not. He has tried to go completely gluten-free before (of his own choosing) and he always gives in to temptation. So he just eats gluten when out of the house. When we go to friends houses or restaurants (although rare) or if he is at work or traveling for work, he eats whatever he wants. The only rules are he must brush his teeth before kissing me, wash his hands after eating and not touch my food. I will sometimes offer to share food or offer him a bite of something I order that is gluten-free. He has learned however to let me put it on his plate for him and not to reach over and grab some of my fries when he has been eating a burger with a bun. There are actually a few places we eat out where he will get the same thing as me so it happenes to be gluten-free. He loves getting a protein-style lettuce wrapped burger at Red Robin. However, I have not gotten him to willingly order gluten-free pizza. He will eat my homemade gluten-free pizza crusts (and he says they are good!) but if we are getting pizza from a restaurant I am getting the gluten-free/CF and he is getting a regular one. So pizza for two is much, much too expensive to do very often.

I have tried a gluten-free pizza. It is a decent alternative to nothing. They are not cheap and a $10 10 inch pizza just isn't enough for me. I ordered a gluten-free pizza at a restaurant after a lengthy discussion w/ manager about why my pizza was gonna be an additional $5 for the same type of pizza vs. a specialty gluten pizza. I understand that the crust can be more costly but if I had ordered it as a build my own, it would have been $1.50 difference. Sorry about ramble, but the point was I still received CC and 20 minutes after eating it, I had major problems. It's tempting to almost eat the real stuff and deal w/ consequences anyway.

[sa1937]

I have tried a gluten-free pizza. It is a decent alternative to nothing. They are not cheap and a $10 10 inch pizza just isn't enough for me. I ordered a gluten-free pizza at a restaurant after a lengthy discussion w/ manager about why my pizza was gonna be an additional $5 for the same type of pizza vs. a specialty gluten pizza. I understand that the crust can be more costly but if I had ordered it as a build my own, it would have been $1.50 difference. Sorry about ramble, but the point was I still received CC and 20 minutes after eating it, I had major problems. It's tempting to almost eat the real stuff and deal w/ consequences anyway.

Sorry to hear that in spite of your best efforts you had problems with CC. My son-in-law has also eaten gluten-free pizza because my daughter has celiac. Fortunately they live in Denver, which is a celiac's haven and they have a lot of options. I don't in small town, USA.

He used to be the pizza king and made some awesome gluteny pizza! Can't now. Have you ever tried making your own?

[beebs]

The house became gluten free when I and two of my children went gluten free. My husband and other child just had to suck it up - so to speak. Why can't he just enjoy gluten when away from the house? There is just too much risk for cross contamination for my liking...

[seigfriedj]

It is possible to stay safe in your home with your husband eating gluten. Our house is about 80% gluten free. With the exception of my husbands bread and some tv dinners in the fridge, our house is pretty much gluten free. All meals I cook our gluten free, but when we dine out he eats what he wants. I do buy him some occasional gluten free snacks, but we find that most gluten free baked goods I make, we both like and enjoy. My suggestion would be to have your husband eat what he wants when he is not with you, and then find out meals you both love and enjoy, including snacks that you both can eat while at home. This way he can be mainly gluten free with you but without feeling like he is giving up on foods he love. I know my husband never feels like he is giving up stuff, but that is probably due to the fact that I generally bake at least 1-2x a week and cook yummy home cooked meals every night. Have him slowly go gluten free but have him still enjoy his favorite items, just be careful with crumbs and make sure he understands all about CC. No using the same toaster for his bread and your bread.

[Junebug51]

I've been diagnosed celiac and gluten-free for about 5 months. My husband is careful, and I kept his bread and crackers and some canned foods for him. He doesn't use the cutting board and the butter dish is marked "gluten-free" at one end -- I have my butter knife and he has his! We used the same toaster -- I don't know if any of this hurts me, as I seem not to show symptoms as much. He likes a lot of the gluten-free foods and we love vegetables and plain meats and fruits, so we are getting along well, so far!

[violentlyserene]

I was diagnosed with Celiac a few months after my husband and I started dating. He has tried being gluten free twice. The first time were not living together and simply caved into temptation. The second time he tried was just recently. We live together now and it is just the two of us in the house. The problem is, when he went gluten-free, his mood changed drastically. He became quite irritable and grumpy. As soon as he started eating gluten foods, he went right back to normal. I don't know if it was just a mental rebellion against not being able to eat the foods he wanted to or if he did have a chemical response to the lack of gluten. I do know that he does want to go gluten-free for my sake but, in honesty, really doesn't want to and has a ton of trouble with it when he tries; the self control and avoiding temptations.

I guess what I'm wondering is, do you think my husband should go gluten-free just for my sake or is it possible to live safely in a non-gluten-free home?

Thank you for all of your opinions

I'd rather deal with a mixed kitchen than an unhappy husband. It's a bit of a pain sure, but I don't mind. He's careful to stick to our protocols so I can eat safely and that's all I need. Fortunately, a mixed kitchen works for us so we don't need to go more extreme.

The exact set up depends on your home and your situation but in general a storage area for gluten is important. We don't have a dishwasher so we have two sets of visually different silverware, plates, pots, utensils, colanders, etc. The only thing we share are pans which I put foil or parchment on and glass pans because we only have two of them. There are three sets of sponges, all different colors, for gluten, gluten-free and intermediate washing for the sink and shared items. The sink gets carefully scrubbed before washing the dishes and dirty dishes each have their own separate area so nothing is confused. I can tell what's gluten or gluten-free but my husband forgets so it's helpful there.

The only gluten that comes in this house is stuff that is premade and not easily replaced- pizza, pizza rolls, his weird little debbie snacks, etc. All baking stuff was tossed when I went and all of that is gluten-free now. All of that is kept in the freezer or in his own cupboard with the gluten dishes. Our counters can never be properly clean and I wouldn't trust it anyway so i have a bunch of those clear plastic cutting boards cut in quarters and some whole so there's a bunch available to grab if i need prep room. I also have vinyl shelf liner from Ikea covering one counter by the stove where my dedicated gluten-free section is. It's easily cleaned, obviously different than the rest of the counters and can be thrown away if it's too contaminated to clean.

I also try to keep masking tape and a sharpie on the counter to mark everything as gluten or gluten-free. We have separate peanut butter jars since he uses it for lunch with wheat bread but the rest of the condiment squeeze bottles or things that aren't used on gluten.

It does take a bit to get used to the separateness of this but it's really pretty easy to keep up. The worst thing is by far the lack of a dishwasher.