I'm Afraid My Kitchen Will Be Toxic

[chrissy]

the more i read, the more worried i get. i don't know if it will be possible to keep my kids from getting glutened in my own house!! with so many kids around, someone is always leaving a mess in the kitchen---plus, we have a great room (if you can call it that) so the kitchen and family room are basically one room, so crumbs are dragged everywhere---even if i vaccum several times a day. everyone is in and out of the pantry and leaving crumbs as they go. we would be safest to have a totally gluten free kitchen, but i think i would have trouble with dh on that one-----i don't think he "get's" this disease yet. i must be making some headway with him, though, because he did go and get the blood test done. i am having a hard time with the realization that even a crumb of gluten is too much (and i have been doing alot of reading on celiac) i can see how he wouldn't understand. can you REALLY cross contaminate food if you handled something with gluten and then touched something else---even without crumbs??!!

christine

[par18]

Chrissy,

I understand your concern. In my situation it is just my wife and myself. We made the decision in May after my Dx to try to make the kitchen as gluten-free as possible. Even though she still has a few items with gluten for the most part we eat the same things. As a matter of fact even though I am the one with celiac disease she is starting to go gluten-free with me. After complaining of headaches she is trying to change her diet to see if that helps. I have not been glutened one time since going gluten-free in May. I think the biggest reason is the effort of "both" of us. In your case I don't know how many persons we are talking about but the more that can get on board the better. Good luck.

Tom

[Smunkeemom]

I try to keep my house as gluten-free as possible. We don't cook gluten meals at all, and any gluten snacks are eaten when the kids are away. After a while you don't really miss the gluten, sometimes you find out that the gluten-free stuff is actually better.

My only other suggestion is to make a "gluten free special place" in the kitchen, with new stuff that has never been "glutened" (like toasters, and spaghetti pans, and mixers and such) and try to explain to everyone that gluten is poison for someone with celiac disease and that if they wouldn't leave arsenic down for a baby then they can't leave crumbs around in your house. It's everyone's job to be "gluten scouts" and you can be their leader.

[Nadtorious]

I live with a couple of twenty something guys that eat gobs of gluten. I have never expected them to change their eating/cooking habits for me, so I have found ways around cross contamination.

I use only non-porous cooking utensils-glass cutting board, stainless steel pans, etc. I "hide" my good knives, I use plastic cutlery, etc. I use the dishwasher to wash my dishes, usually seperate from theirs, and I don't put my colanders in the dishwasher (those suckers catch everything!). Everything gets prewashed before I start cooking. From the sink to my food, I don't touch anything, including turning off the faucet with a paper towel. Yes, I'm paranoid, but I haven't been glutened by cross contamination in this house yet (knock on wood ).

As far as having kids with celiac disease, I'm clueless. Maybe stress the importance of handwashing before each meal? That will hopefully eliminate the issue of crumbs on the hands.

Good luck!

Nadia

[Merika]

Hi Chrissy,

If I recall, you have several newly gluten-free kids, several eat-anything kids, and dh eats gluten? I would be tempted to make the house gluten-free as much as possible. For us, this means dh MUST eat his gluten at the kitchen table, and wash his hands afterwards. No more crumbs around the house.

See if you can work towards making all the kids gluten-free in the house. Maybe dh can eat gluten-free too in the house, or at least confine gluten to when the kids aren't around. I only advocate being sneaky like this if dh insists on eating gluten because the mess kids make vs. the mess adults make is pretty different. And it would be nice if it appeared everyone were on board, so to speak.

Worst case, everyone should be taught that all food gets eaten in the kitchen. At least then the rest of the house is "safe" - especially if they remember to wash their hands after eating.

Our extended family just celebrated our 3rd xmas with a celiac diagnosis, but this is the first year we've had a completely gluten free xmas meal. :) Yay! And it was delicious.

Merika

[Guest nini]

my husband is the only one that eats gluten in our house. for a very little while he tried to go gluten free with us but developed such an attutude problem about it... I think he was very angry and resentful of us... (blaming us that he couldn't have his favorite foods and that he doesn't like what we eat... makes nasty comments about how gross it is) that he has resorted back to his gluten-y ways and has even gone overboard with carrying his crumby stuff EVERYWHERE in the house and leaving a mess all over the kitchen and even using my designated gluten free pans for gluten. I was so proud of him when he initially went gluten free with us all on his own, but this going back to eating gluten and being blatantly messy and not caring about it is really starting to get to me. I don't think it's fair for me and my daughter that he doesn't give a rip if he contaminates us with his gluten. I even get mad in the grocery store if he throws his donuts on top of my gluten-free stuff (even if it's sealed)... I don't know which one of us is being less rational about this. Sorry for the rant, I'm just really upset about this. I just went to make gluten-free bagels for me and my daughter, and I had to TAKE APART THE TOASTER OVEN so that I could clean it before toasting our bagels.

[angel-jd1]

When I visit my parents, I sometimes find myself being a gluten natzi. However, I figure it's ME who has to deal with the puking and diarrhea when I get contaminated, not them. If you don't take care of yourself, and take responsability for your health, nobody else is going to do it. Stand up for what you need and make it very clear!! It is the only way to stay healthy.

-Jessica

[jerseyangel]

Hey Nini--I hear ya. Could it be that maybe he is doing these things to "prove" that "just a crumb" won't hurt? Like if there are crumbs around, or if your food touches his a little bit, and you don't get sick (outward symptoms, anyway), then he can say--see, you have been overreacting! Even though in reality, you're running around after him like a crazy woman to keep your stuff safe. My experience is that men have a need to "fix" problems. Maybe he is just frustrated that he can't fix it, and this is how he is showing it.

[Guest nini]

Hey Nini--I hear ya. Could it be that maybe he is doing these things to "prove" that "just a crumb" won't hurt? Like if there are crumbs around, or if your food touches his a little bit, and you don't get sick (outward symptoms, anyway), then he can say--see, you have been overreacting! Even though in reality, you're running around after him like a crazy woman to keep your stuff safe. My experience is that men have a need to "fix" problems. Maybe he is just frustrated that he can't fix it, and this is how he is showing it.

I don't know, but it's making me mad... I've been getting glutened at home A LOT lately which probably explains my mood... and my daughter has been complaining of an upset tummy for a week now... I think he's just being a butt.

[jerseyangel]

Yea--I'd be pi--ed off, too. You and your daughter sick like that --hope you guys get some things worked out.

[Guest nini]

me too... oh and the night before last she was even running a temp of 100.2, not high enough to be too concerned, but enough to make her uncomfortable, and her tummy was cramping really bad... after a bout of "D" she started feeling better... This has GOT to stop.