My First Holiday Season Gluten Free--stressing Out Already!

[olalisa]

Hi everyone. I was diagnosed in April and have been gluten free since. Felling so much better, I can't even tell you! I am, however, already stressing about the holidays coming up....specifically Thanksgiving and Christmas. It is easy enough to be gluten free at home, but outside of that....well you all know.

How do you handle holiday dinners? It is NOT the tradition for folks to come to my house, and I, as always, hate to draw attention to myself, (don't want everyone to think I'm just being dramatic and seeking attention) but I refuse to risk getting sick just to "keep the peace" at the holidays.

Any ideas/suggestions? I'm REALLY anxious about this, and ANYthing you suggest can only help. THANKS!

[Ursa Major]

Offer bringing a dessert, to appease the hosts, and let them know in advance about your celiac disease. Talk to them, to see if it is possible to have some plain vegetables, and to have the dressing on the side so the turkey won't be contaminated. If you have the feeling it isn't going to work out, let them know you'll be bringing your own food, because you can't risk getting sick. Be as diplomatic as possible, but don't get sick because of not saying anything, it isn't worth it.

[GFBetsy]

And it's not terribly difficult to find turkey breasts, so if you had to cook your entire meal, at least you wouldn't be left with 20 lbs. of turkey "leftovers" And if you cook it for yourself at Thanksgiving, you can save some of it (in the freezer, of course) for the family bash at Christmas time.

You can also cook apple pie filling or pumpkin pie filling in a baking dish (cover the apples) and just have baked apples or pumpkin custard instead of pie (in case those pie crusts worry you). And I have a great (yummy and easy) stuffing recipe . . . let me know if you'd like to have it.

If you are really worried about cross contamination, you could always do most of your eating at home before the family get-together starts, or else just prepare your plate at home and keep it covered (refrigerated) until it's time to eat.

I think that the anxiety over the possibilities is worse than the actual situation . . . and since you've started making your plan early, I think you'll be able to arrange things so that the holiday's themselves will be easier than you fear.

Good luck!