Kitchen Tips

[Slackermommy]

Hello everyone.

I was dx'ed on Monday, and I had just a gluten free shelf, and now I am ready to "tighten" up my kitchen to be more careful about cross contamination. My husband is extremely supportive, but I don't want him to give up sandwiches for work/lunch. We generally have different lunches, and supper is always gluten free. I will be getting my children tested since I carry 2 genes with gluten intolerance and they each got one.

All that being said, anyone else out there the only gluten free person in household? And do you have any tips on how to manage this sort of kitchen. I am 5 months gluten free, and am doing an ok job, but I can't find much about this part. Do I have to clean out my freezer? I just put my stuff on the top shelf, and then the bread products on the absolute bottom. Is this enough?

I think that I am going to bake gluten free though...it seems that flour is very, very bad. (Still a crazy thought to me.) I thought I might keep a muffin mix on hand, in case I need something quick to send to school for the kids.

Also, do I need to get new cookie sheets? Muffin tins (I use the liners), etc. Or is just a good cleaning enough?

Any thoughts, tips, suggestions would be very welcome.

Thank you SO much!

[emcmaster]

My husband eats gluten, but only in the form of sandwich bread or bagels - no flour or mixes made with flour because the flour gets in the air and makes me sick. If you want to keep a general purpose mix around for muffins and such, buy Pamela's Ultimate Baking Mix. I can't have it anymore (because it contains xanthan gum) but it's really good.

Here's what we do:

We have stainless steel pots since he occasionally cooks something with gluten in it. We have separate baking pans that are nonstick and I also use silicone baking sheets, so I'll sometimes use one of his pans with my silicone baking sheet on top of it - keeps it safe.

We keep separate wooden utensils (but share non-scratched nylon ones), but I'm actually pretty conflicted on this. If we use one of my wooden spoons to cook something gluten-free and then put it in the dishwasher where there are utensils that were used to cook gluten, are we contaminating my spoons? We always wash our dishes very well, regardless of what was put on them, before we put them in the dishwasher.

Separate toaster.

Separate wooden & plastic cutting boards.

And we have a completely gluten-free counter that I prepare all my food on.

[missy'smom]

I am the only gluten-free person in the house. I serve gluten-free diner for everyone and we all have different stuff for lunch and breakfast. We moved last summer and I went gluten-free shortly after, so that gave me a clean slate. My only concern with my freezer is the open icecube bin. But I have thought that I should be wiping out my fridge more often as crumbs can fall down onto food or shelves below because my shelves are the plastic coated wire rack kind. We have one small counter top separated from the others and away from silverware drawer that I have relegated my toaster(not gluten-free). I cook with cast iron skillets so I put them in the oven on cleaning cycle and scrubbed and reseasoned them and now one is designated gluten-free. They are slightly different to it's easy to tell them apart. We tossed the teflon, it was time anyway. I bought a new fryer. I gave away alot of my baking pans and wooden rolling pins. I kept the ones that were fairly new, had no seams or dimples and were not non-stick. I often used my baking sheets for Ore-Ida style potatoes, chicken nuggets etc. but they leave behind a film that doesn't really come off so they were tossed or kept for nonGF dishes and I got new ones that are designated gluten-free. I tossed any baking ingredients, including spices because I was in the habbit of using the same measuring spoon or cup for various ingredients in a recipie without washing them, so trace amounts of flour might have ended up in my cinnamon. I gave away my hand held mixer because I could see flour in the vents.

[dionnek]

I am the only one gluten-free in my house (have a 2 year old daughter and husband who still eat gluten), but I am still fairly new (just 9 months now). I got rid of ALL gluten flours and mixes - too much "stuff" flying in the air with that. We do have "normal" bread for my husband and child, and they eat some other (mostly frozen) gluten stuff as well as crackers/snacks, but anything that I have to make (i.e., all dinners and baked goods) are gluten-free. They don't mind the gluten-free pastas (say they can't even tell a difference) - I tried keeping all their "normal" food at first but it was just too stressful to make regular pasta and then mine and try not to cc. I bought all new collanders (those holes are so small and impossible to get everything out of) and after reading suggestions on this board, I broke down and bought new wooden spoons and cutting boards, but everything else I just washed in the dishwasher. oh, and i did buy some new pots b/c my nonstick ones had scratches, but they needed to be replaced any way.

There are a lot of good gluten-free baking mixes, so there is no need to make regular ones for your kids (although they are more expensive!).

I'm sure some others will chime in with their experiences - every one is different so it just depends on how well you can keep things separate (oh yeah, and don't forget to get a new toaster if you use one - I use a toaster oven and just cleaned it out really good and always put my food on a piece of foil first).

[emcmaster]

I forgot to mention that we have separate colanders, except for two of the new silicone ones that we share. I'm unsure about whether the silicone ones are safe to use for both of us... but I know that silicone doesn't "hold" gluten, and we wash them very well even before putting them in the dishwasher.

[kbtoyssni]

I forgot to mention that we have separate colanders, except for two of the new silicone ones that we share. I'm unsure about whether the silicone ones are safe to use for both of us... but I know that silicone doesn't "hold" gluten, and we wash them very well even before putting them in the dishwasher.

I think the issue with the colanders is that it's very hard to get every little bit of pasta out of those tiny holes, not that the material is "absorbing" gluten. I would still be leary of sharing even if you do wash them extremely well.

[Creative-Soul]

I don't know how much / if this will help you, but it may someone else...

I too am the only gluten-free person in my household, but I don't live with (my) family, and the only control I have is over my own stuff, unfortunately! I have my own wooden spoons, frying pan, separate sponge, and handwash most of the dishes & utensils that I use. Everyone else's dishes get a good rinsing before going into the dishwasher.

I've taken over a lower shelf in the fridge and don't even keep anything in the main pantry; there's no way that I can keep a gluten-free area in there! I just keep my non-perishables in a different area altogether. I don't eat bread anymore but if I ever use the toaster oven I put foil over the shelf. Slackermommy, I would suggest that you get new cookie sheets...

I've trained myself to always wash my hands before touching anything of mine / my food... hands are almost always dry now but I prefer that to being sick! I don't have a dedicated area to use when I am preparing food ( no-one else would keep it that way), so I use the kitchen before anyone else gets in there, clean down a section, and then cover it before I work there. Around times like Thanksgiving I try to do prepare all my meals a day or two before so I don't risk any cross contamination...

I am SO looking forward to when I can have my own place...