I Love My Family, But...

[atflyaway]

I'm afraid to go back home now whenever I have time off from school. Here at college, my room mate and I keep an immaculately clean kitchen and she knows that we should use separate cookware since I've gone gluten free. At my parent's house, I have a really hard time communicating the fact that this is necessary. My mom offers to cook gluten free meals for me, but I'm afraid to eat what she makes because their kitchen is just not clean enough. They do ALOT of baking and theres flour dust everywhere (which I never noticed before the gluten free diet, of course). I glutened myself after trying to bake there for the first time. I try to make them more aware of the situation, but I feel like a broken record. I think my sisters just think I'm melodramatic and paranoid. Any advice on how to communicate your needs? Are there any good books I can provide my family with?

[johnsoniu]

Danna Korn has "Living Gluten Free for Dummies" and "Wheat Free, Worry Free".

Peter Green's "Celiac Disease: A Hidden Epidemic"

All are very good and very informative. Green's can get a bit technical , though, but I would still highly recommend them all.

[NoGluGirl]

I'm afraid to go back home now whenever I have time off from school. Here at college, my room mate and I keep an immaculately clean kitchen and she knows that we should use separate cookware since I've gone gluten free. At my parent's house, I have a really hard time communicating the fact that this is necessary. My mom offers to cook gluten free meals for me, but I'm afraid to eat what she makes because their kitchen is just not clean enough. They do ALOT of baking and theres flour dust everywhere (which I never noticed before the gluten free diet, of course). I glutened myself after trying to bake there for the first time. I try to make them more aware of the situation, but I feel like a broken record. I think my sisters just think I'm melodramatic and paranoid. Any advice on how to communicate your needs? Are there any good books I can provide my family with?

Dear atflyaway,

I understand where you are coming from. My parents are not gluten free, and I am stuck (against my will) living here. So, keeping things gluten-free is difficult. Dad and Mom are not careful at all, and eat crackers, cereal, and toast near my coffee and stuff. Unfortunately, they did not tell me, and I got sick. They do not take Celiac seriously. My parents think I am melodramatic, obsessive, and paranoid also. I am going to get an airtight storage container for my cookware and utensils and stuff. That way, I can have all of my stuff together and if dust does fly, it won't get on it. I also got some little brightly colored dot stickers to put on my condiments like ketchup and margerine. That way, they know not to eat from it. I also carve something in it with a fork, so I know if it has been disturbed wrongfully. That way, I know not to eat it, if someone is lying to me.

Sincerely,

NoGluGirl

[kbtoyssni]

I've been glutened several times at my parents' house which is frustrating since my mum's also gluten-free and the house is 99% gluten-free. Maybe you could cook up some food and put it in single serving sizes before you go. I'd try to minimize the amount of cooking you do there. Try eating things like hard boiled eggs and bananas since there's less chance of contamination.

[atflyaway]

Good advice. Thank you all.