How Do You Organize Your Kitchen?

[Wonka]

Let me start by giving you some background. I have had stomach issues always and was given the diagnosis of IBS at 18 ( I am 49 still lol). I had triplets a bit over 12 years ago and was diagnosed with fibromyalgia when they were 5. After a year of the fibromyalgia diagnosis I did an elimination diet and discovered that I have problems when ever I ate wheat, barley, rye and legumes. I stopped eating those foods (or so I thought). I was then diagnosed with GERD and last august with depression.

I felt much better when I eliminated those foods from my diet, my fibromyalgia pain and fatigue reduced by about 50%. I lost 50 lbs without trying. I was still just thinking intolerance so occasionally I would still have issues (I tend to have problems eliminating rather than diarrhea, bloating and awful vile gas). I have a friend with celiac who suggested that I should be tested for it. I have had the blood test twice (the first time I hadn't had any gluten for several years so the second time I did a gluten load) both times the test came back negative. My symptoms came back full force with the gluten loading and were only partially relieved when I eliminated gluten again. My guess is that with the second reintroduction to gluten my body has become even more sensitized to it.

My doctor does believe that I have celiac but due to the fact that I am IgA Deficient (diagnoses 30 years ago) the blood test is not useful for me. He is sending me to a GI specialist (this is the same doctor that performed my colonoscopy, at my request as my grandmother died of colon cancer) to discuss the necessity of having the biopsy or not based on my symptomology.

I really need to organize my kitchen better. I have not had gluten, knowingly, for a few months now but because I am still suffering after a few months (remember I only gluten loaded for 2 weeks and had been off gluten for years before that ) so I'm thinking that I must be having cross contamination issues. I have eliminated dairy (I noticed that I couldn't tolerate it after gluten loading), I switched to decaf. soy lattes but have found them to be a problem as well so I guess soy is out. I need to buy a toaster for myself but my kitchen is sooooo small and as far as we know I'm the only celiac in my home (I will be discussing the necessity of testing the kids but first I want to get their IgA results back). I have designated cutting boards and condiments.

My question: For those of you with celiac but living with non celiacs how do you organize your kitchens? Mine is small with not too much kitchen space (we live in a small 4 bedroom house built in the 1920s). I have all the flours and mix my own mixes and they are stored in a separate fridge down stairs but with feeling so sick still I'm grasping at straws here and looking for good suggestions for avoiding cross contamination. I've been so sick lately, migraines, muscle pain, GI distress, spontaneous blood vessels bursting in my fingers and dibilitating fatigue which has made me feel very overwhelmed with anything more than routine stuff (soccer practices/games, basketball practices/games, homework, dinners etc...)

[Phyllis28]

I have a gluten limited household, basically only bread and cereal. All this is kept outside the kitchen in a "Sandwich making station". This contains a refrigerator, a large kitchen cart with cabinets, and a microwave.

This solution may or may not work for you. The less gluten in the house and/or where you prepare your food the better.

[Jodi Mills]

There are 2 in my house hold, Me(the gluten-free) and my boyfriend the "normal eater" how we deal with the CC is I have my own counter space, and he has his, also, I have one shelf in the fridge dedicated solely to my food, mayo, butter, stuff that we both use, but he has his own. whats on my shelf is not to be used by him, unless he is making gluten-free food. Also my counter is only used for gluten-free food as well. Our kitchen is very small, our hous is smaller than a 1bdrm apt, and its a 2 bdrm house. if that tells you how small it is...lol it seems to work out nicely, I also have a plastic tub in the silverware drawer with all my spatulas and we each have our own sponges to wash the dishes with too.

we just started this a week ago, and so far it is working very well. although I am still in the healing process i dont think i have been CCd yet.

Hope this helps!

[Ridgewalker]

I really need to organize my kitchen better. I have not had gluten, knowingly, for a few months now but because I am still suffering after a few months (remember I only gluten loaded for 2 weeks and had been off gluten for years before that ) so I'm thinking that I must be having cross contamination issues. I have eliminated dairy (I noticed that I couldn't tolerate it after gluten loading), I switched to decaf. soy lattes but have found them to be a problem as well so I guess soy is out. I need to buy a toaster for myself but my kitchen is sooooo small and as far as we know I'm the only celiac in my home (I will be discussing the necessity of testing the kids but first I want to get their IgA results back). I have designated cutting boards and condiments.

My question: For those of you with celiac but living with non celiacs how do you organize your kitchens? Mine is small with not too much kitchen space (we live in a small 4 bedroom house built in the 1920s). I have all the flours and mix my own mixes and they are stored in a separate fridge down stairs but with feeling so sick still I'm grasping at straws here and looking for good suggestions for avoiding cross contamination. I've been so sick lately, migraines, muscle pain, GI distress, spontaneous blood vessels bursting in my fingers and dibilitating fatigue which has made me feel very overwhelmed with anything more than routine stuff (soccer practices/games, basketball practices/games, homework, dinners etc...)

We are a mixed household. All gluteny foods are kept outside the kitchen, in a cabinet in the laundry room, which is off our kitchen.

It's really good that you keep your cutting board and condiments separate! But you MUST also use a separate toaster!!! Every time you put a slice of gluten-free bread in a communal toaster, it's totally contaminated. I guarantee that this is contributing to your problems.

We have a teeny tiny house and kitchen. I keep our gluten-free toaster right next to our regular toaster. It's not too big a deal, you get used to it quickly. I do keep a towel over the gluten-free toaster when not in use-- to keep out stray gluten crumbs.

It's virtually impossible to remove every bit of gluten from strainers/collanders. Do you have a separate one? Wooden spoons also need to be kept separate. As a previous poster mentioned, separate dish cloths and sponges are also necessary.

Other possibilities are shampoo and conditioner-- both my old favorites had wheat extract in them. Also vitamins, medications, chapstick, and makeup.

Did you know that many spaghetti sauces have gluten? Hunt's ketchup does, as well as some salad dressings and chip dips. Have you eliminated those "hidden" glutens?

[missy'smom]

I use the broiler setting on my oven to toast my bread. Just be careful about CC not to use your broiler for gluten stuff if it is an under the oven kind and clean it before use. I don't eat it everyday so it's not a pain. I but marg, PB. etc and put part of it in a container and mark the other one G F, then add to the gluten one when it runs out.

[Wonka]

I don't like to cook using wooden spoons. I have heat resistant plastic that goes in the dishwasher. Do you think I need to buy separate ones (I cook mostly gluten free but occasionally I make them a gluten treat)? I have a metal colander and I do know that it is really hard to clean all the starch off of it so I will be replacing it. I have been toasting in the oven but I would really like the ease of a toaster (I guess I'll have to find space for one somewhere).

I do plan on contacting all complanies that supply my vitamins and meds regarding the use of wheat starch. I don't wear make up with the exception of lipstick and I've checked with them already. I never even considered my shampoo and conditioner. Man there is a lot to learn.

I love to cook and have become quite adept at adapting recipes so this latest set back and reacting to everything has been a real pain in the you know where. Thankfully I have been cooking from scratch most of my life so eating gluten free is not such a hard transition. It's the cross contamination issue that has me flustered. Do all of you go throw many clothes/sponges a day? I already go through one a day sometimes two. Training my family to be more careful is going to be my toughest job yet.

What do you think of this idea? I was thinking of getting a big rubbermaid container that I can put all the kids/husbands gluten snacks/foods into (or put all my gluten free food into). I may have to keep it in the dining room (blech) as I don't have anywhere else but downstairs to place it and I would have an uproar here if everyone had to go downstairs every time they were hungry. I'm thinking out loud here. It would probably be better if I put my stuff in and kept it downstairs, less grumbling.

Thanks everyone for all the suggestions. Keep em coming. I've done a general reply as I'm still trying to figure out this site.

[Ridgewalker]

If the plastic spoons don't have any melted spots, they're probably ok. (I am known to occasionally melt my spoons! ) If they are melted or distorted at all, throw them out.

Yeah, the shampoo and conditioner can be tough. I was bummed to give up my old ones. But that stuff gets all over your face, not to mention residue staying in your hair. It's inevitable that some will get in your mouth, plus it's all over your hands.... not worth it.

Also, check lotions and soap. Another thing that got me was oats in my lotions. That's very common, and those oats are going to be contaminated with wheat.

For the dishes, my scrubby sponge is just for the gluten-free dishes. Dish cloths are for gluteny dishes, and then they immediately go in the laundry. This is convenient for me, since my laundry room is off the kitchen. As a matter of fact, I did just buy a bunch more last week, because ya do go through them.

If it's a hassle for you, hang a grocery bag inside your under-the-sink cabinet. Throw the dishcloths in there and then empty it every couple days. If I have to use the scrubby sponge on a gluteny dish, then it gets trashed immediately afterward.

The only person in my house who eats gluten is my husband. He has learned to be careful if he cooks gluteny food. If he's not careful, we get sick. If he makes a sandwich, he makes it on a plate and wipes the counter with a wet paper towel. If he cooks pasta, he doesn't let the pasta water splash everywhere, cleans it up, etc. It took time for him to get that those things are important.

Other CC issues... If someone makes a sandwich and then reaches into a bag of chips without washing their hands, the bag of chips can get contaminated. Same thing with ice cubes.

Several people have mentioned getting glutened by kissing someone who just ate a gluten-filled meal. I've not had that happen so far, but it can and does happen.

[tarnalberry]

Anything shared is gluten free. So, there's a cutting board, behind which hides the toaster (I don't bother with a toaster), that my husband uses for all his wheat-y goodness. There's one shelf (up high in a cupboard I can't reach) for his granola bars, cereal, crackers, and oatmeal. That's it. Everything else is gluten free. Of course, we don't do lots of specialty stuff, but the flours and pancake mix is gluten free.

[Rosebud710]

I have all my flours in their own shelf in our pantry.

I have all my utensils in a container.

I have my own toaster which is kept in a cabinet and taken out only when I use it.

If I'm making a sandwich, I just use my plate to prepare it. I'm the only gluten-free out of a family of 4 - so I don't trust the counters no matter how much I wipe them down. I have two young kids who are just not careful.

[gfp]

What can go wrong will go wrong....

Sharing a kitchen is always going to have mistakes, how many or how frequently you can moderate but you must accept that you will get CC from time to time...

One way to look at it; If you changed gluten for rat poision where would you keep it?

Would you sprinkle it in the toaster ?? Wipe it off surfaces etc.

The problem is gluten/wheat is to most people an innocuous substance... yet it takes the tiniest amount to make us sick.

Imagine you had rat poop on the work surface or sofa... you wouldn't just brush it onto the floor ... yet for non celiacs this is a not untypical way to deal with a odd crumb.. yet the rat poop is much less likely to make you sick, we just look differently at it.

I have spent quite a lot of my life working in labs where pretty much everything is toxic to some degree ... and labs have strict rules. These rules can seem pretty stupid ... and some of the substances that are locked away you can find in any kitchen... (Oven cleaner for example) ... the reason is that sooner or later one thing will come into contact with another.

I have lots of friend who have various burns (chemical and heat) from not following these rules... things just happen when you least expect. In a lab you drop a flask ... in the kitchen someone drops a bag of flour or opens the bread and bits fly out... or you just pick up the wrong dishcloth to wipe it down ... use the wrong spoon in the condiment etc. etc.

If you are very disciplined you can reduce these incidents but you can never really eliminate them.

[Joni63]

I am the only gluten free in a household of 4. I haven't had cc problems and just got my 6 month Celiac Panel back and all numbers (5 of them) were negative.

All of my gluten free items are in 2 cabinets. The gluteny items are in their own. The dishes are in with my food because crumbs were dropping on them from gluteny crackers, etc. I always rinse out any pot or pan just before I use it. I don't have my own utensils or can openers, but do make sure they are clean when I use them. I always put a paper towel down or plate when I'm preparing my own food. All the utensils/pots/pans/dishclotshs/scrubbies/dishtowels are shared, but kept clean. I do have my own toaster oven for preparing food and the kids use the toaster. I have my own butter and jelly and peanut butter labeled 'mom's' and they either do not use it or I put their butter on their bread for them. I ususally keep my snack foods separate from theirs and give them handfuls from the bag instead of them reaching in for themselves.

But...one thing I'm obsessive about...I very rarely eat anything produced on the same lines as wheat. I just don't think I want to risk cc if someone didn't do their job properly and thoroughly clean the machine.

I also do make sure toothpaste and hair care and makeup and skin products are gluten free.

The only cc issues I had was from my own mistakes when I was first learning, but since then I haven't had any. Thise setup has worked great for me and when I recently got back the Celiac Panel and all was negative it made me know that it was working for me.

Good luck, I'm sure you will figure out what works for you.

[aikiducky]

It's a good suggestion to check that you are not eating a lot of products that are made on the same lines as gluten containing products. The risk might seem small but my experience is I get sick from that type of thing more often than from cc at home.

Another thing is I wouldn't have gluten flour at home AT ALL. It fluffs up in the air and settles over everything. And certainly don't do baking with gluten flour yourself.

I used to think I had been glutened all the time until I realized I react to cow's milk with very similar symptoms. That's also a possibility.

Pauliina

[Wonka]

I am the one who makes the kids lunches (generally sandwiches). I'm probably contaminating myself regularly. At 12, it may be time to put them in charge of that part of the lunch making.

I did all sorts of baking at Christmas with gluten flour (and some gluten free baking), time to rethink baking for the family. It can't hurt them to have their treats be gluten free (they are most of the time anyway). I will have to see if my non celiac friends would like to be gifted with my plethora of gluten flours (I used to do alot of bread baking at one time). It seems so obvious, now, that I shouldn't have them in the house.

My husband grew up eating schnitzel (Austrian parents). I make these occasionally. I prep mine first (rice flour and gluten free bread crumbs) put on a plate and wrap in plastic then I prep for the rest of the family. I always have mine cooked first then we take the glutened ones and cook them second. Does this sound alright?

When making pizza, I make mine first and place it on my peel (it hasn't had gluten on it) and put it directly on the stone (it had been used in my bread baking but not since I cleaned the oven with the stone left inside - it came out amazingly like new). For the rest of the family I use a sheet pan (but again I have been making these from scratch). Should I stop making pizza dough? I'm thinking I should. What do you think about buying already prepared dough and just rolling it out, rather than starting from scratch? Or is the risk too high?

I'm starting to feel less overwhelmed. Thankyou everyone for all the suggestions and insights. They have not fallen on deaf ears.

[gfp]

I am the one who makes the kids lunches (generally sandwiches). I'm probably contaminating myself regularly. At 12, it may be time to put them in charge of that part of the lunch making.

I did all sorts of baking at Christmas with gluten flour (and some gluten free baking), time to rethink baking for the family. It can't hurt them to have their treats be gluten free (they are most of the time anyway). I will have to see if my non celiac friends would like to be gifted with my plethora of gluten flours (I used to do alot of bread baking at one time). It seems so obvious, now, that I shouldn't have them in the house.

My husband grew up eating schnitzel (Austrian parents). I make these occasionally. I prep mine first (rice flour and gluten free bread crumbs) put on a plate and wrap in plastic then I prep for the rest of the family. I always have mine cooked first then we take the glutened ones and cook them second. Does this sound alright?

When making pizza, I make mine first and place it on my peel (it hasn't had gluten on it) and put it directly on the stone (it had been used in my bread baking but not since I cleaned the oven with the stone left inside - it came out amazingly like new). For the rest of the family I use a sheet pan (but again I have been making these from scratch). Should I stop making pizza dough? I'm thinking I should. What do you think about buying already prepared dough and just rolling it out, rather than starting from scratch? Or is the risk too high?

I'm starting to feel less overwhelmed. Thankyou everyone for all the suggestions and insights. They have not fallen on deaf ears.

pre-made dough sounds like a step in the right direction...

most old hands have already heard this story... but Ill repeat it...

For a long time I had a mixed kitchen .. and for along time i had niggly stuff bordering on glutening but not quite full blown...

One night I made pasta, two pans, two spoons etc. and halfway through my pasta spirals I found a shell.

I have no idea how... no recollection of being anything but careful but somehow I messed up...

[kbtoyssni]

Don't have much time, but you could try toaster bags: Open Original Shared Link

You could then use your old gluten toaster. Or you could toast your bread using your oven broiler.

[aikiducky]

I don't cook gluten stuff at all. Anyone who lives with me has to either live with that or cook themselves. But I don't have kids so that helps.

You're starting to think in the right direction I think. Yeah pre-made dough would be a better idea. And if you cook both gluteny schnitzel and gluten free, wash hands plenty every time you touch anything. Don't just absent mindedly wipe them off the kitchen towel, which will then be contaminated. That kind of thing.

Pauliina

[Wonka]

Don't have much time, but you could try toaster bags: Open Original Shared Link

You could then use your old gluten toaster. Or you could toast your bread using your oven broiler.

I've never heard of them. I'm not sure I've seen them up here (Vancouver, BC) but then I never looked for them either. Thanks for the heads up.

[gfp]

Don't just absent mindedly wipe them off the kitchen towel, which will then be contaminated. That kind of thing.

Pauliina

This is the problem I find.... not specifically kitchen towels but everything from cutlery to dishes etc.

Sooner or later an accident will happen ...

Obviously there is a lot you can do to prevent them... but I don't really think they are completely avoidable with gluten in the kitchen.

1/ Seperate shelves etc. are a good start... still.. I find guests etc. put stuff away when Im doing stuff ..

2/ Really no gluten flour ... its a timebomb... you wouldn't keep a bag of anthrax in the kitchen ... and the problem with flour is its so easily airborne..and next to invisible... so if you just get a tiny amount on a worksurface every cloth you use becomes contaminated etc. PLUS you put down a condiment jar etc. and the bottom gets contaminated... next time you handle the bottom your hands become contaminated etc.

Of course you can mitigate this.... wash hands after touching each jar ... throw dishcloths away etc. but in the end I find this actually way more restrictive (life changing) than just banning gluten!

If you have kids getting them to take care when they are hungry, in a rush etc. is hard enough... but if they have friends over ??? all bets are off. I even find the same with adult guests .. not long ago I cooked for about 6 people.. I had home made pate that cost a fortune to make (fresh truffles at $2000/lb) and didn't even get to try it because someone used a knife they had used on their bread (I allowed in) ... so while they watched the bread it just takes one absent minded action to contaminate something. You can throw out a pack of butter or jar of jelly but it it does in my experience get to a point where you start thinking "Maybe this one is OK" ...

[Wonka]

I have given away all my gluten flour. I dumped out my cutlery drawer and threw everything in the dishwasher and scrubbed the drawer out and moved the toaster which was on the counter above the cutlery drawer (I placed the families toaster on a wooden tray on the counter that has been designated for them. I still need to tackle the cupboards but I need to do this in baby steps as my energy level is still minimal (plus it is less overwhelming that way).

I do no cooking with gluten products anymore. I think if they want schnitzel my hubby will have to prepare, make and clean up the debris himself or eat them the way I do which is still pretty tasty. All my baking will only be gluten free from now on.

I have had 5 days with no gas or bloating and I'm happy about that. I'm still constipated (not hard and dry buy I seem to have a sluggish bowel with inadequate peristalsis for proper elimination - is that what it's like for most of you with constipation?) Lots of muscle pain but I have been headache free for 2 days Yeah! I feel like I'm making progress and that is a good thing.

[aikiducky]

Sounds good! I think the muscle pain and fatigue will be things that improve more slowly. Keep up the good work (at your own pace of course).

Pauliina

[Wonka]

Sounds good! I think the muscle pain and fatigue will be things that improve more slowly. Keep up the good work (at your own pace of course).

Pauliina

Thanks. I sure hope that the muscle pain and fatigue do improve. I would be happy to find out that fibromyalgia is a misdiagnosis. When I originally discovered that wheat was a problem I changed my diet and my fatigue and pain reduced by half but I wasn't as diligent about the diet or making my home safe (because I didn't know any better) so I was contaminating myself pretty regularly still.