Mixed Kitchens - There's Gotta Be A Way.....

[angelschick]

I don't have an official diagnosis but after tonight I may think I do for sure. Been gluten-free for 8 days - felt a massive difference already, no more D, gas, bloating, belly pain and the joint pain was GONE. BUT I seem to have CC myself. I'm not certain exactly where it came from but I was not super strict about CC since I wasn't sure gluten was my problem. So, same pans, same mixer, same utensils. URGH! Last night I had dinner and got gas and bloating right away, thought maybe I didn't read the label right on the wrapped steak but then it happened again tonight. Tonight I had Jimmy Dean sausage with pancakes made from Pam's mix. I had made my family regular pancakes, washed all the bowls and beaters from the mixer, then made my food. Well, gas came back and now my joints are killing me and I'm limping :-(

So - how does one do a mixed kitchen? I have 6 children and a VERY limited budget so entire house gluten free isn't an option. Hubby is saying I need my own cabinet to store my stuff and separate utensils, cutting board and pans - what am I missing? Is hand washing enough on knifes and silverware? We don't have a dishwasher. Any help would be great as I am so confused, sad, scared and just depressed right now. I was really enjoying feeling no pain.

[curlyfries]

A mixed kitchen is do-able, but very problematic if you continue to use regular flour. You could not get me near a bag of flour. I can get sick just from breathing it. Plus, it floats in the air and lands on EVERYTHING you will touch. My hubby still has his sandwiches and cereal, but that's about it.

We don't use the same mayo, margarine or peanut butter because his knife that goes into those has touched his bread. Most of our dinners are nomal meals.....baked chicken, stew, roast (potato starch to make gravy), fish, so no added expense there. I only fix pasta occassionally, and he eats what I eat.

Handwashing should be fine, but you should get your own colander, cutting board, plastic utensils, plastic storage containers (plastic often is scratched and gluten can be difficult to completely clean from little crevices). Same goes for teflon pans and metal baking pans (I cover mine with foil--not the teflon ). You also need your own toaster. Pots and pans that are not teflon should be fine as long as they are washed well. I haven't had a problem with silverware...but I have a dishwasher (not to say a dishwasher will get all gluten, btw). I guess I could see where that might be an issue for some .......especially the knives.

Hope this helps! It will get easier and you will have more and more pain-free days!

Lisa

[Juliebove]

We have a mixed kitchen. Daughter and I both have food allergies, although not necessarily the same. Since she has more allergies than I do, and my husband and parents can't always tell if she is allergic to something or not, I had to set up areas for her food.

We tried a shelf in the refrigerator and labels, but we just don't have room for that. So I bought her a little fridge. This is good for things like hummus, mustard, and other foods that might get cross contaminated. She can also put her special foods in there like gluten-free baked goods. We got the kind with the little freezer on top with separate door. We needed it for things like gluten-free waffles, sorbet and other special foods for her.

Shelf stable things go on a shelving unit. One day we might have an actual pantry. But for now we are making do. I simply don't have a spare cabinet for all that stuff.

There are some things I do not bring into the house at all. Like wheat flour. If I need to use flour for something, I only use gluten-free flour. Yes it is more expensive, but it's just a lot easier that way. Plus I don't have to take up shelf space with all kinds of flour or risk cross contamination.

At first, I got rid of anything and everything that had her allergens in it. That just wasn't feasible. My husband wanted things like regular bread. And I wanted some canned soup that she couldn't eat. So I eventually started buying those things. I have two toasters. One is hers and hers alone. The canned goods are in a shared cupboard so she has to check ingredients on anything she eats that is there. But I do try to limit what I buy that she can't eat. I buy one kind of soup for myself. One kind of cereal.

My husband likes a lot of different kinds of cereal. So I put that in a high cupboard. That way she won't accidentally get it. I buy him some prepared food. Like sandwiches. Lunchable type things withi cheese, crackers and meat. A few shelf stable or frozen meals. He complains some. He would prefer food made from scratch. But I just refuse to bring some things in the house that I would have to prepare.

I do try to make our meals gluten free. I use a lot of rice and rice pasta and base our meals around that. It's not that expensive. Although my daughter's food can be expensive, our dinners are not. I have learned how to make pretty much anything into a gluten-free meal. I've even made chicken fried steaks.

[MollyBeth]

If you've only been gluten free for eight days you're body is probably still ridding itself of gluten. You might not be glutening yourself. For the first six days of my diet I saw instant results but then after that I would still have some symptoms from time to time. I'm over a month into it now and my symptoms seem finallly just seem to have evened out.

[angelschick]

Thanks for all the ideas everyone. So is it possible some symptoms were gone and then just showed up with me CC myself? I mean my pain was totally GONE, as were my GI issues. I still have symptoms left like fatigue and my fingers still feel funny.

I haven't used the jars in the fridge yet as I have yet to try a gluten-free bread, so no PB or Jelly or even mayo yet. I have kept my food kinda simple till the last two days. I am tempted to get rid of the wheat flour totally and just not use it but baking is a cheap way to make food when the budget is super short. Muffins go a long way in my house.

All this brings up such an interesting issue. My husband's work is having a Christmas party on the 20th, catered. I have the name and number of the lady who is in charge and after last night there is no doubt in my mind that I need to call her and see if they can accommodate me.

I have to keep reminding myself today that knowing what is/was causing all my pain is a better dx than something that needed pills or didn't HAVE a "fix".

[ang1e0251]

I have to agree that keeping you healthy is an investment in your family's health. I have banned the wheat flour from my kitchen. So far washing shared utensils has worked for me after I ridded the kitchen of scratched skillets. I think you could definately have breathed in flour. I won't go near it any more. Could you get some help preparing batters with flours in another location? My mom wants some bran muffins but she knows I can't breathe flour. I said I could assemble everything but the flour and she could add that. We will bake those in her kitchen.

I know it's a pain. But it is a literal pain for you to be glutened. And if you feel that sick, I wonder how your intestine is doing. There has to be a way for you to be well and your family to be satisfied as well. Keep asking questions. Between all of us, we should be able to help you.

[lizard00]

Get rid of the wheat flour. With the exception of goldfish crackers and my husband and son's bread, my house is gluten free. If I make pancakes, I do it with gluten-free mix. I learned that the same way as you... I made regular pancakes for my family thinking as long as I didn't eat them I'd be fine.

WRONG! I was sick the rest of the day. Breathing wheat flour is toxic for us... and breathing it is gets it in your body much faster. And it stays in the air for quite a few hours, and lands on things and contaminates it... on and on. Bottom line, don't touch it or breathe it or look at it! LOL

Otherwise, we do pretty well with having bread and crackers. Goldfish leave little to no crumbs, and my husband is VERY careful with the bread. If my son eats a sandwich, most of the time he makes it for him. We have separate jars of peanut butter, labeled with our names.

[Darn210]

We're mixed too . . . and seem to do just fine. All meals (where I actually cook ) are gluten free and that's not that hard to do with just a few substitutions. There is a "gluten" cabinet with bread/buns/cereal/crackers and everything in the pantry is gluten free. All baking is gluten free. When everyone talks about getting rid of the wheat flour, they also mean the mixes (cake, pancake, bisquick, muffin, etc) not just the canister on the counter. To reduce the cost of some of your gluten-free foods, look into buying in bulk from Amazon and use their subscribe and save program which will give you an additional 15% off and free shipping no matter what your total cost is. I buy my Pamela's baking/pancake mix that way . . . significantly cheaper than Whole Foods.

[dksart]

Mixed kitchen here as well. It has taken me three years to get the routines down.

No one is allowed to use certain pans, colanders or any wooden spoons or cutting boards for gluteny things. All gluten containing items are restricted to one cabinet away from the Gluten-free stuff. No flours or mixes allowed anywhere near my kitchen unless it is totally Gluten-free. If they want wheat-y bread, pancakes etc. they have to buy it pre-made. There is a designated toaster for their poisonous foods and a separate one for mine. There is only one waffle maker because I do not allow gluten containing mixes anyway.

If someone makes a grilled cheese or whatever with wheat, barley or rye stuff, they have to take out all non-gluten items first (i.e. butter, cheese, pans, dishes, napkins etc.) before they touch the yucky stuff. Then, immediately after cooking they must wash their hands, wipe down the stove and counters, wash the pan and utensils, twice and re-clean the stove etc. afterward.

Not only does this provide extra safeguards against cc, it discourages them from cooking any of their nastiness.

[home-based-mom]

In addition to all of the above, wash their dishes, utensils, pots, pans, whatever with a separate sponge or cloth than what you use for yours. Never the twain shall meet. Wash your stuff FIRST so their stuff doesn't contaminate the dishwater. NEVER wipe your hands on a kitchen towel. Use a paper one. If you need to economize and use it over, buy a pattern that is yours and yours alone that they are not allowed to touch. Don't forget things like refridgerator and microwave handles that gluteny hands contaminate.

Does anyone watch TV while eating gluteny foods and get their gluteny hands all over the remote control? I bought my own (cheap at Walmart) and hide it.

[imagine22]

I have celiac disease and have never had a problem with having a mixed kitchen.

I do have a separate toaster though and separate jars of butter and jam to avoid contamination.

I use all the same pans and utensils but I do wash them carefully in a dishwasher (all together is fine).

I also dont have any gluten flour in the house as we just use gluten free as Im the only one baking cakes and I use it for everything ie flouring meats etc.

My family eat normal pasta, cereal and bread and we haven't had an issue - but make sure you label things well and have a separate cupboard for gluten products (or vice versa) so you dont absentmindedly use the wrong tomato sauce etc!

[caek-is-a-lie]

I'm only recently gluten free so my systems aren't perfect yet, but I have quite a few food allergies so we've lived with the concept for awhile. We don't keep flour or sugar in the house and haven't for awhile. I have my own shelf in the fridge and we often cook separate dinners for ourselves since my son hates eating what we do anyway. His father is starting to suspect maybe he has allergies, too, since he's so picky.

But now that I'm avoiding gluten, my boyfriend's bread crumbs on the counter are driving me crazy. If I don't clean them up, they jump into my food while I'm preparing it. I feel like I've turned into Mo from Wall-E, constantly running after the crumbs with a sponge. And every time I turn around, there's more! Especially on the clean dishes from the dishwasher. I can tell when he's come home for lunch because I find new crumbs on the counter. It's driving me mad (and I'm not normally a neat freak.)