Mixed Kitchen Advice?

[StacyA]

In the middle of a thread, Scoobydoobydoo asked about mixed kitchen advice, and I'm interested too, so I thought I'd start a new post under that topic. We can read books and old posts that say get a toaster oven and have some of your own gluten-free-designated kitchenware, specifically: strainer, cutting board, perhaps even cooking utensils. Also have a separate gluten-free/nevertouchbread tub of margarine and peanut butter and jelly. Any other advice from those of you who have developed shared kitchens?

[Googles]

In the middle of a thread, Scoobydoobydoo asked about mixed kitchen advice, and I'm interested too, so I thought I'd start a new post under that topic. We can read books and old posts that say get a toaster oven and have some of your own gluten-free-designated kitchenware, specifically: strainer, cutting board, perhaps even cooking utensils. Also have a separate gluten-free/nevertouchbread tub of margarine and peanut butter and jelly. Any other advice from those of you who have developed shared kitchens?

What I did when I shared a kitchen was that I had my own cooking area. No one who was cooking with gluten products (in my case every one else) was allowed to cook there. We actually put the microwave between my area and their area to make a large delineation line. Also I had my own cupboards so as to not cc my foods. I also had my own sponges I used to clean my area and my dishes. Even though my cooking area was separate from everyone else I would wipe it down before I cooked anything. I hope this helps.

[Darn210]

Kind of depends who you else you are sharing it with and how responsible they are . . .

My 8 year old is the Celiac. My 10 year old loves his regular crackers. Since it's kids involved (although I think it's a good idea anyway), I have made the pantry completely gluten free. My daughter can open that door and have anything she wants in it. I cleaned out one cabinet and made that the gluten cabinet. That is where my husband's frosted mini-wheats and my son's crackers and cookies reside. It is also where I keep the gluten cutting board (which is a different color than my gluten free cutting board just to help me keep things straight).

In the fridge, once someone has contaminated a tub of butter (or cream cheese, etc), it gets labled with a magic marker with my son's name.

I'm not making two separate meals. All "cooked" meals are gluten free although they may be supplemented with something out of the gluten cabinet (say a hamburger bun or something). I don't know what your household situation is, but it is easier to make the meal gluten free than it is to always have to make two versions.

All my baked goods are gluten free. I don't have wheat flour in the house.

Two toasters reside on two different cabinets. The gluten toaster is on a small area. This is the only place my son is allowed to handle gluten items besides his own place at the table. I will have gluten items elsewhere in the kitchen, but I clean up after myself considerably better than my 10 year old son

I don't have a lot of duplicate items . . . the toaster, a cutting board and a cookie sheet (which once again is a different style than my gluten-free cookie sheets). My pots and pans are stainless steel. I can't remember cooking anything in them that I was concerned about, but I would just scrub them good if I cooked something with gluten in them. (They were the ones I was using before we went gluten free) If you are going to do a lot of cooking with gluten, I would consider getting a couple of dedicated pots just so you don't have the added stress of "who cleaned it? did they clean it well enough?". I would definitely have a designated nonstick skillet since you can't scrub those down with steel wool . . . well, guess you can, they just might not be nonstick when you're done.