Is It Possible To Eat gluten-free In A Household Of G-Eaters?

[kimann79]

I went gluten-free Saturday and I'm beginning to wonder if it would just be easier and safer to just have a gluten-free kitchen. I do ALL of the cooking and baking. My kids and hubby are used to homemade bread nearly every day. I don't think it's wise for me to do anymore. I mean, I grind my own grains and the flour gets EVERYWHERE. We have butcher block counter tops and I'm fairly certain they are teaming with little glutanites.

I had my first (sorry if TMI) normal, non-constipated BM on Monday and was normal again on Tuesday and Wednesday, but I'm back to being constipated today and I wonder if it had to do with making my girls a sandwich on sprouted wheat tortillas. I washed my hands but between washing their faces and sweeping the floor and wiping the table I'm positive some wheat made it's way into my system.

Has anyone managed to have wheat in the house and not gotten sick from it? My husband is supportive and okay with my making gluten-free meals. My kids are too young to notice. It wouldn't be impossible- as long as I could come up with a decent gluten free bread and tortilla recipe.

Also, would my symptoms respond that early? I was only gluten free for a couple days before having a normal BM and than it was back to not normal.

[i-geek]

Yes, your symptoms could have responded that early. And some people have successfully remained gluten-free in a mixed kitchen, but I am not one of them. We had to go gluten-free except for the husband's beer brewing (for which he has his own pans and utensils) because husband's bread crumbs and what-not ended up all over the place and I kept getting CCed. I can't imagine that you'd be able to safely bake gluten bread without inhaling all of that flour- much of what enters the nasal cavity makes its way down the esophagus so you'd be ingesting it regardless. If you do all of the cooking, then you need to make your safety a priority.

I've had really good luck with the Skillet Cornbread, Gluten-free Focaccia (makes an excellent pizza dough, as well), English Muffins(nice for burger buns), and Irish Soda Bread from the Open Original Shared Link website. She's dairy/egg allergic and since I'm not, I sub in dairy milk, butter, and eggs and the recipes work just fine. There's a learning curve for gluten-free baking- the doughs are batters, really, and the textures/tastes are different, but there are some really good recipes out there.

[kimann79]

Yes, your symptoms could have responded that early. And some people have successfully remained gluten-free in a mixed kitchen, but I am not one of them. We had to go gluten-free except for the husband's beer brewing (for which he has his own pans and utensils) because husband's bread crumbs and what-not ended up all over the place and I kept getting CCed. I can't imagine that you'd be able to safely bake gluten bread without inhaling all of that flour- much of what enters the nasal cavity makes its way down the esophagus so you'd be ingesting it regardless. If you do all of the cooking, then you need to make your safety a priority.

I've had really good luck with the Skillet Cornbread, Gluten-free Focaccia (makes an excellent pizza dough, as well), English Muffins(nice for burger buns), and Irish Soda Bread from the Open Original Shared Link website. She's dairy/egg allergic and since I'm not, I sub in dairy milk, butter, and eggs and the recipes work just fine. There's a learning curve for gluten-free baking- the doughs are batters, really, and the textures/tastes are different, but there are some really good recipes out there.

I'll check out her website. I made a pizza "dough" yesterday and I was horrified by the mixture. The recipe said it would look like soft white bread dough and at NO point did it! LOL. It did come out nice and crispy, though, and I was impressed with the texture. Thanks for the tip. Now, I just have to find someone to sell my grain mill to and by a new, non contaminated one so that I can grind my own rice and sorghum. Those flours are pricey!

[elle's mom]

I'll check out her website. I made a pizza "dough" yesterday and I was horrified by the mixture. The recipe said it would look like soft white bread dough and at NO point did it! LOL. It did come out nice and crispy, though, and I was impressed with the texture. Thanks for the tip. Now, I just have to find someone to sell my grain mill to and by a new, non contaminated one so that I can grind my own rice and sorghum. Those flours are pricey!

If you're going to bake from scratch I highly recommend Annalise Roberts' (sp?) "Baking Gluten Free Classics" cookbook. I haven't tried breads, but the cakes are excellent! I would say even better than most "regular" gluten cakes. Having used several brands of gluten free mixes, I found her recipes to be far far better. I bought the flour she recommended online, but I'm sure you could grind your own, she gives the proportion for the mix in the beginning of the book. Good luck!

[Juliebove]

At first we went totally gluten free. But then my husband started complaining. So I would buy him prepared sandwiches. Eventually I started buying occasional loaves of bread. That is kept in a separate place and we have a gluten free toaster. I buy occasional boxed of crackers and prepared cookies and cakes for husband. Daughter is the one with the allergy. She does not touch these things.

I would never bring wheat flour into the house. And if I were the one with the gluten issue, I would not be touching it.

[Kelly&Mom]

So far we have a mixed household. I used to make bread, desserts, etc. and my teenage daughter still does so I have regular flours in the cupboard and my husband and 2 of my daughters eat bread. I wipe up their bread crumbs, etc. and try to keep everything really clean, wash pans really well, etc. How do my daughter and I know if we've been glutened? My daughter's blood test just came back good but she still has an upset stomach, Dr. has said she probably has IBS. How do I know?

[sandsurfgirl]

My kids are 2 and 6, so they still eat really messy. I had to go gluten free in the house because they were constantly glutening me with crumbs.

I would not cook gluten for the rest of the family. There are plenty of good subs they can eat and then they can have gluten outside the home or in prepackaged foods.

The best bread I've found so far (I swear I post this daily ) is Gluten Free Pantry Basic White Bread Mis and their French Bread and Pizza Mix. The bread is very "normal" and the gluten eaters love it. less than half the price of Udi's and super easy to make. The Pizza mix is really really good and I'm an Italian girl who sobbed over pizza after diagnosis. It's about 4.50 for a box which makes a regular bread sized loaf.

I have been using mixes because I got so annoyed with trying to make recipes, but there are tons of recipes on the boards here.

Some people will say replace your kitchen, but if you're like me you have good kitchen utensils, etc. and that would be costly. I scrubbed everything to death and vacuumed teh crumbs that fall of the counter into the drawers. I cleaned my kitchen really well and it was fine. I didn't replace anything except I got myself a new toaster and labeled it gluten free.

Arrowhead Mills makes a great gluten free pancake mix. My kids love those pancakes.

[Tina B]

Bob Red Mill Gluten Free Pancake Mix is also very good.

[kitgordon]

Our house is mixed - I am gluten free, hubby and 3 (grown or nearly) kids are not. I cook dinner and that is gluten free, but they have their own bread, snacks, and cereal separate from mine. I won't keep flour in the house though; it gets into everything!

[kimann79]

Some people will say replace your kitchen, but if you're like me you have good kitchen utensils, etc. and that would be costly. I scrubbed everything to death and vacuumed teh crumbs that fall of the counter into the drawers. I cleaned my kitchen really well and it was fine. I didn't replace anything except I got myself a new toaster and labeled it gluten free.

Ha! Replace my kitchen? We just did...totally remodeled it. There is NO way my husband will be okay with me buying new pots, pans and bake ware. I'll just have to scrub everything out really well.

I think I'm going to have to not deal with any gluten containing products in my kitchen until I figure this all out. Which is fine with me because my three year old has had digestive trouble since she was born and I was considering putting her on the diet anyway to see how she does.

My digestive complaints aren't as bad as some on here...mainly chronic constipation. I'm doing this because I have autoimmune disease and chronic anemia and vitamin deficiencies. I'm afraid, if I continue to CC I will not get an accurate picture of my response to this.

Sandsurfgirl- I'm Italian too and from NY. I cried when I moved to Ohio because of the lack of decent pizza here. I was so excited to find a little pizzeria downtown owned by a guy from Naples...it was like I was home again! Now I can't eat it. I may cry again...

[polarbearscooby]

My house is VERY mixed. I'm the only one who lives on the gluten-free diet. In fact I prepare almost all the food that's eaten in our house. So far I've been CC'ed a few times but I've kept it under control.

I can't say I love making my sisters sandwiches or other wheat things. But I suck it up and do it anyway

I keep most of my food in ziplock bags, I have my own toaster oven, and avoid using our regular oven and NEVER use the family toaster. No one eats my food so that's good. (That stuff is stinking expensive )

So I guess what I'm trying to say is that with enough dedication you can do it. I mean. I live with 5 other people and two of them are little kids....so yeah...

[Tina B]

My house is VERY mixed. I'm the only one who lives on the gluten-free diet. In fact I prepare almost all the food that's eaten in our house. So far I've been CC'ed a few times but I've kept it under control.

I can't say I love making my sisters sandwiches or other wheat things. But I suck it up and do it anyway

I keep most of my food in ziplock bags, I have my own toaster oven, and avoid using our regular oven and NEVER use the family toaster. No one eats my food so that's good. (That stuff is stinking expensive )

So I guess what I'm trying to say is that with enough dedication you can do it. I mean. I live with 5 other people and two of them are little kids....so yeah...

Good for you!!! I am the only one in our household and the mom and the cook. Now my 2 sons are out of college and gone so it is only my husband and I. I could have made our kitchen totally gluten free and they would have done it for me but I never thought it was fair to them. If I was making a main meal it would be gluten free. Things like stew, soup, casseroles are easy enough to subsitute thickeners etc. I still made them regular sandwiches for their school lunches and baked them regular cookies and desserts. If it was a special occasion dinner I would make a gluten free cheesecake for dessert with fresh fruit topping and just change the crust to be gluten free. There is no gluten in the filling anyway. That way I didn't feel weird with company and everyone loves the cheesecake. For the rest of the meal it's easy enough to make it completely gluten free ie: beef roast mashed potatoes, rice, roast chicken, sweet potatoes , to name some examples. Even made pumpkin pie for thanksgiving bu using crushed gluten free gingersnaps for the crust.

I never had a problem and was careful about crumbs in the butter, cream cheese, etc. They also learned to be careful about that too. If they got candy at halloween they knew how to read ingredient labels and would pick out a few I could have. They were great.

[Tina B]

If you're going to bake from scratch I highly recommend Annalise Roberts' (sp?) "Baking Gluten Free Classics" cookbook. I haven't tried breads, but the cakes are excellent! I would say even better than most "regular" gluten cakes. Having used several brands of gluten free mixes, I found her recipes to be far far better. I bought the flour she recommended online, but I'm sure you could grind your own, she gives the proportion for the mix in the beginning of the book. Good luck!

I thought the Wholefoods own gluten free bakery pizza crusts were good. Just pop on your own toppings. I put them directly on the oven rack so they crisp and bake them a a higher temp then the package says. I use 400 degrees.

[polarbearscooby]

Good for you!!! I am the only one in our household and the mom and the cook. Now my 2 sons are out of college and gone so it is only my husband and I. I could have made our kitchen totally gluten free and they would have done it for me but I never thought it was fair to them. If I was making a main meal it would be gluten free. Things like stew, soup, casseroles are easy enough to subsitute thickeners etc. I still made them regular sandwiches for their school lunches and baked them regular cookies and desserts. If it was a special occasion dinner I would make a gluten free cheesecake for dessert with fresh fruit topping and just change the crust to be gluten free. There is no gluten in the filling anyway. That way I didn't feel weird with company and everyone loves the cheesecake. For the rest of the meal it's easy enough to make it completely gluten free ie: beef roast mashed potatoes, rice, roast chicken, sweet potatoes , to name some examples. Even made pumpkin pie for thanksgiving bu using crushed gluten free gingersnaps for the crust.

I never had a problem and was careful about crumbs in the butter, cream cheese, etc. They also learned to be careful about that too. If they got candy at halloween they knew how to read ingredient labels and would pick out a few I could have. They were great.

Thanks! It's taken a lot of work...but we still do it.

I cook lots of gluten-free meals, like tacos, soups, stews, etc.

But if I have to make spaghetti and I don't have enough gluten-free noodles, I'll make gluten-free sauce, the meat, and everything else except the noodles.

My Dad's pretty good about helping me out if I don't feel like touching bread....

[looking4help]

I went gluten free in April of this year and we began trying to do separate meals in the kitchen. Then at the end of school (June) I put my youngest daughter on gluten free diet with me to see if it would help her ADHD and hyper activity. It has BTW!

With each meal my hubby prepared I heard a bit of grumble grumble from him. I finally figured out that he was not liking making 2 sets of the meal. (EX: pancakes) So, one morning he fixed his plate and to my surprise he was eating my gluten free pancakes! He confessed it was stupid to make 2 meals.

As I have gained my strength back I have started preparing meals again and of course it's gluten free! My family has not complained at all. In fact they are exclaiming how good my food is! HA!

Yesterday my oldest child was visiting and we were out of "regular" bread so I just began slicing my fresh loaf of gluten free bread and HA! they all ate it!

Not to mention when her boyfriend (my adopted son ) came over after work they devoured my GLUTEN FREE chocolate cake that was in the fridge!

So, my point of all this is, yes a double duty kitchen could be done but man it's a lot of extra work and honestly I am just not that recovered yet to attempt it and when I do get back to 100% health I won't try it b/c I will have accomplished my secret mission of turning my family on to a gluten free lifestyle! (at least at home!)

[torimuse]

Cooking gluten-free and not telling gluten eaters is the best game EVER, in my opinion.

kimann, some things you REALLY need to watch out for in the mixed kitchen are the teflon coated pots and pans, and any cutting boards you use, especially wooden ones. If you've used your teflon pots and pans for gluten, either toss those, or buy new ones that are designated for gluten-free cooking only. Same with the cutting boards. Teflon and cutting boards seem to absorb gluten, thereby CCing EVERYTHING it comes in contact with, even if you wash it a million times.

And as everyone else has said, make sure you keep flour down to as little as humanly possible, if you have to keep it around at all. Try finding a gluten-free flour substitute that you can use in baking. They'll never notice anyways. One of my friends uses a mixture of brown and white rice flour with some tapioca and potato starches, and she says it works well for anything except bread. Also, keep separate containers for your butter/peanut butter/cream cheese/etc, as bread crumbs are pesky and like to get everywhere. Constant diligence will win the battle for living with gluten eaters, but it has to be 100% constant.

Try looking up information backwards. Don't go from the Celiac perspective and how to live with Gluten Eaters, but rather google information for living with someone with Celiac's Disease. My new roommate did that, and she's found so many useful tips, some of which I'm sure I don't even know about.