Living W/ Gluten Eaters

[Googles]

Hello.

Because of finances I am moving in with a gluten eating fried into her apartment. Her kitchen is really small (like 3ft x 5ft). I was wondering if you could give me advice on how to keep me gluten free. She has very little counter space. We want to keep me healthy. What are your suggestions. Let me know any questions that would help you to give me advice.

Thanks.

[Monklady123]

Hello.

Because of finances I am moving in with a gluten eating fried into her apartment. Her kitchen is really small (like 3ft x 5ft). I was wondering if you could give me advice on how to keep me gluten free. She has very little counter space. We want to keep me healthy. What are your suggestions. Let me know any questions that would help you to give me advice.

Thanks.

Most important would be to have your own stuff, even if you have to keep some of it in your bedroom. Things like a cutting board, frying pan, thing to drain pasta (what the heck is that called? lol...), toaster, etc. Things that will have gluten stuck on them if used for gluteny things. You wouldn't have to worry about plates, silverware, etc., as long as they were washed well.

And just make sure before you prepare your food that the counters and prep area is clear of crumbs.

Have your own jelly, butter, mustard -- anything that someone will dip a knife into. Educate your roommate about CC so that she won't use yours.

Those would be the big things, I think. I'm sure others here will have some more ideas. I might not think of everything since I'm the main cook in my house, so I can keep everything as I want it.

[Emilushka]

My husband eats gluten and leaves crumbs all over. I just put down a paper towel and put all my spoons, forks, dishes, etc. on top of that. I never trust the counter tops or the floors to be gluten-free. That's my biggest trick.

[GF BRO]

My husband eats gluten and leaves crumbs all over. I just put down a paper towel and put all my spoons, forks, dishes, etc. on top of that. I never trust the counter tops or the floors to be gluten-free. That's my biggest trick.

I do the same thing. I live in an apartment with four other guys. I always just put some paper towels down when I am cooking. Separate pans are also a must. I was sharing my wok with my roommates and they used a non gluten-free sauce in it. Even after I cleaned it, I got a little sick. Try to get condiments that "squirt" instead of ones you would stick a knife into. If you can manage it, try not to be cooking at the same time. When more than one person is in the kitchen, silverware and other things tend to fly around in and out of different pots and pans, which creates cross contamination risks. Once you get a system down, its pretty easy. I've been gluten-free here all year and have not really had any major issues.

[aeraen]

My worst problem living with teenage gluten-eaters is... they eat my food, too!

I don't mind sharing, and most of our house is pretty gluten-free. But, I do buy the snacks and foods that they like, occasionally. However, what my kids do (teen boy, in particular) is pass over their stuff, and eat mine all up. I just found what was left of a bag of "gluten free" corn chips, opened and stale, laying right next to the unopened bag of flavored chips that I bought for him.

Drives me nutz.

More of a rant than contructive advise, I guess.

[rustycat]

Would you be able to get one of those big Rubbermaid type containers with a lid that you could put anything into that needs to stay gluten free and store it somewhere out of the way? I have 2 separate drawers and dedicated counter space in the kitchen for my pots, pans, cutting boards and measuring cups, etc, but I understand that you might not have room for that. Just to be extra safe, I wash my counter top frequently and I try to keep my food on dishes or the cutting board while I'm working in the kitchen.

[jenngolightly]

@Googles: It is hard to share a kitchen and no matter how careful you are, there will be times that you forget to put your cookware away and something will get shared by your roommate. Here's a hint: Buy "slick" cooking and kitchen items. Gluten can't stick to metal and glass and Pyrex - it slides off when washed. So if you use slick cooking and kitchen items, your chance of getting cross-contaminated goes down significantly. It's notoriously hard to get gluten off of wooden spoons. Instead of sliding off, it gets stuck in the grooves, so if your roommate "accidentally" uses your wood spoon to stir her soup (It sounds like she's going to try to accommodate you so she won't do things on purpose), you could get sick. Non-stick pans harbor gluten in the scratches, so you can get your own non-stick (which WILL get scratched no matter how careful you are), or share "slick" pans that gluten can slide off when washed. I use metal cooking spoons. I store leftover food in glass containers, not Tupperware. I use a metal colander that can be shared because gluten "slides" off when washed - it's not the little strainer kind that gluten can get stuck in, it's a regular big colander. I believe that the easier you make it for sharing cookware with your roommate in that tiny kitchen, the less likely it will be for you to get cross contaminated. Another hint: Buy kitchenware in a bold color that signifies it is for gluten-free use only! My color is red. I have a red cutting board, red spoon rest (the thing that you lay your spoon on when you're cooking something) - most of the time I use paper towels, red Tupperware for pantry items. Everyone knows to keep their hands off of the red stuff. Do Not Share A Toaster (toaster oven is different - you can use foil to keep your toast safe)! Put A Paper Towel Over Food In The Microwave!

@aeraen: Do you want to keep the kids from eating your food (maybe you don't really care?). I absolutely do not want the kids to eat my snacks because they have plenty of food for themselves. And what if there was a snowstorm or other disaster that kept us in the house for a week? I'd be out of food and would starve while they ate chips and cereal! That's my guilt trip that I give them when I catch them eying my food. :-) What I ended up doing is buying 1.5"x3" neon labels from the office supply store and writing MOM on them in permanent marker. I put the stickers on everything that is mine. The family knows to keep hands off of those foods.

[Googles]

Thank you everyone. I'm sure I will come with more specific questions when we get closer to move in time (end of April.) We both will have our own dishes as we both have our own apartments right now. We talked about me possibly keeping some of my stuff in my bedroom (right across from the kitchen). I know my friend will be really careful. I just hope we can train her boyfriend who she just started seeing.

One more question: What about hand washing dishes in gluten containing water? We wont have a dish washer so everything will be done by hand. Is that going to contaminate my dishes?

Thanks.

[Emilushka]

Thank you everyone. I'm sure I will come with more specific questions when we get closer to move in time (end of April.) We both will have our own dishes as we both have our own apartments right now. We talked about me possibly keeping some of my stuff in my bedroom (right across from the kitchen). I know my friend will be really careful. I just hope we can train her boyfriend who she just started seeing.

One more question: What about hand washing dishes in gluten containing water? We wont have a dish washer so everything will be done by hand. Is that going to contaminate my dishes?

Thanks.

I'd keep your own gluten-free sponge separate. I don't trust a porous sponge to stay gluten-free. I'd separate that out so much that it's in your bedroom, rather than living in the kitchen. It's too easy to make a mistake with a sponge that lives in the kitchen.

Otherwise I think that'd be fine. The sink should be OK as long as it's a reasonably clean sink without one of those icky food-catchers that just catches ICKY FOODS.