New Boyfriend With Celiac - What Comfortable 'staples' Should I Have In My Home To Accomodate Him Staying At My Place On The Weekends?

[MegStone]

Hi Everyone!

I have a new boyfriend with Celiac. I'm in search of what comfortable 'staples' should I have in my home to accommodate him when staying at my place. Please be real about the true comforts for celiacs in the home...including things other then the gluten free diet.

My new boyfriend is a celiac and I am not. He spends weekends at my place sometimes and I want him to accommodate my apartment with some 'celiac comforts'. I am looking for suggestions!! What would make him most comfortable? I am trying to think of everything here, so we can enjoy our time together - rather then him worrying about 'bathroom trips', etc.

I do not at all intend to offend him and or any of you in writing this post...I won't dream of embarrassing him by making my any additions to my home too obvious, either - but I'd like to have everything on hand for him, if needed.

Okay, so I have wet wipes for the bathroom, extra toilet paper, kleenex and 'Gaviscon' (is this safe??). I was thinking of getting a men's grooming bag for the personal 'toiletries' that he brings with him - so he has a 'spot' in the bathroom of his own.

Toothpaste??...Hmmm...

I always have lots of bottled water in my fridge.

I'd like to have some ready available casual snacks on hand, too - any suggestions would be helpful. He often eats Lay's plain potato chips - although he doesn't seem too on top of his gluten free diet, from what I've seen.

Coffee - questionable?? Please advise!

I am 'new' on here - please feel free to read my other post for more insight!!

Thanks all & have a wonderful day!

~Meg

[Lilith]

You are so thoughful! I am gluten free by choice for now and my husband agreed to eat what I fix for dinners but he still gets his regular snacks and favorite things. Now that I am buying gluten-free items for me, here are a few I like to keep on hand -

1) Eggs

2) Corn tortillas for tacos, tostadas, eggs and torts

3) Glutino's gluten-free pretzels

4) Amy's rice crust gluten-free cheese pizza (which I then heap with my own veggies and sometimes gluten-free sausage and extra cheese)

5) Polenta in a tube - great with marinara sauce or scrambled with eggs and veggies

6) gluten-free energy/granola/breakfast bars - there are several good ones on the market that are available at grocery stores

7) Wine, soda, gluten-free energy drinks

8) Popcorn

9) Salsa and corn chips

10)Nuts, dried fruits

11)gluten-free ice cream

12)Fresh fruit

13)cheese and rice crackers

I of course don't know his tastes or preferences but I would think a selection of the above foods would get you through a weekend with a lot of choices.

I would suggest a section of your cupboards/pantry just for the gluten-free stuff so as not to mix it up and grab the wrong thing accidently. And if you can buy a couple of pans to use just for gluten-free cooking, that would be good.

From your posts, I gather than you may be more careful about his diet than he is. If you can offer him a gluten-free weekend, he may realize how much better he feels when he eats with you and that may help him to become more careful too.

BTW, I usually do not eat out or get take out from a restaurant. I know that whatever I can throw together at home will be safer than anything from a restaurant. I would encourage you two to eat in and consume only the foods that you two make.

Good luck!

Lilith

[Jestgar]

potato chips, corn chips, nuts, those gluten-free pretzels are pretty darn tasty, lots of snack things are gluten-free without really worrying about reading labels.

[sa1937]

Meg, you are such a thoughtful person! No doubt in my mind that you probably know more about his diet than he does. Others have already given some good suggestions so I'll just add this.

Personal care products: I use Colgate toothpaste and have no problem with it. I also use Suave shampoo and conditioner and Softsoap in my shower and at the sinks.

Plain coffee is fine for me and I drink it black. If he uses a creamer, make sure it's gluten-free. Not everyone can tolerate coffee.

I don't know anything about Gaviscon but I know others here rely on Pepto-Bismol. (I don't need either.)

Personally I wouldn't give you a nickel for an Amy's pizza...it's grossly over-priced and not that good. You could buy some gluten-free pizza crusts and make your own.

I think it would be a great idea to skip dining out (for now at least) and try to fix simple whole foods meals...basically shop the outer rim of the store. Meat, potato or rice, veggies, salad, etc. While it might be too obvious, gluten-free Bisquick makes good pancakes for breakfast. Jimmy D's skillets (sausage, bacon or ham) make a great breakfast, too, as well as gluten-free Chex cereals.

Hope this helps a bit...keep posting questions you may have.

[Takala]

A shopping trip to the local health food store, which you can find by googling "gluten free name of your town health food store" may be in order. You can store a lot of things in the freezer, such as frozen gluten free bagels or waffles, for weekend use.

Cookware that is stainless steel, or dedicated to cooking gluten free. This means a dedicated gluten free cutting board, colander, toaster oven. If it is porous and scratchable, it needs to be used only with gluten free foods, such as tupperware.

Oversized heavy duty ziplock bags, therefore, are good for storing lots of things.

With condiments, you need to have those that you scoop out the contents with, dedicated. Example: gluten free mayonnaise. A normal person takes their crumb covered knife or spoon and dips it in, smears it on the bread, and then re dips. I've see my husband do this with green salsa and tortillas.... with out thinking.... good thing the tortillas were gluten free, because now they are cross contaminated, and he is supposed to know better. This also applies to things such as cream cheese and butter.

[Cara in Boston]

My son is 6 and was just diagnosed. My two hopes for him are that by the time he gets to college there are more choices for gluten-free beer and that he eventually meets a nice celiac girl so they can settle down and live a happy gluten free life together. Now I can ammend that to meeting a nice girl like you.

I would keep these items on hand:

gluten free bread (Udis) you can keep it in your freezer - it thaws fast or you can toast it.

gluten free pasta (Ancient Grains Quinoa pasta is great) - get a separate collendar to drain it.

Snyders gluten-free pretzels

popcorn (check label - most are safe)

a box of cereal (honey nut chex are a favorite here)

something sweet (ice cream? chocolate covered nuts,)

That should cover you if you need to make a quick breakfast, lunch, dinner, or snack (along with fresh meat, eggs, cheese, veggies, etc.)

Keep you condiments clean (or buy 2 of each) so he doesn't get crumbs from your peanutbutter, butter, jelly, mustard, etc.

Good luck -

Cara

[sb2178]

I'd go spend a few weekends at his place and see what he stocks. Individual tastes are exactly that, individual and products vary enormously. Or do a joint shopping trip. Don't run out a buy a bunch of special stuff until you know what he likes. He can probably find food he can from basic groceries, i.e. eggs and potatoes and apples, as mentioned above, until you've figured out the dynamic.

If you want to do frozen pizza, ask first. Or suggest he get it while you get the ice cream and salad.

But, (you're sounding a bit like my grandmother who irritates me when I visit because she worries and tried to feed me the ENTIRE time), don't freak out and buy half the grocery store. He's a grown-up and has fed himself thus far.

[WinterSong]

Hi Meg. I think it's wonderful how supportive you're being and that you're doing so much research. He's a really lucky guy.

Everyone's giving lots of good advice on here. A question - do you like to bake? And does he like cookies? If so, I have a wonderful and easy recipe that my boyfriend (non-celiac) loves. Food is totally the way to his heart

[Juliebove]

Mostly I would be concerned about cross contamination of foods if you are cooking gluten containing foods in that same kitchen. So maybe a dedicated pot for making gluten-free pasta and rice. If you plan on making toast, a cheap toaster for the gluten-free bread or at least some of those toaster bags. Perhaps a separate cutting board or at least some cheap paper plates that you could use over your regular cutting board. I use paper plates for everything! Also keep in mind that things like butter or margarine, peanut butter, mayo and mustard in the jar could easily be glutened if you are wiping your knife across a slice of bread and then putting it back in the jar. So maybe some small containers of those just for him.