A Visiting Celiac

[verity]

Hi! My Mom's partner is diagnosed with celiac disease and they will be coming from England next week for a two week visit!! Staying in our home! Help! I do not want to make him sick but obviously cannot go out and buy all new kitchen equipment or feed my three children with only gluten-free products for two weeks! We have a local Wholefoods and I plan on going there for pasta and bread for him but I would really like some good advice about what to make for dinner for two weeks! And what I can do to avoid contaminating him!! Also good places to go out to eat that have on the menu whether an item is gluten-free and where that can be trusted! Thanks for your help!!

[mstrain]

I am currently on vacation with my family and my husband's family and I am the only celiac in the group of 11. Here are some suggestions that I can offer based on the past few days:

* dedicate cookware and cutting boards that are to only be used for gluten-free foods (don't need to buy new - just clean well and do not use wood or teflon)

* buy duplicates of butter, peanut butter, cream cheese, and any food that may become contaminated by a utencil that has come into contact with gluten.

* find a dedicated area to keep the gluten free food

* my family has been cooking my food first. For example, this morning we had pancakes. My mother-in-law made my gluten-free pancakes first (gluten-free pancake mix with banana - yummy!), put them aside in a safe place and then made whole wheat pancakes for the rest of the family.

* make simple dinners - meat, fish, poultry, veggies.

* if a meal has both gluten and gluten-free components, allow your celiac guest to serve himself/herself first. For example, tonight we had hamburgers, hotdogs, baked beans, corn and broccoli. I had my gluten-free rolls while everybody else had "regular" rolls. To avoid cross contamination I served myself all the side dishes first - this way if the serving spoon touched a roll on somebody else's plate, it would not affect me.

* follow simple rules while your celiac guest is in the house - wash all "glutened" items immediately (or place in dish washer) to avoid contamination

I am fairly new to this whole "celiac-thing" so I may not have a complete list of suggestions, but the above has certainly made my vacation more pleasureable. It is also imperative that if you do go out to call ahead to see if the restaurant has a gluten-free menu OR if they will accomodate you. It doesn't always matter what is on their menu - it also matters how they prepare and serve the food. We went to a restuarant two nights ago where I figured I would just get a salad. Before I ordered I explained that I could not eat gluten and that no flour could come in contact with my food. They refused to serve me because the establishment and the chef was "riddled with flour". Yes I was upset that it became more of a challenge to eat dinner, but I sincerely appreciated her honesty!

Good luck!

[Jnkmnky]

Outback Steakhouse has a gluten free menu and is very reliable in getting the food right.

I'd think about getting him packaged gluten-free cold cuts from Wholefoods for sandwiches, his own butter, cream cheese, mayo *ask what he likes to save costs. Also, your family can finish those off if there's any leftover. Eggs, oscar mayer bacon, bushes baked beans, corn tortillas,

Dinners can be things like beef stew, chili, chicken soup, Split pea *you don't need the split pea seasoning packet to make split pea soup. Onions, and all the other flavors and spices will make it just fine. Tacos, You can use old el paso taco sauce in the jar for the seasoning over the meat.

[tarnalberry]

Hi! My Mom's partner is diagnosed with celiac disease and they will be coming from England next week for a two week visit!! Staying in our home! Help! I do not want to make him sick but obviously cannot go out and buy all new kitchen equipment or feed my three children with only gluten-free products for two weeks! We have a local Wholefoods and I plan on going there for pasta and bread for him but I would really like some good advice about what to make for dinner for two weeks! And what I can do to avoid contaminating him!! Also good places to go out to eat that have on the menu whether an item is gluten-free and where that can be trusted! Thanks for your help!!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

As was suggested, cooking things that are naturally gluten free will help cover some of those meals. Outback, PF Changs, and a few other places have gluten-free menus, but mostly calling ahead and asking is sufficient in many places. The other suggestions have all been great, and I can't emphasize enough how important LABELING everything that will be safe for the celiac is. Have plenty of fruits and vegetables and other naturally gluten-free pure foods that he doesn't even have to worry about!

[Canadian Karen]

One thing I would think would be imperative would be to go and buy a little cheap $10.00 toaster. The English love their toast in the morning, don't they? Also, ask them before they come over what kind of jam, butter/margarine, condiments, etc. they like and have them already when they arrive. You can use this list to make sure you choose gluten-free brands.....

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Karen