FOR: newly diagnosed -- some simple tips for kitchen control

[Guest guest]

Hi -- and sorry this is so long, but . . .

Congratulations on your persistence to get a difinitive diagnosis! I'm

glad to hear Kaiser listened and acted.

I've been GF for over six years now -- after spending more than 15 years

existing on Pepto Bismol. Seven years after my first endoscopy, someone

finally probed 3 inches further into my small intestine and found the

damage.

There are many, many, many web sites, blogs, and that focus

on different aspects of GF living. I probably have close to 100 of them

either on my " favorites " list, or in a separate category I call " GF

sites to check out " . A few live support groups exist in the Bay Area,

too. Since this message is so long, I'll list some on a separate post.

We keep my husband's non-GF bread in a drawer away from all my GF

products. While we do share knives and cutting boards, I scrub the

knives carefully (especially where the handle meets the blade) and put

all the cutting boards in the dishwasher, used side facing the center.

We have a four-slice toaster from COSTCO. I use the right-hand slots,

since it's set up for one slice or two. Hubby uses the left-hand slots,

since he always has two slices of bread. Even though we use the same

toaster, we NEVER share slots. I empty the bottom tray frequently, and

turn it upside down then shake the hell out of the machine often, to get

rid of crumbs. (Before we got this one, we had a two long-slice model.

I'd bang around with a spatula to clear crumbs before toasting my bread.

This works much better.)

At breakfast, for example, he puts my bread in first, then gets his out

of the bag. I take mine out when it pops up, and he deals with his. A

little thing, but it keeps that element of cross-contact to a minimum.

I break packages of sliced cheese into smaller portions and zip bag

them, generally stashing them in different parts of the fridge, so

again, there's limited cross-contact when he grabs cheese to put on his

bread.

I don't keep separate jars of mayo, etc., but am very careful, and use

lots of spoons and utensils -- if there's a possibility I've touched

something with the spoon, I grab another one before dipping back into

the jar. Since I do most of what passes for cooking, I control the

contact. (On those occasions when we'd both be dipping into something, I

portioned out a bit into a container for him. I could always add to his

jar from mine.)

We've found some very good pastas at Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, and

other stores. Right now our favorite brand is Bionaturae, which looks,

cooks, and tastes like " real " pasta. Second favorite is Tinkyada. Trader

Joe's is quite acceptable, too. This past year, he started eating this

when he finally ran out of his wheat pastas.

I know many people have written that Teflon pots and pans cannot be used

for both GF and non-GF cooking, but I've occasionally done it and don't

think I've glutened myself. We do wash them very, very thoroughly, at

least twice after each use, and I don't let any glutened stuff sit in

them.

I use a lot of pyrex or other glass jars to store leftovers and staples.

Anything with gluten that can be put in a baggie goes into one, and then

the bag tossed when done. Right now, hubby's eating a pre-cooked turkey

from COSTCO that has a breaded coating. I sliced it all up, bagged it

into servings for him, then put the baggies into a larger one in the

fridge. For lunch, I can slide the slices from the baggie onto his bread

or plate, almost without touching them, and dispose of the bag.

I'm constantly washing the counters down, too.

Hope this helps with some of the little things to learn about GF living.

And, believe me, it is LIVING again.

Michele

>

> I really appreciate all the responses I've gotten. Thank you. I hadn't

> thought to just google " celiac kitchen " - too obvious, I guess! I was

just looking

> at the " official " sites (celiac.org, nih, mayo, etc.).

>

> > Also, does anyone know of a live support group? I think it would

help me sort

> through some of the emotions I'm having as I start on this gf path.

Being

> careful about my diet isn't completely new to me - I'm a " vegaquarian "

(no

> chicken or meat) - but obviously going gf is much more difficult and,

ultimately,

> more important to get completely right. I'm alternately ok and freaked

out.

>

> Thanks again.

> Tristan