When I first found out I had celiac I never really planned on keeping an entirely gluten-free kitchen. G still ate bread and bagels and I managed to maintain some kind of separation of foods, at least for a while. As dementia slowly took up residence in our lives however, confusion and contamination became constant issues. So even though I hate fanaticism as much as I hate wasted food, I ended up with a gluten free kitchen. I had my doubts at times, especially when family was visiting, but gradually I insisted on strict rules.
Until I didn't. It didn't work with having other people in the house helping George. It was difficult to deny someone the ability to eat their own food, and an environment of suspicion is never good in a kitchen or a house.
I was in fact ready intellectually and emotionally before I managed to have a full structure set up for different foods. I realized that part of my own insistence that wheat and its ilk not enter the house was a desperate fight for control over something. I couldn't control dementia. I couldn't control most of what was happening in my life. I could control what food went into my kitchen.
Until I couldn't. Surprisingly, I found I didn't mind.
Some simple changes were made. Some were easy things like squeeze bottles for mustard and mayonnaise. I deliberately chose different toasters, in different colors to help distinguish them, but just in case someone forgot, I also labeled everything.
Although I like clean lines, I dislike being sick even more. Blue painter's tape is a godsend. Everything can be labeled.
After the plastic utensils were used in hot pans with pasta and gluten-containing sauces, I set up separate sets, again labeling everything with blue tape. I suppose the blue tape distracts somewhat from the lovely sleek stainless containers (these are wine coolers, which were half the price of the lovely stainless canisters I originally coveted) but they are safer too. No one has to wrack their brain trying to remember where something goes or what they can use.
After pasta was drained in my fine mesh strainers I have new colanders and cutting boards as well, the gluten-free ones all clearly labeled "Mardel Only Do Not Use" — clear and to the point. Most other things are glass or ceramic or metal and can be easily washed. With hard materials there is no risk of stray gluten being burnt into the plastic or caught in little tiny holes or cuts that can't be easily cleaned.
So far it has been a success, one week free and clear and I'm hoping for more.
Comments
12 responses to “Color me Gluten-Free”
Yay! It’s wonderful that you’ve found a way to protect yourself and make everyone more comfortable, too. During and after chemo DH would only buy what he wanted me to eat, not what I could eat: very frustrating, until he finally “got” it.
Mardel my hats off to you for making the best of everything you have been dealing with over these past months. You have remarkable strength and determination. All my best,
Terri K
Thanks Terri and Mary Beth!
Just like keeping kosher!
I’ve been baking a lot with almond flour, I’ve made some delicious things with it, have you tried it?
Tabitha, yes I do like and use almond flour. I just have to have a bit of pastry now and then.
I’m amazed that you have to keep things so separate. And so impressed that you’ve got such a flexible attitude about the new situation.
Mardel,
I am a new reader, so please forgive me for not knowing all that is going on in your life.
I admire you very much.
I had no idea that gluten caused problems in such trace amounts — how clever you are to have accommodated your needs while keeping life easier for your changed household. The consistent use of the blue tape, I think, maintains the clean lines of your kitchen overall as well as keeping with its spirit of hospitality.
That was my thought too, like keeping kosher. A kitchen should above all be functional, that’s what you’ve created. I too did not realize that gluten could cause problems even when using the same spoon, etc.
Well, some of it is for my own peace of mind Im sure. The problem with plastic utensils is not stirring or scraping, because they can be washed. The problem is if you get the pan too hot, use the plastic scraper in the pan and then melt it there is a risk of gluten contamination. I am learning that the people who work as caregivers dont necessarily take care about these things.
Well, that is a bit of an issue. I have read varying reports of 5 mg to 10 mg a day is safe, and I think the official designation of gluten-free means less than 20 ppm of gluten, although I think most reputable companies try to keep it below that. There are probably people who can still have minute intestinal damage (gluten kills the villa that line the intestines, without symptoms, and there are people who are more noticeably symptomatic). I get hives, which is probably my bodys reaction to years of gluten exposure, and even when I started watching gluten, I wasnt always symptomatic in the classic sense. I can get hives on my feet or my hands with very small amounts of gluten exposure. Even so, one swipe of a gluten contaminated spoon in a pot might not do it. But use that spoon for several meals a day, I start to have accumulating exposure. But I have gotten sick from the amount of gluten contained in the caramel coloring from a cup of coke bottled in Mexico rather than the US (in Mexico barley is used to manufacture caramel coloring, not in the US) and that is a pretty small amount of gluten.
Most kitchen utensils can be easily cleaned so it is just a question of care. Old fashioned non-stick pans are absorbant, like cast iron, so gluten can be trapped in the finish, especially if they are scratched. I learned that because I got sicker and sicker visiting my step-daughter and we were being absolutely strict about gluten but I was cooking eggs every morning in her nonstick pan. Once I stopped using that pan I got immediately better.
My nonstick pans are all newer and harder and not an issue. A couple of them are ceramic. The problem is with the plastic utensils. I got rid of wood as it is just too absorbent, fine for me alone, but not when I have different people traipsing through the house and kitchen. The problem with plastic is not with stirring, mixing, or using them for most things. The problem is only when they are used in a hot skillet. If the end of the plastic is melted that can get bits of the gluten protein in it, and if it is used in a pot again and the pot is too hot, there can be contamination. In the week since I bought that, Gs caregiver has melted the end of two spatulas, whereas I can go for months on end without melting any plastic. I am relearning patience every day.
As for toasters, it is very hard to get all the crumbs out of a toaster. So it is easier just to have two.
Mostly it is probably excessive, but it helps my peace of mind, and that is worth any effort.
Well, I dont think using the same spoon would normally be a problem, unless you perhaps stuck your spoon into the bowl of parmesan cheese after stirring it around in your spaghetti. Or getting bread crumbs in the butter or the jam or the mayonnaise jars. Spoons can be washed. The problem is that the people in the house who are helping have an alarming tendency to burn the plastic utensils that they use to cook, and I dont know what gets melted into the spoon. That is a potential problem. They cook a lot of pasta. I was having consistent low-grade contamination issues. I got myself a new colander too.