OMG It's Gluten Free

My Gluten Free Story

Almost a year ago, my son was diagnosed with celiac disease. Luckily I already knew a lot about eating gluten free because I have a gluten allergy. However, after my son’s official diagnosis I became very concerned about the cross contamination issue. I started reading a lot of books to identify possible sources of gluten and met with 3 dietitians in the area.

Because of this research, I have replaced all of my plastic bowls, measuring spoons and cups with their metal equivalents. I also gave my pans and bake ware to Goodwill or the Salvation Army and replaced them with all stainless steel or ceramic bake ware. Additionally, I got rid of all of my plastic Tupperware and storage containers and replaced them with glass. By doing this, I am reducing the risk of contaminating our foods with flour that is fine enough to get in the grooves and cracks of plastic and scratched metal pans.

After giving away all of my bake ware and storage containers, I went through all of my baking ingredients. The flour was given to my brother’s family and other items that contained gluten were thrown away.

Then it was time to clean. I used hot soapy water and thoroughly cleaned all of the cupboards in my kitchen and shelves in my pantry.

I believe that flour is the biggest issue when ridding your home of gluten. Many studies show that airborne gluten is harmful and can stay in the air for several days. Our home has been free of flour for almost 1 year. I only use gluten free flours and other gluten free ingredients that are either labeled gluten free or that I have verified with the manufacturer that it is gluten free.

Unfortunately, going 100% gluten free is extremely expensive. In addition to avoiding gluten, another member of our household has to avoid fructose. Therefore, I decided to designate the bottom shelf of our pantry to items that contain gluten. I typically have less than 5 items in our house that contain gluten and have designated one small counter in our kitchen where these items can be used. This counter is not used for anything else.

Although I cannot 100% guarantee a gluten free product, I am not aware of any bakery or restaurant in the area that can offer baked goods (with ingredients we can all pronounce) without the concern of cross contamination.

I challenge everyone to come out and try my baked items! We cannot taste the difference and neither will YOU!