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Do you find it challenging preparing "regular" meals for guests/family now that you have to go gluten free?
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I remember when my father was told he had to be super serious about being gluten free-- no more cheating on the diet (sneaking donuts and his favorite sugary cereals and such). He had Refractory Celiac Sprue, and the smallest amount of gluten could cause a horrible reaction in his body. We cleaned the utensils thoroughly, and he even had his own toaster for his gluten free bread. You do what you need to, and the same is true for myself.
When cooking for others, especially my significant other, I don't make him eat my gluten free food. In fact, he's a picky eater, so I go out of my way and pull out all the stops (he does too... it's very sweet). If it's a pasta night, there are two pots of water boiling. There are two stirring spoons. My pasta gets drained first and I get first dibs on the pasta sauce (which is gluten free by the way). It was difficult at first. It actually required thinking. "Ok... first spoon goes here... pick up second spoon and stir back pot...." Sounds silly, but if pasta mixed, a reaction could occur and the rest of the night could end up with the Celiac patient in the bathroom. Pasta's the easy night.
Why can't he just eat the rice pasta? Because one of us would have to get a second job to pay for the gluten free food. So, basically, cooking two separate meals kinda stinks, but you thank Mr. Maytag everyday for inventing the dishwasher. Just like anything, you get used to it.
Admirable that you extend yourself so, but a lot of work! In our family, my husband and daughter (age 6) are highly gluten intolerant. That leaves myself, and two other little ones (ages 1.5 and 3) that could technically go ‘whole hog’ on gluten if we wanted too. I know too well that being ‘detail oriented’ is not my strong suit , so along with the fact that cross contamination would like occur… it just makes more sense in our situation that pasta for everyone is gluten free, and so is everything else. That’s not to say I haven’t been caught eating the occasional donut or hamburger outside our home. However, as foods that are gluten free continue to improve in taste, and consumer demand seems to also be affecting the price for the better, it has been increasingly easier to just adapt everyone to the same gluten free diet. In addition, avoiding the processed, long chemical riddled labels of foods that contain gluten is a smart choice. More vegetables, fruits and single source ingredients is the way to go, whether you are gluten sensitive or not.
Andrea, not to advocate being sneaky, but you might just try cooking gluten free for your sweet partner, and not mention the difference ;)
Yeah, maybe I should try it!!!!!
I always cook gluten free meals for anyone that comes over. I make it a personal challenge to make sure whatever I make is something that the person won't view as "gluten free". I stick with things that naturally wouldn't contain any gluten like proteins, different grains, and vegetables.
We have a friend who looks at our gluten free eating as a diet and not a lifestyle. He says "gluten-free" in a scoffing tone the same way some people would say "vegan". My response is to feed him a delicious dinner that he eats and there is no question of it being "healthy" or "gluten-free" or "diet food". I don't know about you, but I certainly don't view a NY Strip or baby back ribs as diet food ;).
There is no need to risk contaminating my kitchen for the sake of feeding a person's cravings. They can easily eat a meal for one evening that doesn't have bread, pasta, or flour in it. For me, my whole household is gluten-free so there are literally no gluten containing ingredients in our house. If someone else in the house were to eat gluten, it may be a different situation but probably not. Honestly, I think it's a healthy lifestyle for anyone, whether or not they are gluten-intolerant or celiac and I would encourage that person to just indulge on their own and leave the house gluten-free for the safety of the others.
- Katrina
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