Kitchen Hacks

Dedicated Cabinets: Good to have a cabinet in the kitchen to keep the GF stuff in to avoid cross contamination. We have 2 - one for food and one for pots/pan/utensils.

Dedicated Kitchen items to keep in the GF cabinet:

  • Strainers (need a dedicated one because little tiny pieces of pasta get stuck in the holes)

  • Muffin tins (whisk, spatulas, electric mixer, air fryer. 

  • Air Fryer (don't use the toaster oven or toaster that non-GF stuff goes in)

  • Baking sheets (if you have room for dedicated baking sheets it will be cheaper over time than covering them with aluminum foil every time)   

  • Mixers (we all clean our mixers but flour can get up in the holes of the body and fall into what you are making so it is best to have a dedicated mixer)

  • Pots and Pans (the areas where the handles are attached to the pots and pans trap burnt food and make them hard to clean to a point you know they are celiac safe)

  • Utensils such as whisks, spatulas, spoons and basters.

  • Cutting boards (we are trying to get away from plastic but they can go in the dishwasher. Wood absorbs too much so best to have a dedicated GF board. We are looking into bamboo as they are lighter and thinner for storage)

Squeeze Condiments: Good to get squeeze items to avoid people sticking the knife back in the jar after they used it to spread the condiment on gluten filled bread.

Label Everything: We label everything our daughter uses with "GF". Some items can be written on directly with a sharpie and others we will use affix a piece of masking tape to the item and write “GF” on the tape. This hack helps remind family members and guests who may not always have the cross contamination issues at the forefront of there thoughts when they grab the item for use from the pantry or the refrigerator.

Helpful Apps

Spoonful is a good app for helping you determine if grocery items contain gluten. We used to use this app all the time but recently have been reliying more on the Gluten Free markings on the packages since they are getting better. Spoonful will tell you if the ingredients contain gluten but not if the factory also makes gluten containing items.

Find Me Gluten Free is a good app for finding restaurants near you or when you are planning a trip.