10 Ways To Share A Kitchen When Gluten Free

If you have gone gluten free due to allergy reasons like I have, there are a few things to be aware of when it comes to your kitchen. Besides converting to new tasty foods, there are changes you can make to ensure your gluten free lifestyle becomes easier. I allow myself to invest in new items for my kitchen. This is as I’m not only doing so for my health, but also having nice things encourages me to cook and also gives me reassurance that I’ve taken the precautions to keep myself safe. Here are 10 changes you can make that take the worry out of sharing a kitchen.

1) COOKWARE. Got scratched pans? What a fantastic excuse to get some new cookware! Scratched pans can hold gluten traces and depending on your level of sensitivity, it may be an issue for you.

2) BAKING PANS Time for new baking pans. If you have a shared kitchen and don’t want to buy your own, I’ve had friends who line the trays with baking paper or aluminium foil and that works for them. This may not work for everyone’s circumstance so I recommend treating yourself to new pans.

3) HAVE YOUR OWN APLIANCES. These may include things like a toaster, brownie maker and even your own blender. I have these items myself and even have my own mini pizza maker.

4) CUTTINGBOARD. Did someone say more shopping?!?!? You guessed it! Spoil yourself with a new cutting board just for you!

5) HAVE A GLUTEN FREE SHELF. This is especially important when you are in a shared space. Have a gluten free shelf in the cupboard and fridge. You want it to be as easy as possible for everyone to know what is gluten free and what isn’t.

6) HAVE YOUR OWN CONDIMENTS. I go as far as to having a different type/ brand of butter to the one my family uses and it has a label that says “Savy” on the top.

7) HAVE YOUR OWN SPONGE. Gluten can still stick to sponges. Avoid this cross contamination by having your own sponge.

8) BE MINDFUL OF WOODEN ITEMS if you’re like me and love wooden spoons and wooden chopping boards, enjoy some new ones just for you. Gluten absorbs itself into wood so you don’t want to be sharing these ones!

9) HAVE YOUR OWN HAND TOWEL IN THE KITCHEN. I’ve always gotten a new one every time. If this doesn’t work for you, just make sure your hand towel is kept separate in a place that someone else won’t just use it accidentally.

10) WHEN COOKING, USE SEPARATE POTS AND UTENSILS. A good example of this is pasta. If gluten free pasta and non gluten free pasta are both being cooked, don’t cut corners. Please don’t cook gluten free pasta after non gluten free pasta. Instead, have two separate pots for cooking and separate utensils for stirring and serving.

In summary – allow yourself to have your own kitchen items that are exclusively for you to use. As always, maintain good hygiene practices, do what’s going to work best for you in your circumstance and enjoy living the gluten free lifestyle.