Did you survive a Coeliac Child’s Christmas?

Survive or thrive this Christmas?

Did you survive a coeliac child’s Christmas? How did you make sure your coeliac child had enough to eat, enough treats and avoided cross contamination whilst staying away?

We were lucky enough to be covid free and stayed with my parents over the Christmas period. My parents are geared up to having us, knowing the requirements of my GF child, but it still shows up glaring problems.

Problems don’t occur in your own house (mostly) as you have control over the situation and how food is prepped. This in turn brought up a conversation with my now 13yr old about how she gets anxious eating around others – but that’s next weeks blog.

Whilst I know that I’ve got it in hand most of the time, when you are in someone else’s house or kitchen, you have different worries. Even though my parents (my mother mainly) she has a large plastic box filled with separate equipment for her grandchild, there’s still only one place to cook. And in the most part it’s ok, we manage.

But on this occasion, there were 3 of us around the hob & in the kitchen pulling together leftovers etc. One was making up a regular gluten pasta dish. And another reheating the bread sauce. In a separate frying pan, bacon was cooking for Grace. Contamination is always at the fore front of my mind for my Coeliac Child. You’re used to seeing problem areas, events that will happen in front of you that you need to avoid.

Being Careful

Stirring was going on of both dishes, so I whipped the pan up out of the way & waited until they were finished before replacing it to finish cooking. I get a quizzical look, a “I’m just stirring” which is fine, but to ensure that my child is safe, I want & need to remove the pan up and out of the way whilst that is done. It made me anxious. They didn’t clock it then.

It wasn’t until later that it registered with either person as to why I was moving my pan out of the way. “I was being careful”. That I understand, but, at the same time, one little flick of bread sauce or pasta sauce could easily go in the wrong place. which I can’t risk.

Is there a right or wrong answer, I don’t know. But when your used to spending time in your own house with everything geared up for catering for your coeliac child, I guess it is so much harder to go somewhere else & have to ‘make do’, expecting others to pay attention & second guess themselves when they aren’t used to doing so.

But I saw too that she was bored with food. Fed up of hotdogs or bacon for lunch, wanting to be the same as everyone else if the chance allowed. So this week, she’ll have to adapt further & it may be a shock to her system. She’s got too used to having chips, nuggets, sausages when I’ve been busy or unprepared.

This week I’ve a menu plan. (if only I could remember where I’ve put it!!).

New recipe book to test

I treated myself to a new book by Dr Megan Rossi who I follow on Instagram. It’s called Eat more, Live well (affiliate link) & we’ll be trying out recipes. I’ve the the Thai salmon fishcakes, Reinvented chicken burger & the baked oat slice on my list. Recipes aren’t specifically for a GF diet but they’re adaptable as are most recipes. The breakfast muffin in a mug needs trying too but not 100% sure I’ll get away with it. We’ll see.

That’s the challenge for the week. Keep your eye out for pictures on Instagram as to what happens & whether the chip eating fiend will eat it! The deadline to subscribe to our baking kits this month to make the best ever Flapjacks is Saturday 15th January. Fun to make, tasty to eat with a little twist to make them just the more moist and healthy!!

A belated Happy New Year, may all your dreams come true in 2022 and the year be AWESOME.

December 6, 2021January 10, 2022

Learning whilst baking

Enhancing & developing your child’s fine motor skills through baking

Baking

Baking? What’s that got to do with enhancing your child’s fine motor skills? And what are they anyway?

Firstly, they are turning pages, holding spoons, picking up sprinkles, googly eyes to put onto a cookie, they are all fine motor skills.

In other words, the ability to make movements using the small muscles in your hands and wrists, enabling your thumb and index finger to make pincer movements.

Enhancing Fine Motor Skills

Above all it’s the finger time table at nursery, picking up, holding a pencil like a frog, putting beads on a lace.

Similarly, it’s the turning of pages on a recipe book, a leaflet, a magazine. All the little movements are designed to enhance your child’s fine motor skills through baking.

For instance, our December gluten free baking kit has all you need. Your child will have lots to do that’s fun this month. In addition to baking tasty treats, they’ll be learning skills to encourage those neurons to get fired up and connected whilst making gluten free gingerbread men or reindeers.

In addition to the Fine Motor Skills

There’s Math – weighing the butter and golden syrup, counting how many gingerbread men or reindeers you get from the dough.

Hand & eye co-ordination from mixing, wrapping up the dough, rolling and cutting it out. Lots to get those little brains and fingers connecting. Learning about time – how many minutes to for them to cook, how long to cook before the decorating. That’s where the fine motor skills come into play.

From squeezing the icing pen tube, to picking up a googly eye or a red sparkly sphere sparkle to put on as a nose. Help keep those sprinkles in one place by putting them onto a plate. Helps not stepping on them later!!

As a child you learn to do this so you don’t have to think about it as an adult.

For instance, I’m not thinking about where my fingers go as I type. My fingers learnt (having been dragged to typing school) where the keys were as I bashed upon an old typewriter, returning to the home keys .

Enhancing & developing your child’s fine motor skills

We don’t realise how much we need our children to master these skills when little.

Playing with the dough, squeezing it into a ball, it all adds up to their neurons firing up and connecting.

Who knew baking could be so much & more!

Have you got your bake on? Ready for Christmas?

No?

Get your Christmas spirit roaring with fun and creative gluten free baking kits, delivered direct to your door. All you need to have some easy fun. Just add butter of choice & some golden syrup. No eggs required. Sorted. The smell alone is enough to get you feeling Christmassy!

See website for details www.glutenfreelittlecook.com

November 15, 2021January 13, 2022

Gluten Free? Double check your labels.

Check, check and check again!

It’s coming up to the crazy time of the year. But you know what is safe. You’ve bought it a hundred times. But why do you or your child have a reaction this time?

Yes, the manufacturers have changed the ingredients. It happens so often, with little or no notice. It’s time to check your labels.

It’s hard work being coeliac or having a coeliac child. We start off well reading the labels, but then as its something you buy on a regular basis, you don’t double check. And we need to especially at this time of the year!

It’s always good to check your habits this time of year, to double check the ingredients on the label, just in case that they have changed. Better to check in advance before eating than find out afterwards and be stuck at home near a bathroom or in bed.

But what are you looking for?

Check your labels. You are looking for anything that contains gluten.

A great acronym to remember is B.R.O.W.S which is for Barley, Rye, Oats* , Wheat or Spelt.

Any of them can be put into ingredients for food or drinks and are to be avoided at all cost by an individual on a gluten free coeliac diet.

For instance, barley can often be found in own brand supermarket colas or wheat can be in soy sauce.

Oats* are safe as long as labelled gluten free. However, even gluten free oats can cause a reaction in some Coeliacs. They contain a protein called Avenin which mimics gluten.

Learn to read labels

You know what you are looking for and you know that you need be able to read labels well. This can save you a fortune, as not everything you eat needs to be labelled Gluten Free.

Reading labels is key to managing this disease.

Here’s a link to a more detailed info on how to read labels. A label is there to tell you what is in the product & what it is made up of. Do remember that whilst you can scan a label, the scanners are normally behind a few days/weeks/months. A label ‘should’ always be accurate, uptodate & says what is on the tin (literally!). For further details see Coeliac UK advice on food shopping.

Some products use ingredients that are made up of other items too. They will always be stated on the label and their ingredients will read after them within brackets. Think of it like a book. There’s a title, a chapter title & the chapter itself to tell the story.

Sushi was being discussed yesterday in a Facebook group. Sushi has a long line of ingredients, with lots of components making up each sushi roll. So how do you read those?

Break it down

The label states everything that is in the product. The ingredients work from the most to the least.

Starting with the Cooked White Sushi Rice. In the brackets afterwards you have ‘water, white rice, rice vinegar’. That is what is in the rice. After anything that has more than one component to make it there will always be brackets showing what is in it. Further down the list shows that the soy sauce bottle is safe as it’s made of ‘water, soya bean, salt & vinegar’. But since the rice has wheat flour in the whole product, it is a big no.

I know that we will all be busy rushing around in the coming weeks, gearing up to get ready for the big day but do get yourself into the habit of stopping, checking and double checking before you put your usual into the basket. Far better to check in advance or before you or your child have eaten something that could ruin the next 24hrs, put you on tender hooks, or see you missing out on something that you were looking forward to.

Keep warm & keep well.

Happy Baking!

October 26, 2021January 13, 2022

How to survive Halloween with your Coeliac Child

It’s Halloween. This year we can go Trick or Treating, Covid permitting. But how do you survive Halloween with your Coeliac Child? How do you negotiate Trick or Treating when your child is gluten free or has Coeliac Disease?

It can be tricky in many ways. Maybe your child is used to going Trick or Treating but has now been diagnosed. Maybe they’ve never known any different, or never even been Trick or Treating.

My daughter had been Trick or Treating since she was little, initially just around the square where we lived. Both children enjoyed dressing up, decorating the house, carving the pumpkins that were grown by grandpa. Having fun without even thinking about it.

But then came the diagnosis of Coeliac Disease & changes were required to negotiate ‘normal’ events.

How to you survive Halloween with your coeliac child? With a little pre prep & planning!!

**Gluten Free Little Cook – Spooky Spectacular Baking Kit**

Plan ahead

Whether you are attending your first Halloween Party or your first trick or treat trip out having been diagnosed with Coeliac Disease, having a plan will help alleviate the panic in the first place.

Our first Halloween with her Trick or Treating involved several neighbours having a special box just for her with suitable sweets in. But, when you’re 9 you want to have some freedom to go to other houses with your friends (albeit with an adult in tow!).

So we devised a strategy. We had learnt what kind of sweets are suitable for those with Coeliac Disease and we only buy those for people calling at our house. In turn, we would take out the few sweets that were her favourites and keep them to the side. She’d put a couple in her pocket if she wanted a sweet whilst wandering around.

We then would go Trick or Treating. We’d call at any houses that had pumpkins or decorations, and choose a treat that was wrapped. That’s the first consideration. Don’t choose unwrapped sweets. It minimises cross contamination.

We then didn’t worry too much on what wrapped sweet she chose. She was taking part and that is what mattered most.

How to survive Halloween with your Coeliac Child

Sort and Swap

Once we’d finished going round, we would go home & tip out the haul on a tray in the kitchen. We’d then sort through them.

Any that were not suitable, unknown or no ingredients on them, would be removed swapped with her sister or the safe selection we had sorted earlier that evening. Then any unknown sweets would be added to our trick or treat box for callers to our house.

It takes the effort out of the guessing, searching through a box to find a suitable sweet, removes the disappointment at not getting something from someone’s bucket at a house.

It alleviates the stress for you, the worry for them and helps them feel normal, that they are participating in regular everyday events, just like everyone else.

Coeliac UK have an online list – check there if you have any queries.

What are your top tips?

October 18, 2021January 13, 2022

How to survive a Halloween Party with a Gluten Free Child

How will you help your gluten free child survive a Halloween party? It’s time for Halloween, parties & trick or treating.

Just when you think it’s sorted, another challenge comes along.

It was easier when my GF child was slightly younger. As a parent you can control most things. But heading to teenage years, they want to be like their friends, join in, go out.

It starts getting tricky.

This year it’s about Trick or Treating and Halloween parties. Trick or Treating I’ve got covered for next week. Today it’s about parties. Halloween or otherwise.

Parties

If it’s a party, you’ll need to talk to the hosting parent (see our ebook with handy hints & a printout for hosts). We’ve always had good friends who have gone out of their way to accommodate my GF child. It’s probably easier to supply food for your child to take, so find out what they are planning & send the GF equivalent. Hot dogs (highly recommend the Promise hotdog rolls). We seem to go through a fair few of these nowadays and keep a pack in the freezer.

If they are having oven chips then if they could use normal chips without a wheat coating & if they are mindful of cross contamination, those would be suitable for your child. Ideally they need to be served first – especially if they chips are out on a buffet table where everyone helps themselves.

They need to check what they are drinking too. They mustn’t share a drink, can’t drink shop own cola (often contains barley) so a cup that is labelled or different may help minimise cross contamination.

Surviving Halloween – Gluten Free Cupcakes

Gluten Free Cupcakes & Treats

And for a treat, for the Halloween party my GF child is attending, it’s going to be cupcakes galore. Spooky monsters, with Halloween sprinkles & some cake picks that I’ve got stored away. They’ll go with her to the party. The party host has enough going on, so I’ve offered rather than them have a practice on making GF items when they are baking everything else.

Our few remaining baking kits are in the Shop for some Halloween family fun. All you need in one box; simply add 2 eggs & butter to get your mini monsters making their own.

The cupcakes can be kept in a sealed box until everyone is ready to have one. The GF child should go first before any other potentially gluten fingers get in there. Then, at least, my GF child knows that she can have one if she wants

Then hopefully, there won’t be any accidents or glutening. It’s a daily challenge, & a party raises that challenge, but it’s one we have to embrace & work out so that she can be like her friends and join in.

How will you help your gluten free child survive a Halloween party?

October 11, 2021January 9, 2023

Your Coeliac Child has a Playdate

Oh yay! Your child, your coeliac child has a playdate invitation. They are being treated normally, being included. Yay!

And then the dread & fear sets in…. or it always does for me.

Maybe your child has just started the school, joined the class, you don’t know the parents. But your child is excited & looking forward to going to play at their new friends house.

Maybe your child has just be diagnosed as having Coeliac Disease. And you have yet to explain to your friends, your child’s friends what they can and can’t have going forward.

You have to explain it all over again…. what they can and can’t have. You have to trust someone to not ‘gluten’ your child. But the smile on their face at being invited to a friends house has lit them up.

Well, you’re in the right place.

I’ve already negotiated those hurdles with my daughter who was diagnosed in 2018 with the disease. We’ve found the basics that you need to cover for a playdate, a sleepover and parties. At a best guess, you will receive at least 15+ party invitations in a year based on an average class of 30.

So how do you manage it all?

It’s exciting when your coeliac child has a playdate invitation.

First, they’ve been invited!! (Yay) In the second instance, meet the parent of the other child. Say hi, get the intros done. Then let them know that your child has Coeliac Disease & briefly let them know that they need special foods excluding gluten/wheat & that your happy to chat with them about your child’s needs to make it as easy as possible for them.

See, it’s easy! They don’t need to know straight off that it’s key to minimise all cross contamination. You can let them know gently.

My Top Tips

Inform the host parent gently of the requirements needed to keep your child safe. See what they are having, discuss foods, snacks and drinks so that you’ll know what to provide as suitable safe alternatives if you have to.

Give them a guideline on labels – what they are looking out for.

Suggest some suitable snacks – offer to supply ones for your child if that will help

Suggest that the children all have the same GF foods for tea & dessert so that will minimise any cross contamination issues, and at the same time keep them the same as everyone else. Fitting in is so important at a young age.

To make your life easier, I’ve put all of this information & more into an download covering Playdates, Parties, BBQs & Sleepovers with a two page handout to give to the host parent.

They’ve then a handy guide to refer to whilst your child is in their care so that they have some guidance as to what to do & how to manage keeping your child safe.

It shouldn’t be hard to let your child be normal, have friends over or go over to their friends houses. With this guide, both you and your host parent can manage it all together safely.

Have questions? Feel free to drop me a message on Instagram or Facebook or send an email to help@glutenfreelittlecook.com

They’ll want to go to those parties, it can be done, armed with hand wipes, hand gel and back up snacks/lunch boxes. It’s how you manage their excitement, what they can & can’t have, and sometimes their utter disappointment in not joining in.

It’s not always easy, but it’s doable if you think outside of the box!

Nicky

September 28, 2021January 13, 2022

Life with a Coeliac Child

Like any other illness in life, you don’t choose to have it, be ill or have a member of your family be sick. At least with Coeliac Disease you can manage it by diet alone. You can help your body heal and watch the person in front of you turn from being a poorly individual to one that is full of health.

Seeing the difference in my daughter took a while; in fact 3-6 months before there were real signs she was improving. Her system had to go through what felt like a detox. She craved the very foods that made her ill. Her taste buds had to adapt to new flavours. Yes, there is a different taste to some gluten free foods – especially bread. If you’ve been eating normally for a long time, then you and your body adapt & accept those tastes and textures. Going gluten free means that you have to get used to new tastes.

Gluten Free Bread

She was never big on bread, but I tried to find something that she could have as an alternative if she wanted something. Her diagnosis had just come when she finally liked having a homemade hamburger… typical! So we tried various gluten free buns and sandwich slices. Warburtons GF squares won her over for a short time, but they were soon discarded. We tried other types in other supermarkets, some were liked, some were given a quick “no, I’m not eating that”.

Schar have been our go to for the longest. Their hamburger buns (McDonalds use them in Europe – I won’t go into the why can’t we have them over here debate…. yet..) and they are a top favourite in our house. They are hard to find, but well worth it. Asda seem to have them in the most. Their other bread rolls in the freezer are worth a look too. They remind me of continental rolls. Morrisons & Sainsburys stock them regularly & I actually prefer them now to regular bread rolls if we are having burgers. That way, I don’t have to worry about cross contamination, constantly washing my hands, remembering what I have & haven’t touched. It makes life easier!

Getting ahead – make your own garlic bread

Our latest bread that she likes is garlic bread to serve alongside her regular gluten free pasta and homemade chicken soup. I buy Schar ciabatta rolls, slice & fill them with garlic butter made from softened butter, crushed garlic & chopped parsley, maybe a little salt to bring out the flavour. Wrap each individual one up in silver foil, pop in a bag & freeze. Then when she does have pasta & requests a garlic bread, I can grab one straight from the freezer, pop into the oven & 10-15m later, one warm garlic bread to go. Simple & easy.

If only everything in life was as easy as that. There’s a ‘How to’ post on our Instagram account under Top Tips which (I think) is about to be renamed Hints & Tips…. something tips anyway!

Head on over & follow us there to see what we get up to, what I’m making next and what is in our next box.

The October box countdown begins at the end of the week. It’s all about having spooky fun, making chocolate spider cupcakes complete with googly eyes, legs and crunchy bodies. All totally gluten free and edible! Head over to our website to subscribe.

August 17, 2021January 13, 2022

Don’t be afraid to ask “is that gluten free” when eating

Sometimes it’s embarrassing to ask the question “is that gluten free” when you know you’ve already ordered a dish that is supposed to be just that.

But what if you have doubts about the safety of the food that has just been put in front of you?

You don’t want to seem pushy
You don’t want to be dramatic
You don’t want to be that problem person in the restaurant, have people looking at you like your fussy.

Well, sometimes, you have to do that just that, you have to be that person that asks lots of questions as you don’t want your child to be ill.

I don’t mind asking questions, but, in normal fashion, I tend to blush and go bright red when doing so, it’s just one of those things. I didn’t like asking questions as a child because of it, but as an adult I tend not to worry, especially if it involves the safety of one of my children. But if I doubt a dish is safe as I did this weekend, I know I have to.

And worse still if I’m lunching in a well known restaurant that is particularly good at catering for Coeliacs. A place that I trusted & had specifically booked for being so.

Why would I question a dish that I’ve specifically ordered to be gluten free so that my child is fed safely?

But I had to as despite constantly stating my child was coeliac & required gluten free food, she’d been served a regular burger & chips.

What if I hadn’t questioned it? The family afternoon would’ve been ruined & my child would have been in pain and ill. And more worryingly, as she hasn’t had gluten in such a long period, would her symptoms have been stronger, different, worse?

It was only by chance as I looked at the dishes in front of us that an alarm bell went off in my head. I’d read on the menu that the regular burgers came in brioche buns. I’d forgotten, as we haven’t eaten out in so long, that any GF foods coming out of the kitchen normally have little flags in them. But I was definitely staring straight at a brioche burger bun on a plate sat in front of my hungry coeliac child.

Gluten Free Burger & chips with a GF flag

As the waitress looked at me, I know for a fact that my face changed. I’ve an expressive face and a look can convey a thousand words as most mums can.

“Is that gluten free?” came shooting out of my mouth as I was about to say “tuck in” instead. The look on the waitress’s face told me all I needed to know. “I’ll check” she said. She was back in seconds & the plate was taken away.

How in the ordering process and me stating several times that my child was coeliac and needed gluten free food that it got missed I don’t know. Everything is automated once the order is taken & put through at the front desk and sent to the kitchen. One plain (very plain) gluten free burger & chips. No thorough explanation was offered as to the oversight. The meal was replaced with a suitable gluten free offering, but there was no reason as to why it was not as ordered in the first place. Even the waitress at the end apologised and said it shouldn’t have happened.

I understand human errors occur, but eating something that isn’t gluten free could cause your child much pain and damage it’s an error that shouldn’t occur, specifically when orders are taken electronically and checked again before going out. When it is your child you must question any food item that you don’t prepare yourself.

Do question your server that they have the right gluten free dish
Does the restaurant use a specific way to highlight gluten free dishes?
Does it come with a flag showing its gluten free?
Is it on a different coloured plate?
Is it uncut to avoid contamination?

As I’ve learnt this weekend, it is always best to double check. I wasn’t being rude, fussy or awkward. I was being a mum, protecting my child, so that she didn’t miss out on the family event that afternoon by being made ill from a simple mistake.

So whether you are fine asking questions, or blush bright red like me, don’t ever think you’re silly for questioning anything, even if you are in a fully GF restaurant.

It’s always best to be safe & not sorry. It’s not worth the risk

August 9, 2021January 8, 2023

Has your child just been diagnosed with Coeliac Disease?

What to do when you get that diagnosis

It isn’t easy hearing the news that your child has been diagnosed with Coeliac Disease.

It is heart breaking. But at least you now have a diagnosis as to why they’ve been ill.

What do you do now?

The sense of chaos and overwhelm is undeniable when your child is diagnosed with coeliac disease. But, with a little planning and prep, you can get to grips with it and get your child back on track to the best health possible.

Because that’s all that matters right?

It is the only disease that can be cured by diet alone. Isn’t that just amazing.

But where do you start?

I had to start from scratch, there’s lots to learn, but my free Top Ten Tips will help get you started on your journey ticking off all the little things to know and giving you a good starting guide about Coeliac Disease.

There is so much to think about in the beginning whilst you find your feet; from checking labels, finding foods they like, checking store cupboard essentials and learning how to cook in a different way.

My new book is now available on Amazon, Coeliac Disease & your Child – What every parent needs to know. It’s helping parents, especially mums, so that in the early days their not so overwhelmed. That they don’t have to search the Internet or Facebook groups for answers that should be easily available. There’s enough to be doing. Helping your child is the first step.

I was given leaflets. Lots of them, but many irrelevant to my child. Designed for adults. And when you want to go back for some info, you never remember what was in each leaflet. There had to be a better way.

I want to tell you it can all be managed. It takes a little getting used to, remembering to do things differently, but, once you have those processes in place and know what you are looking for and doing, everything will be fine. I promise.

And that is what you want in the first place. To get your child back on their journey to the best of health.

To help lessen your overwhelm, grab a copy today. It will help, I promise.

For more details on the book click here or head over to Amazon now.

Best wishes

Nicky

July 26, 2021March 15, 2022

Being Gluten Free – Managing Cross Contamination

Cross Contamination

Managing Cross contamination & being gluten freel. Just the words fill you with dread. I think it is the scariest part of Coeliac Disease.

But what does it actually mean as a parent of a coeliac child & what happens in your daily life?

Just one crumb can mean the difference between being well and being ‘glutened’ by cross contamination. Glutened is the term most Coeliacs use when they have accidently consumed gluten. How your child reacts depends on how long they have been off gluten & on their gluten free diet and what their reactions were before they were diagnosed.

It’s just a crumb……..

But it’s not just one crumb that’s a visible contaminator. It’s if someone uses the wrong butter & scrapes their gluten bread with it, dipping their knife into the jam jar, the mayonnaise, mustard, cutting the cheese with a dirty knife on a crummy breadboard. Sharing bags of crisps, popcorn, sweets are out too as maybe that person or child has just had their regular gluten sandwich, and puts their hand into your child’s crisps…. The risk is too great.

So how do you avoid cross contamination?

Being Gluten Free - Managing Cross Contamination — Managing cross contamination in your kitchen for your coeliac child

Kitchen

Keep your kitchen clean, crumb free and have processes that everyone knows so that any contaminations can be minimised at all times. Let’s focus on the kitchen and the various risks you may or may not think of. This is based on how we work our kitchen as I’ve one child with Coeliacs and one without.

When my daughter was diagnosed, I chose to change pretty much anything that the ‘family’ used as a whole, so that if she grabbed anything, it wouldn’t make her ill. This included all cereals, crisps & anything I cooked with.

We’ve one corner area in the kitchen that houses the toaster & bread bin. This is the only area that ever has gluten in it. I stopped baking with gluten flour in 2018 as the potential for contamination was too high. Flour just goes everywhere & wasn’t worth the risk once diagnosed. See our Top Ten Tips in beginning your gluten free journey.

CHECK EVERYTHING!

Cupboards – Once diagnosed, check everything that you use for family cooking. If you use packet mixes, stock cubes, spices, frozen meals, chips – check to see if they contain wheat/gluten or are a ‘may contain’.

Your child will need their own butter, jam, spreads. Squeezy bottles – honey, jam, ketchup come handy here as they are less likely to get a knife dipped into them.

Managing Cross Contamination

Chopping Boards

You have a lovely wooden chopping board. You use it for everything. Cutting bread, vegetables, fruit. It’s cleaned & scrubbed on a regular basis.

Wood however, can harbour the gluten & contaminants so it is best kept just for bread – gluten bread and not for using to cut/chop other items. We have several plastic boards that can be used specifically for veg/fruit/gluten free items and they can be popped through the dishwasher.

Oven

You are cooking a multitude of items, both gluten and non gluten in the oven. Put the GF items on a separate tray and place at the top of the oven to cook. This ensures that the GF tray doesn’t get any contamination from drips of non GF food cooking at the same time.

Toaster

Either have a completely separate toaster for GF and non GF bread to be toasted, or, make use of toaster bags. Be mindful how you handle the bags & get the toast out of the bag. Remember they’ve been in a ‘gluten environment’ if it’s a non GF toaster, the outside of the bag is potentially covered in crumbs etc. We use a pair of tongs to remove the toast/waffle from within the bag.

Hob

Stirring – ensure you use separate spoons if you have GF & non GF items in pans on the hob. Ensure that you have disposed of any wooden spoons and change to silicone ones instead.

It’s hard in the beginning managing cross contamination, but with time, knowledge and processes in place that everyone adheres to, it is possible & becomes second nature. If your child is older they will learn to question what they are eating, could they read the label to double check its safe, ask if it has gluten in it. Younger ones learn from following what their parents are doing & learn that they don’t feel poorly any longer.

And when, a few months down the road, you see your child blossoming again, looking well and not pale, feeling ill or sick, or having a sore tummy, spending hours on the loo, then you will be glad of all the hard work you put into it at the beginning and know that the processes you have in place are working, keeping your child safe & well.