In review, you have just discovered you need a gluten free diet for someone or yourself. Your first instinct is likely to eliminate all food as you know it by depositing it into the nearest dumpster. STOP NOW! Take time to identify changes needed and plan how you will shop and organize your NEW kitchen. It can be done and it can be fun. It might even help to see this uncharted territory as a great adventure. Let me give you a visual.....
Many years ago I went to a foreign country. I had many beverages and foods that, well, I had never had before. As a matter of fact I am not certain what food category many of them belonged to, but that is another blog. Anyway, each had unique flavor, texture, aromas, all very different than what I was accustomed to. That being said, some I really enjoyed while some not so much. Some I immediately captured a recipe for and learned how to make. Some I avoided like the plague, not that I wasn't grateful, but you can understand. When I returned to the states I realized that I had this same experience with food from the homeland. I do not eat fish, for example, nor do I enjoy grits, hominy or otherwise:-)
Gluten free eating will be the same. As you introduce these foods to your diet you will find some quite good, and some, well ...... need tweaking or tossing. And that is okay. So when you start the process, decide how you can segregate your kitchen. Which side will be FREE and which side will be Quarantined. You see, I give the gluten free section the greatest space as there is nothing that will be dropped on the counter that will negatively impact that gluten packed meal, BUT, those gluten droppings could cause all kinds of ailments to the unsuspecting diner.
So, how many people will be enjoying this new culinary adventure? Divide and assign space to accommodate the volume of food you are considering. We have assigned cupboard space for the gluten containing foods as well as specific refrigerator space. This not only assures that there is no confusion for those that need to avoid gluten, but it prevents some of the contamination that may occur from spills, crumbs, etc. Additionally if you have young children who need to learn, it helps them to be more independent if they know where their foods are stored and where they are to never go.
In these assigned spaces, place the corresponding unsharable cookware or appliances such as toasters, fryers or butter dishes. These must never be shared or mixed as crumbs are everywhere and they will attach to your food items like a fly on stink. We used the BLACK BAD and WHITE GOOD for the small appliances. Kitchen rules may help untill everyone is in the routine of food selection in this brave new world (kitchen). We labeled it YES or NO so our son could be successful without any effort initially and my husband would know the gluten free cookies were not his! Good news, he has found many of the foods I buy or make now to be very good and only resists changing our a few things. WONDERFUL! This was not always the case, but practice makes perfect, right?! And I must confess, I dream of a united kitchen one day.
In learning to cook and bake really good food, I have purchased many cookbooks and tried every box, bottle, can or bag on the shelf. EVERY ONE! I have had fun with this cookbook. It is great, and especially for those VISUAL chefs. The pictures are lovely and the instructions are easy. You might want to check this out. I bought mine on Amazon.
Next: Kitchen Basics Three - The Shopping List
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