For the past 2 years we have lived with my in-laws. This has been a huge blessing in so many ways for our family. But in our house I am the only one with Celiac disease. So naturally everyone else – while being incredibly careful and supportive of me – wants to eat gluten. And why shouldn’t they? It only presented the big question of, how can I avoid gluten cross contamination, and keep myself safe?

For the first few months it was incredibly stressful. Giving up the complete control I had in my last kitchen was really hard! I became the crazy crumb police and it honestly felt like the crumbs were going to jump 6 feet across the kitchen and onto my food without me knowing. Of course that didn’t happen, and after 2 years I am proud to say that I have actually become quite comfortable with sharing a kitchen with gluten. Do I still wipe the counters before I prepare food? Of course! Do I internally freak out anytime there a crumbs on a counter or someone is eating a sandwich near me? Nope! Hey, I even make sandwiches for my toddler now. 

Before we dive into the how – I just want you to know that there is going to be a transition period where the kitchen, and food prep will probably make you feel anxious. For good reason! There is literally a threat to your health in your space and your mind is keenly aware of it trying to keep you safe. Over time, you will adjust and feel what is actually dangerous and what is safe. Here’s what we’ve done to make it work! 

Talk to everyone you live with about Celiac disease, and what they can do to limit gluten cross contamination.

People usually want to be helpful and accommodating, and it is so much easier for them to do that if they understand what your needs are. Explain how serious cross contamination is for you and how to avoid it. Write those tips down and keep it somewhere everyone will see it often. The fridge is a great place for that.

Two years ago we hosted a family reunion in our home. Since we were planning dinners together, we sent out an email in advance and had an info sheet taped to the cupboard. Our family had lots of questions and I’m really glad they did! Getting it out of the way in advance was a huge mental load off. Things you may want to mention to people sharing your kitchen – hand washing after handling gluten, wiping counters before and after food prep, using plates for preparing gluten food, and where the designated spaces are for gluten / gluten free. 

Have dedicated spaces for “Gluten” and “Gluten Free”.

We have one counter space dedicated to the glutenous things. This space contains the toaster, the bread basket, and any treats containing gluten that come home. Sandwiches are also prepared on this counter and only on this counter. 

We have another counter space dedicated to gluten free. No gluten is ever allowed on this counter. When the dedicated GF toaster comes out, that is where it goes. 

Having these dedicated spaces is so helpful for avoiding gluten cross contamination and here’s why. 1) There is always a safe counter space for preparing or placing gluten free food. This takes a huge mental load off of someone who is constantly thinking about what has been where and ‘is there a safe place to prepare or place my food?’. 2) The dedicated gluten space creates a yes zone for those people who still eat gluten. Not having to worry about crumbs in this space is a huge load off. And prevents most crumbs from being spread all over the kitchen.

All other counter space is shared space and the rule is – always wipe down this space before preparing food even if it looks clean. 

Get another toaster. 

I’ve heard of people getting toaster bags and sharing a toaster with gluten bread, but honestly, a cheap toaster that is dedicated GF is 100% worth the money. Keep this GF toaster in a cupboard and NOT on the counter. I made the mistake once of leaving it out and a guest in our home saw it and unknowingly put their gluten bread in. To say it was mildly devastating is an understatement. So my advice, label it, keep it out of sight and only bring it out when it’s being used. Bonus points if it can be stored in a place that is near your gluten free counter. If you are worried about crumbs in your cupboard, keeping the toaster in a disposable casserole dish works like a charm. 

Avoid gluten cross contamination with labels

We label all of our spreads (margarine, mayonnaise, peanut butter, jams, honey, Nutella, etc) with GF or GLUTEN FREE. Label the lid and sides of the containers. You want it to be painfully difficult to miss. These labels are super important because you may have doubles of a lot of these things. The label’s job is to make it easy to determine which is which. I admit there have been many containers contaminated *BUT* I have never been glutened from a spread with a label. Even when there has been an accident, the person has noticed the labels before they put it away and will tell me it has been contaminated. It then gets labelled “NOT GF”. We just use a sharpie to label containers, but a label maker would work as well! 

Eating together? – Make it all Gluten Free

It may seem easier or cheaper to make only a part of the meal gluten free. While that might be true for some meals, most of the time it will be easier on everybody if the entire meal is just gluten free. It can be difficult for others to be aware or remember how to keep food from gluten cross contamination. When you try to make only a part of the meal gluten free there is a lot more room for error. For example, a member of our family was making pasta and decided to do one GF and one not. They accidentally used the same spoon to stir both pots and contaminated the GF pasta. It was as easy as that. 

So my advice is that if you are all eating together, make it all gluten free. It’s easier and less stressful for everyone involved. If you need ideas on what to make, check out my dinner recipes! Cooking GF is a lot easier than it may seem. In our home we eat together 6 days a week and almost every meal is 100% GF. The only exceptions are having bread with soup or when we have hamburgers we do 2 separate types of buns. No sense in everyone suffering with sub par hamburger buns!

What about gluten flour?

A huge contributor to gluten cross contamination is flour. Try not to store wheat flour in the kitchen or near prep areas if you can help it! In the pantry is best and because flour bags with holes are a Celiac’s worst nightmare, put it in a sealed container on the floor or bottom shelf. 

I have read a variety of opinions discussing whether it is safe for someone with Celiac disease to be around airborne flour. Some say absolutely not, some say its fine in small amounts, some say wear a mask, it’s all a little confusing and no matter what is true, right now I’m just not comfortable with it for myself. So in our house I stay out of the kitchen when someone is working with flour. Once they are finished, every counter in the kitchen is wiped down because flour that has been disturbed gets into the air and can settle on any surface. Obviously, working with flour is not done around meal times. It will all depend on who you are sharing a kitchen with but no matter what, communication is key. 

I hope that these tips give you the boost you need to approach a shared kitchen with confidence! Let me know in the comments what your favourite tips are for a sharing a kitchen with gluten!