The first few times Amelie went back for tea to friends’ houses I provided her with an extra packed lunch. Then, gradu­ally, par­ents wanted to cook for Amelie! The fol­low­ing guidelines are for all those sup­port­ive par­ents who are incred­ibly thought­ful – Thank you.

1. Decide on a Gluten-free area in your kit­chen and deep clean.
2. It may be easier to cook a totally Gluten-free meal, so lessen­ing the chance of cross-contamination.
3. If pre­par­ing a sep­ar­ate Gluten-free meal, as well as a meal con­tain­ing glu­ten, pre­pare the Gluten-free meal first.
4. Always use a clean tea towel when pre­par­ing a glu­ten free meal, for wip­ing sur­faces and your hands, dur­ing and after pre­par­a­tion.
5. Ensure all crock­ery, cut­lery and utensils used for the Gluten-free meal do not come into con­tact with any ingredi­ents con­tain­ing glu­ten. Be dili­gent about crumbs.
6. Always use a new butter/margarine or one that hasn’t been con­tam­in­ated with crumbs from glu­ten products. (For more info see Tips)
7. If chil­dren have been eat­ing products con­tain­ing glu­ten ensure that they wash their hands before con­tinu­ing to play. (For more info see Cross-contamination)

(For ideas on what to cook for Amelie go to Meal Ideas)

Next art­icle: Meal Ideas »