For all those little niggles you just don’t seem to find the answer for. Below is a list of tips which I hope will help you provide a safe environment for all.
- Long Spoons: An essential for any Gluten Free kitchen. Get everyone in the household into the habit of using long spoons to take/serve condiments such as jam, mayonnaise olives etc, great for avoiding cross-contamination.
Some of my long spoons
- Toaster bags: Ideal if you only have one toaster. Also great for taking on holiday with you.
- Squeezy Bottles: The ones I use are quite small so, ideal for your bag, packed lunch and picnics.Great for carrying around your own sauces i.e. tomato ketchup/mayonnaise. Just remember to pack them! (Can buy them from most supermarkets)
- Gluten Free First: If you are preparing a meal, cooking or washing up get into the habit of always doing Gluten Free first.
- Positioning: When cooking a Gluten Free dish and a gluten dish, always place the Gluten Free dish on the higher shelf, so, any food that drips will simply fall into the gluten dish below.
- Stations: Just as you will have separate work surfaces for Gluten Free and Gluten containing foods, so, you should have separate stations for sponges, cloths and tea towels.
- Cake Sales: Cake sales are very popular now at school. I always try and provide a Gluten Free option for Amélie’s class cake sale.
- Wet wipes: I cannot live without them, great for wiping away unwanted crumbs. Billy automatically wipes his hands now whenever he has touched a product with gluten in it.
- Labels: Brilliant for using when you are staying at family/friends houses and have to share their kitchen. I label all of Amélie’s food which prevents products accidently becoming contaminated and helps everyone in the house to stay safe.
- Tablecloths: Many households now have an oil tablecloth on their dining table as they are easy to keep clean. They are also great for using on picnics. I found that no matter what I did unwanted crumbs would always end up on Amélie’s picnic blanket. So, I decided to use an oil cloth instead, crumbs are now very easily wiped away and unwanted spillages are quickly wiped up.