==== ==== Living and Eating Gluten Free http://tiny.cc/wu6z3 ==== ====
As you already know, almost all processed food contains gluten for one reason or another. So your kitchen stores and refrigerator are most likely full of food which you can't eat - whether temporarily or permanently. If you're not sure you are gluten intolerant These instructions are for someone who knows they have to follow a gluten free diet for the rest of their lives. If you are just following it as a diagnostic measure, for a few weeks, you can modify them slightly by putting products which contain gluten into "quarantine" - perhaps put all the contaminated frozen food into a black bag (so it's perfectly obvious), in one drawer or section of the freezer. Bag unusable cupboard stores and put them at the back of the cupboard or the top shelf. It's still best to dispose of refrigerated stores, because they probably won't last long enough to be retrieved. In this way, you can avoid eating gluten accidentally while you are following the gluten free diet, but if it turns out that you don't have a problem with gluten, you won't have lost all your stores. Creating a gluten free kitchen You're going to need a few garbage bags and plenty of hot water on tap. Start by checking everything that is usually left out on the work top. Once you have checked everything on the worktops, start on the cupboards and other stores. The easiest way is to get it all out, one shelf at a time, check each label and either return the pack to the cupboard or dispose of it. The fridge comes next, followed by the freezer. If there are stores elsewhere (eg. a sideboard, larder, cellar etc), they need to be gone through as well. Check each item for an allergy advice box - if it contains any of the words gluten, wheat, rye or barley then throw it out. If there's no allergy advice, read the ingredients label and look for any of the following: wheat, rye, barley, oats (unless specifically labeled as "gluten free"), spelt, kamut, bulgar, couscous, dinkle, durum wheat, einkorn, emmer wheat, semolina, triticale, modified starch of unspecified origin, malt, soy sauce, rusk, breadcrumbs. Throw away anything which contains any of these ingredients. If there's no label, you will need to apply a rule of thumb. If it's a cereal product (except cornflour/cornstarch and rice), it's probably wheat-based, and will need to be chucked out. This even applies to things like Rice Krispies, which are flavored with malt. Lentils, dried peas and
beans are fine, but mixes which contain barley are for the bin. Rolled oats and oatmeal are probably contaminated, as most oats are processed in the same factories as gluten-containing grains. Unless there is a label stating that the oats were processed in a gluten free facility, they should be disposed of. Once you have checked every scrap of food in your house, I am willing to bet that your stores will be much reduced in size. But you haven't finished yet. If anyone has ever done any baking, or used flour or breadcrumbs for any other purpose, it's a very good idea to scrub down all work surfaces and chopping boards, paying particular attention to any cracks round the edges or where surfaces meet, where tiny particles of gluten can get lodged without your realizing it. You only need a blunt knife to get these clean, and you will be sure that your kitchen has no potential areas of contamination to undo all your hard work. Now you can start cooking with no worries about accidental contamination or adding gluten without realizing it.
Take my fun quiz Are you Gluten Intolerant to see if gluten is affecting your life. And Now! get your FREE COPY of Gluten Free-Easy or Gluten and Dairy Free-Easy here: FreeEasy Publications.
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==== ==== Living and Eating Gluten Free http://tiny.cc/wu6z3 ==== ====