Strawberries are Gluten Free » Contamination Tips

Hidden sources of gluten – cosmetics, medication & more

Cathy Tibbles — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 03:39:11 +0000

This is a great article, with some often-missed items that may contain gluten! If you use the shopping lists on this site, I’ve included those products and warning.

Check out that article here!

Good news for the freshly diagnosed celiac’s family

Cathy Tibbles — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 03:20:08 +0000

The strangest thing happened to me recently. I went to my Mom's place to celebrate her 60th. That wasn't too strange.

While I was there, I would help with meals. As much as I love to let my hubby cook, helping out in the kitchen isn’t totally foreign either.

What was indeed very strange – by strange, I mean it set off big flashing red lights in my head – was that they were double-dippers. And they didn’t – get this – use butter knives!!

Mom & I

Now, you have to realize that my Mom has always been big on table manners, and for special occasions, of course there were serving utensils for everything, even the butter. But I’m used to our dual mode kitchen. We keep everything separate. We have ‘gluten butter’, and gluten-free butter. We have ‘gluten jam’ and gluten-free jam. And, if you’re using the gluten-free butter, there are certain things you just do not do! ‘Cause then we have to get out the masking tape and put a big “X” on the container thereby dubbing it, ‘gluten’.

It was a little panic-inducing for my carefully crafted wariness to be constantly assaulted. What was even more concerning was that I might get used to it. And that would be far worse. Because then I’d have to adjust again. I’d have to focus on every single item I reached for in the fridge. I’d have to think about what knife I was using. I’d have to stop and be intentional!

You know what? This is terribly good news for the freshly diagnosed family (a family member with celiac disease). Here’s the fabulous news – it does get easier! In fact it gets so easy that it feels absolutely wrong to live any other way! Being in a home where nothing was labeled, and the cautiousness wasn’t there, was just plain scary.

Happily I’m back at home where I belong. I open my fridge doors and find welcoming masking tape “X”s on every other item. And the sink is jammed full with once-used silverware.

Home sweet home.

CFIA – undeclared wheat found

Cathy Tibbles — Thu, 26 May 2011 23:48:02 +0000

Wheat has been found in Spicy Dumpling – Punjabi Wadi brand. Keep an eye out if you are in Manitoba, Ontario or Quebec. You can find the distributors and retail outlets here.

Eating out with Food Allergies

Cathy Tibbles — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 16:47:48 +0000

I will be posting a lot more on this in the coming weeks. It is driving me crazy how often Mike is contaminated while eating out – RIDICULOUS! Of course, it is a risk he takes every time he eats out, a known risk. And I intend to show you how much of a risk it is over the coming weeks. I am getting into a commercial kitchen to show how easy it is to contaminate food. I will have pictures and everything. This needs to be a clear point – it is a risk to eat out!

Lessening the risk is what Delicardo food cards are about. They contacted me a few months ago about reviewing their food cards, and sent me a few cards to use and other samples to see the quality and variety. I do know of one other American company that produces these cards. And I’ve created some for free download as well. These ones are done for you – and are cute to boot!

princess cards

pirate cards

They also have non-children themes, in various colors that contain the same wording – advising chefs and kitchen staff of what can and cannot be eaten by the card holder.

You can order these cards from Delicardo.de. The site is in German so be sure to have your browser translate it.