There are many challenges that arise in a house where you have some eating gluten free and some not eating gluten free, but I think the butter dish and the mayonnaise jar may be my biggest challenge.
There are days it drives me crazy, but it is the reality of the gluten free life.
This is why a house with gluten free and non gluten free eaters needs two butter dishes, two mayonnaise jars, and two toasters.
And this is why I am realizing more and more why many of you don’t even bring gluten into the house.
It does bring its challenges, I will admit that.
And if anyone visits my house and wonders why my butter dishes are labeled gluten free butter and regular butter you will know why.
Actually, maybe I will just label my butter boys only and girls only since the boys in the house are the ones without any food issues. Although, people might think I am a bit strange if they see a butter dish labeled for boys only.
It’s not weird at all. In my house, my boyfriend is GF, and I’m not. All of the meals cooked are GF only. I have a separate bin in our office w/ gluten foods. We have separate toasters, and if I ever need mayo, mustard, jelly, or anything else in a jar, I scoop some of it into a small dish and make my sandwich or toast in the other room. I’m super careful, and in almost two years, we’ve never had a cross contamination glutening incident in our household. Maybe you could designate areas for the gluten eaters in your house? Just a thought.
We do have a cupboard that I keep all the regular food like cereals and snack food, that the gf eaters can’t have in and that has helped, but for some reason the crumbs in the butter and two butter dishes drives me crazy. Maybe some day I will have a big enough kitchen that we can keep the areas separate easier.
I agree — right there with you! Butter and toast and jelly… urg; PB & J sandwiches are the worst culprit. I don’t find it strange and I’m glad that you have them labeled. I will not use a toaster unless it is labeled as nut free (as it is in our house).
In my house there is only one teen still eating gluten bread. She has her own toaster, pb jar etc. The rest of the house including my daycare children are gluten free.
I love squeeze bottles! My husband asked me AGAIN the other day why he has to use a squeeze bottle for pickle relish (not to mention catsup, mustard, mayo, strawberry jam, etc.). I told him that otherwise I’d have to throw out the jars before they were halfway used since, even though we remember MOST of the time not to put the knife back in, if there’s any doubt at all…I assume it’s contaminated, and I use those things more often than he does.
Now, if I could just find a way for peanut butter and butter to work in a squeeze bottle…after all, I usually make both our sandwiches 🙂 The truth is, I make mistakes, too, so the rest of the family isn’t the only problem. Just because I’ve labeled the peanut butter and the margarine tub “GF” doesn’t mean I won’t get mixed up when I’m in a hurry.
Does anyone else have that problem?
I agree about the squeeze bottles. I used to wonder why anyone would buy those since they are usually more expensive, but now I know. 🙂 I love the mayo, jelly, and other things that are in the squeeze bottles or that I can easily put in a squeeze bottle. And yes wouldn’t it be nice if butter and pb would work in one. 🙂
How I can relate! Since I am the only GF person in the house cross contamination is a huge issue. Squeeze bottles are the way to go with a few condiments and I eat almond butter while the rest of the family eats peanut butter so I avoid PB issues! Separate butter dishes are a must!! 🙂
Ha ha! Yes, this is always a fun problem at our house. We have “his” and “her” ends of the butter dish. We never move the butter dish, so we always know that the end facing me is my GF end. When we get to the end of the stick, my husband (non-GF) gets what’s left!
We do squeeze bottles, too. If we have a jar (like PB), the rule is that you have to scoop the PB out w/a spoon. Your knife never touches the jar. And if the spoon touches your bread, it doesn’t back in the jar.
Honestly, we don’t have any problems when it’s just me and my husband at home. After knowing him for several years, he has been fully trained. 🙂 The bigger problem is when my in-laws come to visit…don’t even get me started! It’s usually something like, “Noooo…don’t put that knife back in….oh never mind, I’ll buy a new jar or get my own stick of butter…”
We have a four slot toaster – 2 for him (gluten products) and 2 for me (GF only). My side has a girly sticker by it. We also have a toaster oven, which is actually safer, in my opinion. But, we like having both.
LOL…..everything that comes into my house either says NO or GF lol……My dh had the hardest time in the beginning, he kept thinking NO meant he could not eat it…….LOL…. but he is not to mess with the GF items unless he uses clean utensils and does not double dip.
Thanks so much for posting this, I felt so weird before, now I don’t.
Moe