Not to scare anyone but if you are throwing a party and plan to serve delicious food to someone who is gluten free be sure to do a few things to ensure their safe eating. I should have posted this last week but it slipped my mind, probably due to an excess of cookie baking and gift wrapping….

These tips will give you a general idea on how to feed people and do it safely if you have a gluten free guest.   If your friends or family members pooh pah gluten free as exaggerated or made up; let them know: getting glutened for most celiacs is a lot like having that Norovirus; you are very ill for several days, you may spend many hours in the bathroom sick as a dog.  That sort of result doesn’t happen to me but I do get a severe burning pain in my right side and can have to spend 3-4 hours prone on the sofa feeling dreadful, almost comatose, and unable to read a book or even watch tv.  We celiacs are not exaggerating, we get really ill from even a tiny amount of wheat.  This sensitivity actually gets worse once you are gluten free for a few months.

Do you really want to know that your carelessness or cavalier attitude led to someone being sick for 3-10 days? I am sure you are vigorously shaking your head No.  So follow these steps and you will be sensitive to the needs of guests with this severe allergy.  Basic knowledge on best practices will give you the power to make safe and yummy food for your gluten free friends/family.

1. Wash all the cooking and serving items from pots and pans to utensils so you are starting with safe equipment and serving dishes.  That includes counter tops and cutting boards.  Do not use a wooden board that you cut regular wheat based bread on to cut or serve gf food on.  Colanders for pasta are particularly problematic: I bring my own when friends make pasta for me as the gluten clings to all those tiny holes; very hard to get it all off and make your colander totally safe and gluten free.

2. If you are serving GF and wheat foods on the same table please set them far away from each other and never put them on the same serving plate. You should probably put a label near each item so those eating gluten free will know what is safe. Safer yet is to have a separate GF table at your buffet.  Safest is to only serve gluten free food.

3. Remember there are lots of foods that are naturally GF. Like fruit, block cheese (except blue cheese) and veggies including potatoes, yams and salads.  Shredded cheese can be iffy; sometimes wheat products are added to facilitate the pourability of the shredded cheese product.  If you make a dip be careful with prepared mixes as they often contain wheat. There are lots of crackers in the grocery store that are GF.   I love Nabisco’s brown rice and pepper ones and Crunchmaster’s crackers are excellent. You could serve just them and no one will be the wiser but your guest will thank you. When packaging says “seasonings’ that is suspect; look for the GF label.  Wegmans now puts on a nice G label that means gf.  Save the bag so your guest can inspect it if they are worried as to the safety of the crackers.
4. Most alcoholic beverages are safe except beers and wheat based vodka.  You can get GF beer for those who are GF and must have beer!  Hard cider and wine are naturally GF.
5. Look for the letters Gf on the packaging to be sure. Sometimes the ingredients are naturally gluten free but the  product has been processed on the same equipment as wheat products.  If the label mentions the possibility of wheat in the product to to that sort of thing, don’t get it.  People with celiac disease can and often do get very ill due to foods contaminated with minute amounts of wheat from the processing on shared equipment.  Read the ingredient list for all prepared or snack foods. Some cheese curls are GF and some are not.  Ditto for tortilla chips. Be careful about rice mixtures as the seasoning packet often renders them unsafe.
6. Seafood is a good choice except for imitation crab and seafood as they are wheat based.  I did hear that there will be some new imitation crab in logs like string cheese that is gf; not seen it yet.  You can buy GF crumbs for breading things including for putting in your homemade crab cakes. Ready-made crab cakes are not GF.

7. Sweet rice flour makes excellent gravy, get it at a Chinese grocery store. I use the same proportion as any flour; just dissolve it in cold water before adding to a hot broth or blend with fat/butter before adding.

8. Don’t put wheat croutons in the salad; serve them on the side for those who can eat them with a label that they are not gf. You can set out slivered almonds, walnuts or pumpkin seeds to add crunch for GF eaters.  Or make your own croutons from GF bread cut into cubes.

9. Follow the recipe very closely if you bake a GF bread or dessert as they should not be altered if you want good results.

10. There are GF cake mixes that can be whipped up just as easily as regular wheat based cakes. King Arthur’s is my favorite as it makes two layers and the flavor and textures are quite good. Most frosting recipes are GF so you can easily make a tasty dessert for not that much cash (as compared to buying a GF cake from a bakery) and you get the satisfaction of having made it yourself.

11. Of course, you can make a pudding or serve fresh fruit. There are GF pie crusts out there so pie is certainly a yummy option. Wegmans has them and so does Fry’s Better Foods in Hellertown. I have used GF chocolate cookie ready-made crust for a quick and delightful pudding pie dessert, see that post from last winter.

12. Be careful about candies and chocolates. Read the label before you put out that candy dish. Wheat abounds in a lot of them!

13. Ice cream makes a great dessert but don’t serve cookie dough ice cream or any other flavor that has crumbled cookies or pretzels in it. Do it yourself Sundays are a great dessert idea.

14. You could make those tasty soft dinner rolls I gave the recipe for recently or the brownies I also posted some ago. I made those rolls this week and a fellow who eats wheat all the time asked for my recipe; he said they were the best rolls he had ever eaten, wheat or not!
15. I have posted several gf cookie recipes, each is great for serving as dessert at your party or to take to one so you have something safe to share.
16. Most of your meal will likely be GF if you cook from scratch: it is the pre-made and packaged stuff that tends to have wheat in it so scratch cooking is safer and frankly tastier.
17. Check on the internet or at the library for GF cookbooks to help you make delicious meals for GF friends and family.
18. There are GF bakeries out there, one in Catasauqua, PA, also one in  Coopersburg and a vegan bakery in Bethlehem. Great for a hassle free gf dessert option. 
19. Save all food labels/packaging in case your GF guest has a question or wants to view the ingredient list themselves. Not that unusual a request for anyone with celiac disease.

It is not the end of the world for we celiacs to have to cook and eat GF but it gets tiring to cook every meal and eating out is often problematic: nothing much safe to eat.  I always feel especially loved when someone cooks a homemade and safe dinner for me to enjoy.  So go ahead and try making a meal in the coming weeks for you know someone who can’t eat gluten.  You can do it and you will thrill them!

Snacking is something I occasionally do in the evening when I am bored, watching television or am hungry at work.  Going gluten free kinda put a crimp in some of my favorite chomp foods.  Toast with jam has sort of slipped by the wayside.  Ditto for pasta with garlic salt, butter, black pepper, Parmesan cheese and Worcestershire sauce stirred into it.  Well, I have made that one once.  Quite tasty, even made gluten free if you buy decent pasta and don’t overcook it.  Trouble is GF pasta is so pricey I have to make it a rare treat.  If you are new to celiac you might want some suggestions for safe snacking.  Read on!

There are a few low calorie gluten free snacks I particularly like.  Giant Grocery Store has small and large bags of their own brand of Mini Rice Snacks, I like the cheddar flavor.  They are cheesy, crunchy and cheap.  Seven of them are 70 calories.  I find it hard to stop at 7 chips most times.  Hence the small bag so I tend to stop faster than that big one that is three times bigger. Quaker makes a few flavors of the mini rice chips, slightly pricier.  There are big rice cakes too which are good with jam or peanut butter spread on them.

GF crackers can be less than yummy, cardboard like and expensive but there is one new one out there I immediately fell in love with: Nabisco’s Rice Thins.  My favorite, hands down, is the Brown Rice, Sea Salt and Pepper cracker which is a little spicy and a lot tasty, crisp and great with cheese or a dip.

When I am thirsty I drink things like green tea iced with chia seeds stirred in for extra fiber and fun!  They slide down your throat and make boring green tea a silly fun time.

Another favorite drink is the chocolate egg cream, see my blog post on this yummy drink which has no eggs and usually no cream.  Light, refreshing and an old school treat which originated in Brooklyn, NY.

Fruit is an excellent snack choice.  I haven’t met one yet I didn’t like.  Buy things in season, eat them at peak ripeness and try to vary your fruits.  Don’t be like a good friend of mine who only seems to eat bananas and an occasional apple.  He is missing out on all the trace nutrients, vitamins and fiber fount in a host of fresh fruits.  It is fall so apples and pears are at the top of my list.  I am still eating honeydew melons and watermelons from my gardens.  Melons aren’t that full of nutrition but they are certainly good for you.  Berries of all kinds rank high.  I have ripe raspberries which are very flavorful and very good for you.  Get some fruit at the farmer’s market, grocery store or orchard stand and eat at least three fruits a day.  Most have lots of beneficial stuff in them, they are low calorie and they often have crunch which can be satisfying when you are in that munchy mood.

Another treat is medjool dates, best purchased in the fall.  They are big, soft, sweet, and best of all, their flavor is amazing.  Far tastier than any other variety of date, they are the queen of dates, even if you don’t like dates you might fall in love with the medjool.  I like the really big ones – they come in several sizes. These dates also contain significant amounts of fiber, potassium, copper and several other nutrients.  Good for you and they are addictive.

Popcorn is low calorie especially if you don’t use a microwave bag variety full of fat and salt. I love to whip up a small bowl of it and enjoy it lightly salted while I read a book.

I happen to love muffins and there are many great GF muffin recipes out there. I just baked some carrot muffins this weekend, with walnuts and golden raisin in them.  I also make a mean banana nut muffin that is almost cake like. Muffins are filling, yummy and very portable to take to work.  I freeze most of them as they only stay fresh 2-3 days and let the treat thaw in a baggie until I am hungry.  Mine are made with canola oil, one percent milk, lots of carrots and a low amount of sugar so I think the calorie count is not that extreme.

Then there are cookies; I have blogged on cowboy cookies as well as a few other tasty gf choices you can whip up.  The store ones are kinda pricey and not as delish as ones you make yourself but any port in a storm!

I love Stonyfield Smooth and Creamy Organic Yogurt especially the whole milk, plain, sold in a big 32 ounce container.  I put a few big dollops in a small Tupperware with a spoonful of jam and stir it in just as I eat it for a snack or side dish at lunch.

Celery sticks alone or with peanut butter are satisfying. So are florets of cauliflower with some creamy salad dressing.  Red pepper strips are tasty to munch on too.

See, there are many healthy yet gluten free snack choices available and a few decadent ones too.  Just because you are gluten free doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy a snack when you get the munchies!