I feel pretty ahead of the curve when it comes to Celiac Disease. My actual job is food so I have a good understanding of what it meant to go gluten-free for my daughter. When M was first diagnosed I went from thinking what the hell am I going to cook for her to have her be a part of her own solution. My biggest concern was that I did not want her to only eat food that came out of a box or a plastic package. I had to shift my mindset in how I approached food and show her all the things she could have instead of focusing on all the things she couldn’t have. There are days when I still feel this process in action.

Below are some tips to get you started:

Learn How to Read Labels: Understanding terms on the labels, what it means when you see a certified gluten-free vs. plain old gluten-free is important. A shared facility is ok for us, but shared lines are not. There are oats and then there are certified gluten-free oats; who knew! There is such a thing as an Oat Protocol and no it’s not a Mission Impossible Movie.

Learn How to Plan Ahead: If you’ve never been a planner those days are now over. You know that old saying “Failing to plan is planning to fail.” Well, you’ll fail and be super hungry at the same time. You need a plan every day. That will look different for you than it does for our family. I meal plan weekly because that’s what works for our family. If you can plan even a couple of days you are succeeding. Find those recipes that work for you and start simple! Find a protein, a carb, and a veg and you have a meal.

Buy New Kitchen Equipment. We started with replacing cutting boards, colanders, plastic cooking utensils, waffle maker, and tupperware. M was never a bread kid so we did not replace our toaster. I do have toaster bags if I do put anything in the toaster for her. Anything that was plastic she could not use because it likely had gluten in or on it. You can’t “cook-off” gluten so it had to get tossed! I also have two ovens and one is dedicated gluten-free, especially since they are both convection I couldn’t have gluten particles being blowing around her food. If you can’t replace items all at once start with the most frequently used. This is an expensive process so be smart about it.

Taste Test! I bought every gluten-free flour blend I could get my hands on. M LOVES waffles so we had to find the blend that she liked the best. She likes the King Arthur Measure for Measure, but it may be different for your Celiac. She loved doing this with me because we were able to spend time together and it created buy-in.

Reset Expectations. This is a continuous thing almost two years in. There are a lot of wonderful gluten-free products on the market but there is an equal amount of terrible ones too. Anything baked or that comes in a package is going to taste different. I found that I couldn’t tell my daughter that her pizza would taste the same because it doesn’t. Gluten is what creates the bounce and stretch in baked goods. It can’t be replicated 100%. Find the food you like with your new expectations.

Dining Out. This is the hardest one to navigate. There is a difference between gluten-free and Celiac-Safe. Particularly in the US when there are thousands of people who choose to eat gluten-free (why?!) most restaurants don’t understand that Celiac Disease is very, very serious. The biggest concern is cross-contact. Is the fryer shared; meaning does something coated in breadcrumbs go in the same fryer as gluten-free fries? If so, the fries may be gluten-free but they are not Celiac safe. I’ve learned that most fryers are not safe unless they are dedicated to gluten-free items only. M loves Caesar salad but it has croutons! When M orders this at a restaurant she requests that a new bowl be used, new tongs are used, new gloves are used, and obviously no croutons. You have to do this for every item you order for your Celiac. We’ve taught M how to order for herself and she is very diligent in explaining her disease. She knows if we go get ice cream that she asks for a new scoop and a fresh ice cream opened. We didn’t dine out much in the beginning because it was just too overwhelming. Now, I plan ahead, spend a significant amount of time on the internet and phone researching safe places for her.

Traveling: You’ll need to be armed with your dining out skills! If you are driving somewhere plan ahead and know where you are going to stop but have a backup plan. I ALWAYS take safe food for M because I never know what’s going to happen. We try to stay in places with a kitchenette or kitchen. I don’t need much but it’s so helpful. I also have my “Go Crate” which is filled with what I need to safely prepare her food. In the crate, I have her waffle maker (if I ran out of time to make waffles!), cutting boards, colander (at least one), cooking utensils, tupperware, gf flour, gf spices (don’t trust the ones where you are staying), and all the snacks! If you are getting on a plane pack snacks. Try not to pack items that need to be refrigerated because unless you have a solid ice pack security won’t let you through. Research the airports you will be in for safe places to eat out, if possible.