Cooking Gluten Free

     How many of you know people who have to be gluten free but you aren't one of those people? Have you ever wondered how to prepare a meal for these kinds of people? If your answer to both questions is yes then this post is for you!
     My family and I were blessed to have been able to live with celiac friends and learn really what it meant to be gluten free. It was a little more expensive but it was well worth the education that we got in learning what it takes to live like that. It's not that hard to feed your celiac friends it just takes a little extra looking on your part to make sure that your friends go home with full bellies and no achy sick feelings.
     First you need to start with buying your ingredients. You must make sure that whatever you buy does not contain wheat or gluten (wheat is where gluten comes from). To do this check the labels in the ingredients list.
     Another label to watch out for in the ingredients list is "natural flavors." This label can hide a lot of ingredients that go into a product, gluten being one of them. Another label that might have gluten but usually doesn't is "artificial flavors," this one you probably don't have to worry about but if you have a question call your celiac friend and see if they know if a particular product is safe or not.
     A lot of companies are making it much easier to figure out if there products are gluten free or not by either labeling their products as Gluten Free or saying directly on their websites whether their products contain gluten or wheat.
     Meats are usually gluten free unless they are swimming in marinade of some kind or have been injected, then they might not be (check the ingredients list). When it comes to sausages and meatballs and other mixed meats like this and I know I'm serving celiac friends I only buy ones that are labelled gluten free because I don't want to risk them going home feeling bad.  
     Once you have gathered all of your ingredients it's time to cook!
     I have learned that when I'm cooking for celiac people I am very aware of the surfaces that I am placing things on or in. (Does this surface have even one crumb of gluten on it? kind of awareness.) You have to be this way if you are cooking for people who are celiac and you have wheat based products around the house. Being that our house is not a gluten free environment there is always the chance that something could become contaminated with gluten especially at the preparation stage. Just make sure that everything is clean.
     A good go to meal for serving to celiac friends is Costco rotisserie chicken, steamed rice, and a bag of vegetables from the freezer section and/or a green salad with fresh veggies. This is great for busy days when you don't really have time to cook.
     When I actually have time to put into preparing a meal I'll make something, being careful not to put anything in the dish that would contaminate it. I have found a couple of good recipes Here, Here, and Here. As you can see from the recipes, I like chicken. I also like diversity from the simple garlic and brown sugar crusted chicken, to the fresh take on chicken salad with avocado and cilantro, to the yummy chicken curry that doesn't take all day to make.
     As people become more and more aware of he celiac condition it's becoming easier and easier to find things that are gluten free. (Makes it easier for me to feed my celiac friends! Yay!) Look for things labelled as gluten free or with an ingredients list that contains no wheat or gluten in the list of ingredients. You might be surprised to find out just what you have been eating that contains gluten. I know soy sauce got me (it still gets me).
      Now go forth and have a celiac friend over! (It's much easier than you think).