Gluten-Free Thanksgiving...Help!

[VickiVM]

My nephew (who is in his late 20's) has celiac disease and I need help making sure I have some gluten-free choices for him. My sister says he's going to make his own dressing (stuffing - whatever you want to call it), and we usually smoke a whole turkey or turkey breast.

We also usually have fresh veggies prepared (as opposed to canned or frozen) and a potato side...maybe roasted red potatoes.

What should I avoid to be sure gluten doesn't make it to the table for him? I don't want him to have to prepare a separate meal for himself if I'm able to make adjustments in our menu.

TIA!

 

[skatalite]

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/gluten-free-diet/my01140

 

[anniemae]

It's really hard and you must cook in a truly gluten free kitchen if he has celiacs. Some recommend using utensils, bowls etc. that have never touched gluten, everything must be separate. Also little things like if you use butter in a recipe, it should be a new container since it could be contaminated with gluten if someone used the same container to butter their toast. Now the butter has bread crumbs, which can trigger an attack.

It is hard for a gluten free person to eat at someones house since you usually have to question the cook to find out it they inadvertently contaminated something. A few crumbs can be all it takes. I would get a gluten free cook book from the library, most of them talk about being gluten free and how to cook for a gluten free member of the household even if the whole house is not gluten free.

He may be more comfortable bringing his own stuff.

 

[ashley0139]

My nephew (who is in his late 20's) has celiac disease and I need help making sure I have some gluten-free choices for him. My sister says he's going to make his own dressing (stuffing - whatever you want to call it), and we usually smoke a whole turkey or turkey breast. We also usually have fresh veggies prepared (as opposed to canned or frozen) and a potato side...maybe roasted red potatoes. What should I avoid to be sure gluten doesn't make it to the table for him? I don't want him to have to prepare a separate meal for himself if I'm able to make adjustments in our menu. TIA!

Your choices for thanksgiving should be pretty easy to make gluten free. Fresh vegetables and roasted potatoes will be easy to prepare gluten free. If you are doing stuffing do it in a completely separate dish. Know that if you end up doing a green bean casserole or something the usual cream of mushroom soup will have flour and also you cannot use breadcrumbs or fried onions. Doesn't sound like you have that planned so you should be pretty good! There should be no news for you to prepare a separate meal.

 

[Tiggerluvr75]

Newbie chiming in, and I have Celiac.

As with other diseases, some people are more tolerant than others. To give you an example. With my Celiac I can prepare in the same kitchen as gluten food is being prepared, just with my own cooking utensils, pots & pans, etc.

A friend who also have Celiac cannot walk into a kitchen that has gluten in it. She gets sick just breathing in flour. Has to use GF shampoo, make-up, etc.

Same disease, different variations.

That being said I would speak with your Nephew. Ask him if regular dinner rolls can be on the table for example. GF dinner rolls are readily available nowadays. He is bringing the dressing. Turkey, veggies, and cranberry sauce are naturally GF. If you make your gravy, please use GF buillion cubes if you use that, and cornstarch instead of flour for thickening.

As for desserts, lots of GF options available. See if you have a GF bakery in your area. Perhaps pick up a couple of treats for him.

What we do during the holidays is buffet style. I make the main buffet table GF, since the majority of the food is naturally GF. Then, I place a small table to the side with rolls, a different dressing, and a caserole my family always brings that has ritz crackers on top. That way, nothing is cross contaminated.

Most beverages are GF. Sodas, coffee, tea, wine, spirits. Beer is NOT. Flavored creamers are. Their is now a national GF symbol which will be on most packaging.

OOOhhh, and appetizers! Veggies and dip are GF, some chips (plain flavors and tortilla chips), salsa, chili dip and corn chips.

So many options! Believe me, I don't starve. Feel free to PM me with any questions. Sorry for the novel

 

[My2Cinderellas]

If you HAVE to do the green bean casserole, there is a GF condensed cream of mushroom soup by Pacific I think. I know whole foods carries it and I've bought a case at Costco before. For the topping my MIL uses Funyuns crushed up - these are in the chip aisle.

thicken gravy with a cornstarch slurry instead of flour, dressing is tricky - if you like cornbread dressing you can use a GF cornbread mix - I know the 365 crockpot blog lady made GF dressing too. If you make non-GF dressing keep it away fom the bird. Keep the rolls separate. Have a small dish of butter specifically for the GF person - that's the number one contaminated item at our gatherings.

For dessert - I like to make apple cranberry crisp with GF rolled outs. I also have adapted pecan pie bars and pumpkin bars recipes to be GF.

We are lucky that FIL can have gluten items around but we still are really careful to avoid cross contamination.

 

[Dancind]

DD and I are gluten sensitive. We had an early Thanksgiving meal at SIL's house, and I will be making ours on the day. DD put some gravy on her mashed potatoes without thinking, had to start her plate over. She and I basically got to eat turkey, plain mashed potatoes, and the sweet potato casserole that I made.

Check any brines or spices you put on the turkey for gluten. There are some different names for wheat flour additives, so if you don't know what something is, google it! If you have a Whole Foods nearby, they have pumpkin pies that are GF and really good. There are actually a few bakeries that make all GF goodies, our closest is 50 miles away in Santa Fe.

You probably do need to find out how sensitive he is, but celiac usually is very sensitive.

 

[mjkacmom]

Dd has celiac, but isn't very sensitive. For Thanksgiving, she eats turkey, green beans, and mashed potatoes (we also have sweet potatoes, but she doesn't like them). She has ice cream for dessert.

We don't do separate pots, pans, utensils, etc. When cooking, I do use clean utensils on her food, that hasn't touched food with gluten.

 

[GraysMom]

DH is just has a gluten allergy/intolerance but he avoids gluten like the plague because he feels so awful after eating it. Our local grocery stores sell GF frozen pie crusts and he will make a pecan pie for himself using one of these shells. We use guar gum to thicken the gravy, but beware it is a wayyy more powerful thickener than cornstarch or flour. This way we can use the pan drippings to make his gravy. There are lots of GF dessert mixes available at most grocery stores. Ice cream (without brownies, cookie bits, etc) is usually a good bet too. I make a GF version on the potato rolls I make for the rest of us, using King Arthur GF flour and DH says they taste almost the same as the regular ones. Pinterest also has lots of GF recipes if you need ideas

 

[MyHappiestPlace]

don't assume the turkey is naturally g-f. check labels. some will inject the turkey with ingredients that are not natural to turkey; so always doublecheck and reread all labels.

 

[Melissa R]

Sounds like you have gotten many good responses so far, so I will just add this. Please don't take it personally if he asks you a ton of questions before eating anything, and especially if he chooses not to eat food you prepared. I have celiac disease, and the last thing I want to happen is for me to end up sick at someone else's house, especially on a holiday. If he is especially sensitive to cross contamination, he may only feel comfortable eating his own food that he prepares and brings with him. When you're not used to dealing with GF cooking regularly, it would be easy for you to make a mistake that could make him very sick and could trigger an auto-immune reaction within his digestive system.