In My Gluten-Free Kitchen with Kendall Egan of Gluten-Free Living Magazine

My gluten-free kitchen could really be called gadget-palooza, referring to the plethora of kitchen gadgets that I have collected over the years because I think that they are going to make my hectic life easier.  The bread machine and stand-up mixer are the only true essentials in a gluten-free household.  I have a coffee maker, but that is my own personal essential.  I need the AM caffeine infusion and I would be a totally useless wreck without it.

I have a yogurt maker, a soft serve ice cream machine, a Cuisinart, a blender and I’m previewing my latest gadget in this blog, my doughnut maker.   This is pretty cool and it works really well with a gluten-free version of the doughnut recipe in the book.  The general doughnut recipe calls for one cup of flour plus other ingredients and each mini-donut requires a tablespoon of dough.  One batch made plenty of bite size doughnuts.  I put almond meal and pumpkin puree in the mix the other day and made dinner donuts when everyone was going to a practice or something…it’s no different than serving waffles or pancakes for dinner!

Even though I love my gadgets, I use the same set of banged up pots, pans, trays and utensils on a daily basis.  I splurged and bought new stainless steel measuring spoons and cups a while ago.  I also picked up some cute little jam/jelly holders that I use for salt and pepper by the side of the stove.

The pots and pans are banged up from heavy use.  I cook pretty much every night, pack several lunches during school days and get everyone out the door with breakfast in their bellies.  I’ve taught all of my kids to make eggs, quesadillas, yogurt/fruit smoothies and tuna fish, so even my ten year old can fend for himself if he needs to.

Even though it is a small kitchen, it’s a place of hustle and bustle.  I only have one pantry cupboard and it’s a jumble of gluten-free and regular snack products.  The funny thing is that my non-celiacs like the GF pretzels better than the wheat pretzels but I shoo them away from the GF stuff.   I have four kids and if they all ate the gluten-free food, my grocery bill would be massive.

What I don’t like to do is bake, but I love the variety of gluten-free mixes available today.  These are banana cinnamon chip muffins.  I used the King Arthur Flour Muffin mix and KAF cinnamon chips.  I learned the hard way that you have to sprinkle the cinnamon chips on top and let them sink in as they bake.  “Sink” is the operative word; if you mix them into the batter they all end up at the bottom of the muffin.

I have gone off the deep end on buying organic or non-GMO food.  When you have a food intolerance, you read a lot about food.  I did not like what I was reading about our food supply so I bought into an “organic” lifestyle to the extent that it is possible.  I will never give up Cheetos, any gluten-free Doritos varieties and chips in general.   I did say organic “to the extent possible,” I already had to give up croissants due to CD so I’m not giving up Cheetos.

One other thing about my kitchen, it’s never this tidy.  Breakfast preparation, packing lunch, lunch for me since I work at home, the after school snack “meal” and the multiple dinner servings wreak havoc on tidiness.  I have a terrible habit of leaving all the cupboards flung open after I’ve prepared a meal.  We can sit down for dinner and literally every cupboard will be wide open so the guts of my kitchen are all exposed.

Dinners are tough with sports schedules, so we do a lot of one pot dinners in the winter.  There is one meal that brings everyone to the table smiling and that is tacos.  Then entire table is filled with “the fixin’s.”  I have shredded cheese, multiple salsas, chopped tomatoes, lettuce, cilantro, scallions, guacamole, sour cream and hot sauce.   It doesn’t matter if they are turkey, beef or pork, they are a beloved family favorite.  Even the dog hovers around eagerly for filling that falls out of the shell and onto the floor.

I think what I love the most about my gluten-free kitchen are the funny conversations during the meals we have shared together.  I am not a gourmet chef, but I never dumbed down my food to serve kid stuff.  I make my kids try new things and eat their vegetables.  We all eat gluten-free pasta and I don’t even have regular wheat flour in my house anymore.

Days are long but years are short, food should taste great and meals with your kids…even when the toddlers are throwing things and the teenagers are giving attitude….should be cherished because the goal of parenting is to coax those kids out of my GF kitchen and on to their own kitchens.

Kendall Egan is Director of Marketing at Gluten-Free Living. Keep up with Kendall and the staff at the Gluten-Free Living blog.

Thanks to Kendall for sharing her lovely kitchen and her kitchen story. Be sure to visit all the gluten-free kitchens in our series every Friday.