A true TEAL Kitchen
Although I have multiple food allergies, believe it or not, I've been lucky enough to never have had a life threatening allergic reaction. I'd like to think, that victory comes from always reading the ingredients every single time, not sharing food, being "overly" curious about what's in my food, but most importantly STRICK AVOIDANCE.
On the outside looking in, one may think that we practice some pretty extreme measures in my teal kitchen, but hey it has worked so far for my family. Let's be honest, when you are dealing with life threatening allergies you should go all out to stay safe!
Here are my TOP 5 WAYS I keep my Teal Kitchen safe!
Cookware/Utensils - - I have designated cookware for cooking and preparing my food. Typically, my food is cooked first and then my family cooks their food after mine. This help avoid mix ups of ingredients in the kitchen.
Washing Dishes -- My dishes are washed separately. The idea of washing my dishes with the residue from the other cookware my family eats from seems like a such a bad idea for us.
Cabinets - - My mom keeps all cross contaminated and food that contains my allergens in separate cabinets and out of my reach. Sometimes when you are in the kitchen you can juggle a lot of different things at once and your mind feels like it's on auto-pilot. Keeping "bad food" separate is a reminder, in that moment for all of us while reaching for those items that has something I'm allergic to, to proceed with caution from thereafter.
Labels - - When opening a new item, we all practice reading the ingredients labels out loud one more time before I eat. There have been a few times we've read the ingredients in the store and missed a may contain warning, or a ingredient listed vaguely in the ingredient list. Also this practice helps us all to not get complacent about trusting that the ingredients are the same all of the time.
Rid of Residue - - After preparing meals we always clean the kitchen counter tops while we're cooking and after we've cooked. My mom washes her hands when preparing my food constantly and rarely does she touch my food with her bare hands; usually has me grab my own food or use one of my utensils to serve my food.
So those are my top 5 tips to having a true TEAL KITCHEN. Share with me some of your tips to keep your kitchen safe!