How to Survive the Holidays When You Have Celiac Disease

Let's say goodbye to holiday anxiety.

If you’re anything like me, then you probably get pretty anxious once the holiday season rolls around.

Early on in my celiac diagnosis, I was particularly nervous about speaking up for myself when dining outside of my home. I was embarrassed to pack my own food with me to holiday get-togethers. I dreaded having to explain to other guests why I wasn’t eating what everyone else was.

Despite being a full-grown, 30-something woman, I truly felt like I was back in high school. I thought everyone would judge me for my dietary restrictions and think I was weird.

Of course, that was just me being in my head and projecting. My friends and family were all very supportive.

They accommodated me when they could and let me know if they didn’t think there would be any safe food options so I could plan accordingly. And no one batted an eye when I whipped out my own food container to eat at a holiday potluck.

Thankfully, over the past few years, I’ve learned a few strategies that have helped ease my holiday anxiety.

I stumbled upon these Christmas trees after a gluten-free holiday brunch at Friedman’s in NYC with some friends last year.

How to navigate the holidays with celiac disease

I recently had the opportunity to write a guest post for Next Level Gluten-Free, one of my favorite newsletters in this space, about navigating the holidays when you’re gluten-free.

You can check out the full article here for all of my tips on having a stress-free holiday season with celiac disease. My advice includes:

• Making gluten-free versions of your favorite holiday recipes

• Practicing gluten-free recipes ahead of time

• Avoiding cross-contact at holiday parties

• Packing your own food when going to a holiday get-together

• Hosting your own holiday gathering

• Taking time to recharge

I rely on these food containers to store leftovers. I also use them to transport food with me if I’m dining at someone else’s house for the holidays.

My celiac holiday survival kit

Beyond the above tips, there are a few products I rely on once the holidays roll around:

• Anchor Food Storage Containers: I use these containers to store holiday leftovers and bring food with me if I spend the holidays outside my home.

• Insulated Lunch Bag: I have an insulated lunch bag similar to this one that I use to transport my food with me if I’m going to someone else’s house for the holidays.

• Cup4Cup Multipurpose Gluten-Free Flour: This is my favorite gluten-free flour blend to make holiday desserts.

• Wonderbelly Antacid: I struggle with acid reflux, and eating all the indulgent foods during the holidays can make it worse. This is my go-to antacid. It’s gluten-free, dairy-free, talc-free, and contains no artificial dyes or sweeteners.

• Teecino Dandelion Roasted Herbal Tea (available in various flavors): I like to drink herbal tea to wind down after a busy holiday. I’m a fan of the brand Teecino. They offer a variety of gluten-free herbal teas, including dandelion vanilla, dandelion mocha mint, and dandelion red chai. (Make sure to look for their dandelion line of teas and confirm that it says gluten-free on the label because they do offer some other teas that aren’t gluten-free.)

• Paprika Recipe Manager: This app comes with a one-time $2.99 charge and allows you to search for and store recipes for easy access. It’s much easier to follow the recipes on this app than it is on the actual web pages.

Last year, I made turkey burgers, air fryer sweet potato wedges, mashed cauliflower, and gluten-free stuffing for Thanksgiving.

What’s on my Thanksgiving menu this year

I’m looking forward to a quiet Thanksgiving at home this year. I’m planning to finally read Iron Flame (who else is a Fourth Wing fan?!) over the weekend, and I have tickets for Merrily We Roll Along on Broadway. I’m ridiculously excited about that (it’ll be my fourth time seeing Daniel Radcliffe on stage!).

On Thanksgiving Day, I’m going to cook a random assortment of recipes I found online that I thought sounded interesting. I’m not the biggest fan of traditional turkey, which is why I usually do something like turkey burgers or turkey meatballs. I’ll probably do some prep work the day before so I don’t have to cook everything on Thursday.

Here’s what’s on my menu (follow me on Instagram to see how everything turns out):

• Cranberry Turkey Meatballs (use gluten-free breadcrumbs)

• Pumpkin Rigatoni With Rosemary Walnut Crispies (use gluten-free pasta)

• Gluten-Free Sausage Stuffing

• Cacio e Pepe Roasted Potatoes

• Everyday Salad

And for dessert, I’m going to pop the Sweet Loren’s Chocolate Mint Pre-Cut Dough in the oven and call it a day!

Let me know if you have any questions about navigating the holidays with celiac disease—and I’d love to hear what’s on your holiday menu!

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