Safe Plate Kitchen Recs
When you’re a parent of a kid with food allergies I think you spend extra time in the kitchen. You can’t rely on pre-made meals and snacks, and if you want to keep any allergens in your house you need some tools to make that possible. This is a round-up of some of favorite tried and true kitchen products. All the links are affiliate links which can help us continue to build the Safe Plate Project. Thanks in advance for your support.
I like an organized pantry - but I definitely prioritize function over beauty.
We have 1 shelf that is a dedicated space for safe foods. Using these bins and these containers, it’s easier for the kids to see what’s available and to see what you need to restock. When you have limited options of safe food it’s important to stay stocked up!
Not everything that’s safe fits on that shelf, so I use my favorite label maker to label other containers that are full of safe food. And because I sometimes get a little fancy, I use clear labels on the clear containers.
Also a big fan of the spinning storage in the fridge and it’s how I store our medicine.
In the dishwasher we trust. If something has to be hand-washed, we either (1) keep all allergens off it or (2) don’t use it for anything for our food-allergy kid.
We have a whole bunch of stainless steel pots and use this non-stick, non-toxic pan all the time.
We wanted to get rid of plastic cutting boards, but wood cutting boards don’t do well in the dishwasher, so we’ve invested in these paper cutting boards, and they are awesome!
Sharp knives cook better! But our nice knives had wood handles which isn’t great for the dishwasher, so we’ve found this knife set to be a great alternative.
Food allergies made us a big freezer family - batch cooking a bunch of safe food and freezing it helps so much. This air frying oven basket rocks (we have an airfry setting on our oven). And we make a lot of muffins (hello egg allergy) - these silicone liners are great…pop out the muffins and freeze. Paper wrappers don’t freeze great.
I use parchment paper all the time (1) to not have to scrub a baking sheet, (2) as a allergen barrier for a baking sheet (still wash), (3) on the counter when I’m not sure if the counter is allergen-free.
Finally, cleaning things - I like to have things pretty rinsed off before going in the dishwasher to help it do its job.
Have lots of sponges on hand! If we wash allergens with a sponge, we throw that sponge out or keep it separate.
To avoid using sponges, I mostly rely on Dawn Powerwash. Stuff is amazing.
I don’t overthink dishwasher detergent. This is what we’ve used for a while now. And for the scent-sensitive people - hi! - this lemon scent doesn’t bother me.
