Surviving a Family Reunion Gluten-Free

Surviving a Family Reunion Gluten-Free

This is the house that we rented in Gatlinburg TN.  It’s called the Gatlinburg Mansion and boasts 14 bedrooms! We rented it for our 'once in a lifetime' Family Reunion. There were 27 of us staying here and with that many people, and that many cooks in the kitchen; I had resigned myself that I was going to get sick. As it turns out, I didn’t get sick, and I wasn’t alone either. There were about 5 of us with different degrees of Gluten-Freeness. I was the only one at 100% but that was OK since I was also the one in charge of the menu and the shopping list.

I had never coordinated such a huge project before…but I had often done it for much smaller groups, so I was a logical choice. I was given a $5,000.00 budget, and I had my girls to help me. They totally understand my needs and how to cook for me. We kept the menu easy, and naturally GF with only the occasional tweaks to insure my safety. And since it was a Family Reunion we pulled out all the old family recipes. Like Shepherd’s Pie (easy GF) and Thanksgiving Dinner, (separate stuffing), Spaghetti night (separate pasta), Boston Baked Beans & Hot Dogs (easy GF), BBQ Ribs & Burgers (easy GF). Rice, potatoes, veggies…those were all super easy GF too.  

Shopping was a bit of a challenge because when I shop for a mixed group like this I ALWAYS brand shop. So I had to do my research online to find out what brands were available in Tennessee and which ones were Gluten-Free. Doesn’t matter what we’re buying, we always try to get the GF version :-) The kids wanted cereal and cookies and they did get straight away Gluten-Free options only because kids have been known to be extremely messy! I’ve watched one lonely kid gluten an entire house with one chocolate chip cookie in only 15 minutes! S0 yes, the kids did not get any glutenous options.

Snacks, spices, chips, sauces, condiments, you name it; we found a GF brand name item that satisfied everyone. We did buy normal, everyday bread & rolls along with flour for baking. Everyone was asked to use the flour for baking only…and use corn starch for thickening. And I tacked a couple of cautionary signs up in the kitchen…just in case.  Since there was quite a bit of baking planned we also got some Gluten-Free cake & brownie mixes. So those of us who needed Gluten-Free could have dessert options too. Funny thing was…it ALL disappeared! Lol

We had two big nights planned.  On Tuesday it was a Cocktails and Hors d'Oeuvres party in honor of our Dad’s birthday. Everyone chipped in a bottle of something and we enjoyed an amazing night playing cards and games.  Our Mixologist pulled out all the olds recipes from the 30’s-50’s for the grown-ups and we had non-alcoholic mixed drinks for the kids.  Along with some amazing Hors d’Oeuvres, we used post-it notes to indicate which items were safely Gluten-Free.  On Thursday we had a fancy Tea Party in honor of our Mom & Dad’s Wedding Anniversary. The kitchen was a blur of activity all day as everyone prepared their favorite sandwiches, cookies, fudge, and cupcakes. Those post-it notes really came in handy! 

In the entire week I would say that nearly 75% of every meal was Gluten-Free and enjoyed by everyone. And all of our Kitchen Helpers were incredibly careful about managing any cross contact and keeping everything clean.  It ended up our shopping only used up $3,000.00 of our budget, so we really planned things out well.  If you’re curious about what we bought to feed 27 hungry people for an entire week, here’s our Shopping List...

Aluminum Foil

Apples

Applesauce

Avocados

Bacon (Black Lable – 6 packages)

Baking Powder 

Baking Soda (1 Large)

Bananas

Beans, Canned (Black/Red/Pink – 6 Cans each)

Beans, Dry (Navy – 5 Lbs)

Beef, Ground (10 lbs)

Bisquick GLUTEN FREE

Bread Crumbs (Progresso GLUTEN-FREE)

Bread GLUTEN-FREE (Against the Grain – 2 Loaves)
Bread (Sandwich, English, Hot-Dog/Hamburger)

Broccoli

Broth (Better than Bullion – Vegetable & Chicken)

Brownie Mix GLUTEN-FREE (King Arthur)

Butter
Cake Mix GLUTEN-FREE (King Arthur)

Carrots 

Catsup (Heinz – 1 Large)

Cauliflower

Celery (1 Bunch)

Cereal, Chex (4 Boxes, Variety)

Cheese (Cabot, Variety – 5 Pkgs)

Cheese (Goat, Romano, Parmesan)

Cherries, Fresh 

Chicken (10 lbs)

Chips (Lays, Variety – 5 bags)

Chocolate Chips (Tollhouse – 4 Bags)

Clams (3 Cans)

Cocoa, Baking

Coffee (Folgers, 3 Regular, 2 Decaf)

Coffee Mate (Variety – 5 Large)
Corn Bread Mix GLUTEN-FREE (King Arthur)

Corn, Creamed (3 cans)

Corn, Frozen
Corn Starch

Cornmeal

Crackers (GLUTEN-FREE, Regular)

Cupcake Papers

Dried Fruit (Craisins, Raisins, Apricots)

Eggs (9 dozen)

Fish (Tilapia, Cod, Flounder)

Flour

Garlic, Fresh

Ginger, Fresh

Green Beans, Fresh/Frozen

Half & Half (6 Large)

Honey
Hot-Dogs (Nathan's – 3 packages)

Ice Cream (1 Each – Vanilla, Chocolate, Strawberry)

Italian Seasoning (McCormick’s – 1 bottle)

Jelly, Jam (Smuckers, Variety – 5 Jars)

Juice, Orange, Apple, Grape (2 each)

Ketchup (Heinz – 1 large)

Lemons

Lettuce

Limes

Maple Syrup (Maple Grove, Variety – 5 Bottles)

Mayonnaise (Kraft, Olive Oil)

Milk, Low-Fat

Molasses (1 bottle)

Mushrooms, Fresh

Mustard, Dijon (Heinz – 1 Large)

Napkins (2 large family packs)

Nuts, Walnuts, Pecans, Almonds

Oatmeal, (Mc Cann's Quick Cook) 

Oil (1 each – Olive, Coconut)

Olives, Kalamata, Green, Black

Onions

Oranges

Pancake Mix (Maple Grove)

Pancake Mix GLUTEN-FREE (Maple Grove)

Paper Towels (6 rolls)

Parchment Paper

Pasta (Elbows, Bowties - Barilla GF & Regular)

Peanut Butter (Simply Jiff – 1 large jar)

Pears, Fresh

Peas, Frozen
Pepper, White

Peppers (Red/Green/Yellow – 6 of each)

Pickles (Sweet, Dill – 1 large each)

Pork, Ground (10 lbs)

Potatoes (Sweet 10 Lbs, White 5 Lbs)

Relish (1 Large)

Rice (Jasmine, Brown)

Salad Dressing (Maple Grove, Variety – 5 Bottles)

Salmon (10 lbs)

Salsa (Pace – 1 large bottle)

Salt, Sea/Pink

Saran Wrap

Sausage (Breakfast, Italian)

Scallions, Fresh

Shortening (Crisco, Sticks – 3 Pkgs)

Shrimp (Peeled/Deveined – 5 lbs)
Soap (Liquid – Dish, Hand, Laundry)

Soda (Pepsi/Mountain Dew – 3 large bottles each)

Sour Cream

Soy Sauce (San-J – 1 bottle)

Spinach

Sriracha (Texas Pete – 1 bottle)

Storage Containers (Glad, Variety – 5 Pkgs)

Strawberries, Fresh

Sugar (White 10 lbs, Brown 5 lbs)

Sugar (Confectioners – 5 large)

Tea, Green

Toilet Paper (Scott – 24 rolls)

Tomato Paste

Tomatoes (Cherry, Roma, Beefsteak)

Tortillas (Mission, soft/crunchy)

Vanilla Extract (Clear – 1 Bottle)

Vinegar (Apple Cider)

Water (4 cases)

Worcestershire Sauce (Lea & Perrins)

Yogurt, Greek (Cabot – 1 large)

Ziploc Bags, Freezer (3 Boxes, Variety)

Zucchini, Fresh

CarolAnne Le Blanc

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