Grilling and Food Restrictions

I have to tell you that I found an answer recently to a big issue in our family. Not only do I have picky eaters who hate spice (uh-myself included) but we also have food allergies to both dairy and gluten.

So often, I am making two sauces, two salad dressings, etc. Yes, sometimes I have flat out said, "everyone is eating dairy-free and gluten-free tonight!" (ha!). But of course that doesn’t always work, especially when we have guests.

As many of you know, you can’t take chances with food allergies. And since there are many illnesses in the world (diabetes, celiac, heart disease, etc) that require special diets—it can create an issue on the grill.

How do you keep the allergy-free food separated for those who are sensitive?

What I found is a product called Grill Charms™. Inventor Leslie Haywood created them after eating "the spicy chicken from the grill for the last time". They are a penny-sized stainless steel object with a serrated post. They each have a different engraved picture or letter on the top and you insert them into the meat that you are grilling. And YES, they stay in even when flipping the meat.

My daughter claimed the one with the crown on it, my son the sailboat and I got the beach scene. Yesterday, we also used them in the oven and they worked just as well. Next up-pot pies as two cookie sheets won’t fit in my oven and the chicken flavor has milk in it but the beef doesn’t!

Do you have any products that you use to make your grilling easier? Please comment and let me know!