To the OP: I'm intrigued you had/passed an inspection of a KITCHEN, withOUT a "rough-out" of something as std. as a range hood, which is just now "being added"...? (Sounds like a clueless AHJ, where you can "get away" with just about anything, but... SAFETY COUNTS, so don't.) If your question boils down to should the range hood be connected to the LINE or LOAD side of your GFCIs, then the answer is LINE... but I guess that doesn't meet NEC 2008, so, you're pulling new wire. If there are counter receptacles on the circuit you cannot put the range hood on the same circuit, no matter how many 'small appliance' circuits you have. Well, you CAN, it just won't meet the latter day NEC. I have at least six early 1960s vintage properties where ALL the countertop receps AND the range hood were on a single 15A (now 20A) branch. I'm ass-u-ming this met code AT THAT TIME... or the developer greased the right palms. AFAICT, no harm has come to any user (incl. moi) in 4.5 decades, and GFCIs were not added until circa 2001. ;') To their credit, these props do have a separate branch for the refrigerator, and everything is run in well-laid EMT, w/ the homeruns in RIGID... sadly most of the EMT is only 1/2", and cannot support add'l conductors without severe de-rating.

Ronnatalie, Looking at your three options I am trying to get some clarity. The two-pole breaker makes sense, but may be the more expensive option. The 1st option of each receptacle as a single GFCI should be easy on the hot side as I could just remove the red from one and the black from the other, but doesn't this still pose the problem of the shared nuetral. Does this mean I would have to pull a seperate nuetral from the breaker box up to one of the outlets and then use the original nuetral for the other. On your second option, I do not really understand the extension you are suggesting.

I think i saw something that said just replace the first outlet on the circuit. Correct. One circuit comes into the kitchen from the living room. Should I put a GFCI on the first living room outlet? If they are all in series, I'd put it on the first one on that circuit in the kitchen. That way if it trips, you don't have to go to the LR to reset it (and the next owner won't have to wander around the house looking for it.) Other than cost, is there a disadvantage of using GFCI's throughout the kitchen? I wouldn't put one on the fridge receptacle. If you google for "installing GFCI" you should find plenty of information.

Donnellyjt: Just because you did it and survived doesn't mean its safe or good practice. It may be very easy to stay clear of the bus bar, but what if next time your hand slips? Nobody in their right mind would touch a hot bus intentionally, but the nature of accidents are that they're aren't intentional. I know that many electricians work on the panel hot, but such advise has no place on an electrical message board for do-it-yourselfers. Safety is ALWAYS number one, especially for those with less experience working around electrical equipment. I remember some images floating around the internet showing peoples deformed and mutilated hands who had been electrocuted... They were the lucky ones and actually survived. Its just not worth the risk. Stay Safe