Saturday, November 12, 2011

Having our cake... and loving it too!

Now that I have recovered from Wednesday nights low of 26, life with diabetes has mostly returned back to "normal".  I mean, is it ever totally normal?  No, of course not.  But the numbers have mostly leveled back off.

The latter part of the weeks focus shifted more to our new found gluten free lifestyle

For Sugar Boy's di-aversary dinner he requested my home made mac n' cheese, chicken strips and chocolate cake for dessert.  I have not made my mac n' cheese since we have gone GF.  I knew the Pasta wouldn't be a problem.  We have found quinoa pasta... which is really good!  I honestly can't tell the difference between it and "regular" white wheat pasta.  But the cheese sauce?  I thicken it with FLOUR!  I had ordered some Jules Gluten Free Flour, but had not yet used it and was not sure it would thicken a sauce like regular wheat flour would. 

So, I cooked up a pound of the quinoa pasta, drained it, and turned to the pan where I would make the sauce.  Melted the butter, and with baited breath added the flour.  It was working!!!!  Added the milk and whisked and VOILA it got thick!  HUGE sigh of relief!  The mac n' cheese was FABULOUS (if I do say so for myself) and Sugar Boy was thrilled with his special dinner. 

I had picked up a Betty Crocker gluten free chocolate cake mix earlier in the week, anticipating he would ask for that for dessert.  BUT... when I was at Whole Foods picking up the quinoa pasta I scoped out the gluten free case and found some BEAUTIFUL chocolate cupcakes.  So I decided to cut a corner and pick those up instead of making the cake at home.  I am so glad I did!  They were wonderful!!! 

While there I also picked up some Udi's GF bread and it is really good too.

Here's the thing.  Anyone reading this who has already been doing the gluten free thing (either for medical reasons as we are, or simply by personal choice to eat healthier) is probably laughing right now.  I mean, I read back and I sound so GIDDY.  AMAZED that we can still eat GOOD while eating gluten free.  Well, the fact of the matter is I AM amazed.  I really thought we would be giving up some things that we love when we shifted to this new way of eating.  We have not given up anything!  We can still have our cake... and love it too!

3 comments:

  1. Hi Donna, it is giddy like when we find something that is gluten free and edible!LOL The problem I have yet to solve is finding low carb gluten free food. That's definitely a challenge!

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  2. Sounds spectacular Donna. I know my sister is always psyched to find something that is GF and palatable. ENJOY!

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  3. We are big fans of quinoa pasta although our DD does not have celiac because her blood sugar stays stable with this type of pasta. No spike later on. Actually, have to be careful because she can go low despite the fact we give 20 free grams. There are recipes that use only starchy water from the pasta to thicken the mac and cheese sauce; they work and taste really good; in case you ever run out of the GF flour. Glad you found so many gluten free treats, especially the bread, which I have heard used to be hard to find good GF bread. Glad your special meal was a success.

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