Leaving Town Mac & Cheese (Wheat-free!)
We’ve been in getting-outta-Dodge mode for the past few days. Sadly, the car hasn’t – it’s in the shop with a pooched clutch. And so while we pine by the phone for the (completely awesome) mechanics to call and let us know we’re free to go get the H. out of this snow, I’ve been diligently plowing through the perishables in the fridge. There were lots of bits of cheese, and this not eating wheat thing combined with neverending snow has been causing me to Jones for starchy things big time. Like a big ol’ pot of baked mac & cheese.
Also – Pat from Winnipeg was kind enough to email me with some wheat-free pasta advice, suggesting Mrs. Leeper’s corn pasta (she has no affiliation), which I promptly went out and bought a bag of.
A lot of you have been emailing and tweeting wheat-free advice – thanks! – and some have been asking why the h. I would want to do such a thing. I tend to agree. I’ll spare you the details of my symptoms, besides the brain fog, which my dad is convinced has more to do with lack of sleep than my morning bagel, but it’s just to see if I react when I do eat some. And to wean myself off, because whether it’s bread and baked goods or sugar or fat, the more I eat the more I want. The less you feed your cravings the weaker they get. And cravings, I think, are more difficult to resist than hunger.
Yes, it’s harder than I thought. It has made me more conscious of what I eat, and the fog has cleared somewhat, although I didn’t get the boost of energy I thought I would. (On days when I’ve been subsisting on bread I tend to feel like I’m tied to a piano.) And the foggy brain part can’t be all gone, because the other day I tried to put W’s jacket on while he insisted that HE DIDN’T HAVE A SHIRT ON YET. I’m not doing it in an attempt to lose weight, although I admit I did allow myself to get my hopes up a teeny bit, having heard from a bazillion or so people over the years that when you give up wheat, you drop pounds like crazy! Like that! (Finger snap!) And I figured that just by default of having NOT PICKED AT ANY (any!) of the delicious crumbs on our blueberry big crumb cake we made at class last Wednesday, nor any of the three (THREE!) batches of warm scones with cheese, olives, berries (not all together) – nor anything (freshly baked Raincoast Crisps topped with shaved Asiago! Freshly made samosas, using Naheed’s mom’s recipe!) at my Saturday class, or waffles Sunday morning, or pulled pork on soft brioche rolls for dinner, that it might count for something.
And so the other day I went to the gym after work, and hopped on the right and proper medical scale, and wow, check it out!! I GAINED SIX POUNDS. Awesome.
My plan is to stick it out a little longer for scientific purposes, make sure my gut is no longer used to massive influxes of it and then have a crispy cod club whenever we manage to make it to Tofino, and see how strongly it protests. Mwaa haa haa. I’m really hoping nothing happens and I can just go back to having a bagel already.
But back to the pasta. I’ve been eating my share of rice and oats and granola, but still craving something to fill that void that bread left when I sent it packing. While it is a pretty shade of corn yellow, I might not have been able to detect that it wasn’t wheat had I not bought it myself. It’s a little lighter (really! I assumed corn pasta might be a bit heavier, like corn bread) and softer than wheat macaroni, without being mushy. It’s like it was made for mac & cheese.
As I’ve been channeling my inner gluten-free girl, I deferred to her mac & cheese expertise. I’ve always made it the same way – with pasta and a cheese sauce started with a roux – rice flour is a perfectly effective thickener, but she had a version made with cottage cheese, and I had ricotta in the fridge. So I added the container to the drained pasta in the pot, along with shredded bits of Parmesan, cheddars and gruyere, mixed it up, then topped it with two slices of grainy bread blitzed with a bit more Parmesan and a drizzle of olive oil.
(Yes – it was regular wheat bread – you could use gluten-free bread of course. Instead, after baking (at 350F until bubbly) I opted to carefully dissect mine, scooping gingerly from the bottom of the pot and avoiding the crumbs. Yum.)
It’s well after dinnertime now. Sounds like they didn’t finish the car again. Boo. Maybe tomorrow.
March 23 2011 06:53 pm | pasta
Robyn {Planet Byn} on 23 Mar 2011 at 7:18 pm #
i feel you, julie! last year i went wheat/dairy/sugar free for two weeks to see if i had any food sensitivities. didn’t lose ANY weight either!
LisaMer on 23 Mar 2011 at 7:35 pm #
I’m sure you’ve heard this already, Julie, but you need to be 100% off the wheat/gluten for many months if you have any hope of healing your gut and looking at sensitivities. Google “adrenal fatigue” while you’re at it!
Megan on 23 Mar 2011 at 7:41 pm #
Corn pasta sounds interesting! I would have thought it would be heavier too but it sounds like it would be quite nice.
JulieVR on 23 Mar 2011 at 8:23 pm #
LisaMer- I’m just doing a test run – if I thought I was really celiac I’d need to get tested while still eating wheat to make sure the symptoms are still there – right now I figure a couple weeks off will allow me to tell if I do react negatively to it, and whether I do need to pursue it further. My dad is a gastroenterologist, so he’s a good resource for me!
Michelle on 23 Mar 2011 at 8:24 pm #
Julie, I have a good friend who is coeliac, and from cooking for her, I realised that a lot of South Indian dishes were gluten free. It may be because we use rice quite a bit, as opposed to wheat, but its worth taking a look in some East Indian cookbooks.
And if it makes you feel better, life is not terrible as a coeliac… it just makes it a bit more interesting
Michelle on 23 Mar 2011 at 8:26 pm #
PS – My Le Creuset is flame and I have a big cherry one too… I love them more than my husband
Michelle on 24 Mar 2011 at 6:59 am #
I have been packing on the pounds lately. It might be the fresh baked bread on a daily basis. Or the bottle of wine… or obscene amounts of time in front of the computer.
his pasta looks great and the corn noodles sound worth a shot. Time ti give this gut a much needed break as well.
Lana in South Mountain (ON) on 24 Mar 2011 at 7:27 am #
Good luck with your wheat-free experiment. My sis and my nephew are both allergic/sensitive so experimenting with gluten-free recipes is becoming the norm for our whole family.
I will pass on the corn pasta info!
Kathy on 24 Mar 2011 at 7:40 am #
My 3 week dairy/gluten free “diet” as recommended by a naturopath did not help any of my symptoms (IBS or Fibromyalgia) and I thought at least I’d lose some weight. HA! Not a single frickin’ pound. sigh.
Adrienne on 24 Mar 2011 at 8:18 am #
Julie, I live in Tofino and our family is 50% celiac. SoBo is right on top of it so they’ll know exactly what has wheat and what doesn’t. (Although most restaurants are doing much better in recent years.) Just ask for your po fries with “no dust.”
JulieVR on 24 Mar 2011 at 8:24 am #
Adrienne – yes, I adore SoBo!! Can’t wait to go. Will have to eat the top of the key lime pie out of the crust… yum.
Kathy – interesting!! All you hear is how eliminating wheat and dairy magically makes pounds melt off and symptoms disappear. Guess that’s not the case for everyone.
Amanda on 24 Mar 2011 at 8:49 am #
I did a dairy/sugar/wheat/alcohol/caffeine free diet for three weeks last year. I too didn’t feel the energy boost, and I still had focus issues. I did, however, sleep better, and by the end, my skin was a bit smoother. Over the 3 weeks I lost about 5lbs, which came back with a vengence once December rolled around (what is it with Christmas and cookies?)
I think the hardest part was going sugar free, not only do you get really bitchy from withdrawal for a few day, but finding sugar and wheat free food is a pain.
Cathy on 24 Mar 2011 at 10:32 am #
There is an Italian Booth at the Kingsland farmers’ market that carries the best gluten free pasta ever! I cannot remember the name of the booth, it is near the front entrance.
Hmmmm, brain fog??
JulieVR on 24 Mar 2011 at 10:38 am #
oooh, thanks for the tip! I’ll check it out!!
Cathy on 24 Mar 2011 at 4:04 pm #
Sorry, Julie, I am not at home, so I cannot check for the brand name. It has a bright blue label.
California is quite delicious right now ( Sorry)
Shauna on 24 Mar 2011 at 5:57 pm #
Is the car fixed yet? Hopefully you do make it to our rainy island soon! I’m pretty jealous of your future visit to SoBo.
Evelyn in Canada on 24 Mar 2011 at 10:51 pm #
Gluten free pasta isn’t that hard to make really and I have yet to find a GF lasagna noodle, so eventually it’s worth trying it from scratch. Mrs. Leepers is good though. Don’t bother trying the rice pastas. Blech!
Cathy N in Inglewood Calgary on 25 Mar 2011 at 9:23 am #
Made the mac & cheese for dinner last night and B insisted that this was the best “gourmet pasta dish” ever (refused to call it plain ol’ M&C)
Thanks for yet another inspirational recipe, Julie! Oh yes, and better yet it was low fat-ish (I used Jersey Farms no fat sour cream and 1% cottage cheese and it was just fine…).
Rachael on 25 Mar 2011 at 9:32 am #
Julie, Bon voyage.
I’ve been enjoying your journey via Twitter. Your pics are adorable.
Enjoy Tofino – I hope you get some good weather, it was a beautiful weekend last and Sunday is shaping up to be spring like. You’ll see green once your through the mountain passes and definitely in Vancouver.
Good luck with the gluten free experiment.
kickpleat on 25 Mar 2011 at 10:54 am #
I haven’t tried corn pasta before but I’m curious to try it – especially with a delicious mac & cheese like you have here. As for the brain fog and low energy, it could just be the winter blues. I’ve actually started the couch to 5k program and it has increased my energy to some insane levels – I guess they don’t call it runner’s high for nothing.
Sarah Galvin (All Our Fingers in the Pie) on 25 Mar 2011 at 8:39 pm #
I did the ‘no white’ and it worked. But no white means no milk, hence no cheese. So no white flour, white sugar, milk except yogurt. It isn’t necessarily the ‘wheat’. Let the stomach heal and then you can digest everything. So I would also cut the cheese
Manon from Ontario on 25 Mar 2011 at 10:45 pm #
Help! Julie I’m looking for a big batch Maple Fudge recipe.
Ingredients: Maple syrup, maple sugar, white sugar, cream, butter. These are the ingredients I would like to keep, however, I am looking to be able to make big batches of this, as demand is booming.
Do you know any bakery Maple Fudge recipe that I could use?
Thanks Julie
JulieVR on 25 Mar 2011 at 10:58 pm #
Sarah – what about cauliflower?
So you could eat brown sugar but not white? It’s really just white sugar with some molasses in it… it’s no better than white sugar…
Kelly on 29 Mar 2011 at 2:18 pm #
Hi Julie
I am in the same boat with the wheat thing. Had a naturopath and a massage therapist say I am reacting to the gluten. A friend sent a really interesting blog by a doctor in the States who talks about the effects of gluten. One thing he describes is “wheat belly” which can really act almost like a beer belly. I tested the effects a week ago. Tried going one day 100% gluten free, no bloating. Next day I ate three servings during the day and WHOA! It was like I was expecting twins! I can send you the link to the blog if you are interested. I am finding it hard to find the food to replace it! Apparently millet is good to use too.
JulieVR on 29 Mar 2011 at 3:54 pm #
Kelly – I have a friend who had the same exact reaction, and is now off wheat! I was secretly hoping for the same, but sadly my bloat is naturally occurring.
Kelly on 29 Mar 2011 at 6:01 pm #
It is just not fair is it? To give up something as divine as bread and such, and to no avail!! Should I find any success on my journey I shall share any secrets I find! I find the same reaction as you mention about the addiction to sugar, and your body’s reaction when you try to avoid it. I read about it recently. It really makes sense!
Have you read the book 101 Things to Do Before You Diet? It was written last year by a fashion writer in England. FABULOUS and so very witty. Very worth the read. I found it by accident at the library. May be a fun one to pick up!
)
(I am still trying to get my hands on your books! I have the longest sign out record in the history of our bookmobile for Grazing and One Smart Cookie!!!
Mew Maurer on 02 Apr 2011 at 11:43 am #
I just really love your Mac! and with cheese? Oh yeah! Its pretty yummy at all! I love baked macarani and now there is Mac and Cheese! Thank you!
Katherine on 05 Apr 2011 at 9:09 pm #
I will definitely have to try this. I’m doing a similar thing right now but with sugar – I’m planning to do it for 4 weeks, but it’s difficult because EVERYTHING has sugar in it.
If I don’t see any results, I’m trying wheat-free next, which at the moment is probably about 75% of my diet! :s I love mac and cheese so this will be a good recipe to have in my arsenal when I start.