Mac and cheese... yummy

[nadinbrzezinski]

Ok gluten allergy and diabetes makes this a pain. But we still indulge in mac and cheese.

I found a Quinoa pasta that cooks very well, it also has some corn.

So the other day decided to make this treat.

Cooked my pasta in chicken stock... more flavor. Once it was cooked drained it almost fully, added 2% milk, and shredded Monterrey Jack Salt and freshly ground pepper. Made sure that it cooked and essentially made a white cheese sauce.

To put it mildly, we enjoyed something we both like, and if you did not know it was wheat free, you'd never know it. It went very well with my cooked chicken.

Hell, I suppose that if I did not cook with the chicken stock, and instead used vegie, I could even make that for the two picky nephews!

[Warpy]

1. Who makes it?

I got a wild hair last May and went off wheat for a while, wondering if that was what was causing the pinprick rash and wheezing. Alas, it appears it was, as both have largely disappeared. I also dropped 15 pounds.

Wheat was on the bottom of the list of possible culprits and I'd eliminated everything else before I finally gritted my teeth and resigned myself to things like peanut butter on rice cakes for breakfast instead of my beloved home baked bread or bagels.

So who the hell makes the pasta? I can live quite nicely without breads, rolls, flour tortillas, pies, cakes, and cookies. I'm having a rather rough time without noodles. Rice noodles are good, but they just don't hit the spot.

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. This is the best brand we found

http://foodallergies.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJ&zTi=1&sdn=foodallergies&cdn=health&tm=17&f=00&su=p284.9.336.ip_p736.9.336.ip_&tt=11&bt=0&bts=0&zu=http://www.quinoa.net/145/163.html

My local Ralphs has it, whole foods also carries it, and of course you can always order online.

[Warpy]

3. Additional thoughts

You can make a traditional white sauce base for a cheese sauce using butter and rice flour. In fact, I find the flavor nicer and it doesn't clump, at all. The problem with not using the white sauce for the base is the way the cheese can separate and/or get stringy, and the way it hardens as the food on your plate starts to cool.

It reheats a hell of a lot better, too.

My local supermarket had both brown rice flour and white rice flour in the whole foods section. I use the white rice flour for sauces, but I'll use the brown rice flour if I decide to try cookies during the winter.