finally, a gluten-free victory.

as youve probably noticed, ive been eating gluten (as well as several allergens) free for about three months now. and honestly, its been really frustrating. i mean, im getting used to the whole not-eating-in-public thing and having to completely change how we shop and eat. ive definitely gotten through the detox/withdrawl phase and (with the exception of when i was making myself sick by testing my allergies) most of the time im functioning enough to forget that im on an incredibly difficult diet. like i said, im getting used to it. at least, im not crying every time i drive past a pizza hut anymore. 

but heres the frustrating part: im not actually feeling any better than i was before i went gluten free. you know how everyone and their mom goes gluten free and after a week theyve turned into wonderwoman and wont shut up about how great being gluten free is? well that hasnt happened for me. not even close. after about three months, all i can say is that im not feeling worse anymore, but generally speaking i feel just about as bad as i did before changing my diet. and most of the time, i dont even enjoy or look forward to food or eating at all. most meals are completely utilitarian and leave me feeling kind of sad. really, to be completely honest here, if i didnt for sure have celiac disease, id be right back on gluten. its just not worth it.

but unfortunately i do have celiac and going back just isnt an option. and as a lover of all things carby, i was not excited about this. i just wanted one gluten free dinner that tasted exactly like the real thing and didnt leave me disappointed. just one thing to come out delicious and not dry, flakey, crumbly, or powdery the way gluten free alternatives usually are. 

well, friday night i finally got that. i made an absolutely, perfectly beautiful, completely normal tasting mac and cheese:

it is completely unreasonable how happy this made me, but for the first time in months i have a food to be excited about. and it wasnt even expensive. 

i was able to make my normal mac and cheese recipe, with just a few small tweaks: gluten free noodles (target had some for $2.50, which i thought was fantastic, but the next day i went to sprouts and they got some new ones that were only $2.39, so i guess we can start having pasta more often), sweet rice flour instead of regular flour in the roux (i couldnt find any at a real store so i got it from amazon), and no breadcrumbs. it was heavenly.

it was EXACTLY what i (well, really, all of us) needed after three months of what i call "rabbit food". james and i stuffed our faces, and alice actually ate dinner (alice almost never eats dinner). and now, i FINALLY have an actually delicious (as opposed to "eh its ok for being gluten free") dinner to get excited about. finally. 

and now i have to stop blubbering about mac and cheese and go attend to my very whiny and cranky toddler that woke up two hours early, and is being very inconsiderate about her mom having to wake up three hours early.