Substitutions

Lamb Stew. Apple Cinnamon Muffins. Chicken Spaghetti Marinara. Rice Krispy Bars. Salad Dressing.

These are all things I've made in the past couple of days. It's a typical menu for our house, with one small exception. They were all made without wheat, corn, dairy, soy, eggs, peanuts, or sugar.

As a staunch recipe-follower, making substitutions is not something I usually do. However, when you are faced with a self-inflicted challenge such as this one, there are hardly any foods you can make without swapping some ingredients.

So, a-substituting I will go. How bad could it be?

Everything tasted good, but never as good as the original. I think a big part of the process for me is making my mind accept that "tasting different" and "tasting bad" are not synonymous. The best recipe I've tried so far is the Crispy Rice Squares. Made with brown rice syrup and almond butter instead of marshmallows, this is quite good. It is also different enough from the original that I am tricked into liking it.

Surprisingly, the food I miss the most is bread. No amount of rice, whether crisped, wafered, puffed, or molded into an unnatural disc shape can make up for the wonderful texture of bread. There is a rice bread, but after administering the "poke test" at the grocery store, the rice bread seemed to have the consistency of styrofoam. It did not pass.

What I've enjoyed most is trying new and sometimes odd foods. Agave nectar? Quite good, reminds me of honey. Brown Rice Pasta? I prefer it to whole-wheat pasta. Nutritional yeast? This wins the award for "The Most Unappetizing Name", but actually turned out to be a tangy cheese-like seasoning. Who knew? Now I do.

Change never ceases to amaze.