Hubby is always steering me to the gluten free shelf in any new store we try and I’m always a little resistant (okay, a lot resistant) because I’m not keen on spending twice and three times as much for pasta or cookies or whatever it is, rarely do they live up to the promise of tasting just as good and frankly they’re loaded with calories.

I realise that nothing has the same yummy texture as wheat in baking else America as a nation wouldn’t be so fixated with it but still I tend to think if it’s not exactly the same, I don’t want it. Then we stumbled into the grocer at Farmer’s Inn, our favourite cooking supply store outside of Cook Forest Park and this time I let him talk me into trying the pastas there. We spent an arm and a leg but I figured since we never buy this stuff, it was ok.

Fast forward four months. Yes, that’s how long it took me to work up to cooking some of my pasta. I was attempting to try Mrs. Leeper’s Rice Alphabets at $3.19 for 12 oz. (that’s actually not too bad considering it’s gluten free AND organic). I admit, though I love rice noodles in soups and stir fries and I’m a big consumer of rice in itself, there’s something that just disgusts me about the concept of rice spaghetti so this was an act of bravery ladies and gentlemen.

The lowdown? Mrs. Leeper is an all around nice gal. This pasta holds its shape, cooks to a texture virtually identical to its wheat counterpart and has no funky aftertaste. I give it all my thumbs up for taste, texture and ease. My only complaint is the calorie content- 1/3 cup dry clocks in at a steep 200 calories so don’t overload.

Tasty Factor: this has proven to me that GF can do pasta

Poopy Factor: it’s only going to be saved for holidays with calories like that.