Skipping wheat but craving a sandwich? Here are 2 options

Hankering for a sandwich but can't have wheat bread? Here are what may be two solutions.

It hasn't been easy, but I've stayed away from anything made from wheat since August last year.

My two wheat-based favorites: pasta and bread, have been off my menu since then. I've learned to use cauliflower as a pasta substitute, but that doesn't work for sandwiches.

To figure out how to make sandwiches without wheat bread, I found two commercial workarounds that might work for you.

I shared my recipe for making a wheat-free, keto-friendly bread at home in an earlier column (dailyherald.com/article/20190828/ENTLIFE/190829186). I believed that my almond flour-based bread was successful because of yeast's inclusion, using yeast as a flavoring, not for leavening.

Since most folks don't have almond flour in their pantry and usually suffer from sticker-shock when finding it in the store, I found Good Dee's Multi-Purpose Bread Low-Carb Baking Mix (gooddees.com) $11.99.

Just like my bread, Good Dee's uses almond flour as its base. Psyllium husks are the glue that not only holds this bread together; it also provides fiber (6 g per slice). Good Dee's baking mix has only seven easily pronounced ingredients (including salt).

I baked-up a loaf and was surprised that while that bread baked, my kitchen filled with the aroma of wheat-based bread. That bread's texture is similar to pound cake. Toasting slices made it taste better and, in the end, made a pretty good sandwich.

My only quibble? The price: since that premium is for what this mix doesn't have: no gluten, no wheat, no dairy, and no added sugar.

Second sandwich solution: A few weeks ago, I found Folios brand Cheese Wraps at my local supermarket (lotitofoods.com/folios) $5.99 for a 6-ounce package. It comes in three flavors: cheddar, Jarlsberg and Parmesan. Folios are lightly baked rounds of cheese that can be used as a wrap for sandwiches. They're made from just four ingredients: milk, salt, enzymes and annatto (color).

I've only sampled the cheddar and was surprised at how good it was. Each round can be rolled around sandwich ingredients (like mayo, ham, mustard, and lettuce). A friend of mine pops filled wraps in a microwave to get the cheese to soften.

Just two weeks later, I found another cheese wrap made by Crystal Farms Dairy of Minnetonka, Minnesota. Its wraps come in two flavors: Marble Jack and Mozzarella ($4.99).

Crystal Farms' has six rounds to a 6-ounce package versus Folios' four. Since Crystal Farms' wraps are not lightly baked, they are more flexible and somewhat easier to work with. Each round delivers either 90 calories (mozzarella) or 110 calories. Marble Jack has only one carbohydrate gram, and the mozzarella has zero carbs. If you limit dietary fat, the mozzarella wrap has 6 fat grams, and the Marble Jack has 9 fat grams.

The ingredients are nearly identical except for a mold inhibitor added to Crystal Farms' wraps.

Either brand of cheese wrap will make an excellent roll-up. You're only limited by your imagination and the ability to roll a wrap around it.

• Don Mauer welcomes questions, comments and recipe makeover requests. Write to him at don@ theleanwizard.com.

Turkey and Bacon Club Wraps

2 Marble Jack cheese wraps

1 tablespoon mayonnaise (I prefer avocado oil mayonnaise)

2 leaves green leaf lettuce

6 thin slices smoked turkey breast

2 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled

1 small tomato, chopped and drained

Salt and pepper

Divide and spread mayonnaise over each of the cheese wraps. Layer lettuce, turkey, bacon and tomato on top.

Season with salt and pepper and roll up.

Makes 2 wraps.

Nutrition values per wrap (without added salt): 254 calories (56 percent from fat), 15.8 g fat (7.8 g saturated fat), 6 g carbohydrates, 2 g sugars, 0.7 g fiber, 23.5 g protein, 67 mg cholesterol, 1210 mg sodium.

SaltSense: Two-thirds of the sodium comes from the luncheon meat smoked turkey. Using sliced home-roasted turkey for the smoked turkey reduces the sodium per serving to 417 milligrams.

Based on a Crystal Farms' Dairy recipe.