Some new products

I'm sure everyone has certain food items that they miss since having to go gluten-free, but there seems to be more and more products on the scene to help us with that longing. First up: I have found a frozen cheese ravioli that is amazingly good and quite similiar to it's gluten-laden counterpart. It is made by a company called Conte's Pasta. They headquarter out of New Jersey. This is the only item of their's I have found so far, but I am checking their website out to see what else they make. I found this product in the Health Market frozen food section of HyVee on 156th and Maple. It is just fantastic and I highly recommend it. It is lovely little pasta puffs filled with creamy ricotta cheese and parsley.......so wonderful! Their website is: www.contespasta.com.

Next, via a recommendation of the dietician at HyVee I tried an angel food cake mix by The Twisted Bakery. Now I have always loved angel food cake and had reluctantly put that on my list of things I will never eat again. However, this is pretty good stuff. It comes with 3 packets in the mix and you have to use almost a dozen egg whites with it. Now it is not as high in height as a regular angel food cake, but the flavor is very nice....hint of almond, and it is surprisingly good. Plus it will freeze well. Which we all know is a pretty good characteristic of gluten-free foods. They also have a website: www.qualityglutenfree.com. If you are a lover of angel food cake, I think you will like this one.

Lastly, but certainly not least, let's talk about Kinnikinnick brands. My personal favorite of their products is their New York Style Bagels. Now I always toast them because I just think they are much improved with toasting and of course my favorite way to eat them is with a nice smattering of cream cheese. They are also very good toasted and buttered and I have even used them to make a sandwich. I also use their frozen hamburger buns occasionally but normally I just eat a burger with no bun. But, sometimes that will just not do! I also toast them a bit since they can become a little "gooey" when you put a hot hamburger on them. As far as their breads go, the only one I like is the tapioca cheese bread.......again, makes pretty good toast. They also have a white cake mix that is pretty good, but I think it could use some "doctoring up" which I will try someday soon. It continues to be my experience that many gluten-free mixes are much improved with your own particular tweaks! Cheers, Linda