French Meadow Bakery’s Whole Grain Bread,
Sandwich Bread and Italian Rolls. Photo
by Hannah Kaminsky | THE NIBBLE.

French Meadow Bakery makes certified organic and gluten-free products that are casein-free, lactose-free and peanut-free, as well as kosher (parve). We recently tasted a selection of company’s gluten-free line of breads and cakes.

When we taste gluten-free baked goods, we do it from the same perspective as we taste all products. We don’t judge if the product is “good for a gluten-free product,” but if it is a good product that anyone would enjoy. We tasted two products in French Meadow Bakery’s gluten-free line that scored on this front; anyone in the family would enjoy them.

Gluten Free Multigrain Bread is made of a tasty mix of whole grain flour blend (amaranth, quinoa, millet, sorghum, teff), egg whites, organic flax seed, organic millet and organic quinoa and a touch of honey, among other ingredients.

Gluten-Free Cinnamon Raisin Bread is made of corn starch, egg whites, tapioca starch, honey, rice bran and germ, plus raisins and other ingredients.

The Gluten-Free Italian Rolls and Sandwich Bread are more appropriate for those who must restrict their gluten intake.

Some of our tasters enjoyed the Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, and ate every last one of the pre-formed, ready-to-bake cookies. We could taste that they were a gluten-free product; but the good news is that, those who can’t have gluten can keep these cookies in the freezer, ready to transform into a warm, fragrant cookie whenever the need strikes.

America loves hummus, as can be seen by the proliferation of brands and flavors in the refrigerator case of almost every supermarket and deli. It’s nutritious, gluten-free, dairy-free and vegan.

But what about dessert hummus? Dessert from chickpeas? That breakthrough concept is now available, healthy and actually delicious! Flavors include:

Read our full review, including all the ways you can serve Dessert Hummus.

Serve a trio of Dessert Hummus flavors for
dessert. Above: Caramel Apple, Maple
Walnut and Pumpkin. Photo by Hannah
Kaminsky | THE NIBBLE.

Look at two of the hottest food trends—whole grain and gluten-free. Every one of us needs more whole grain in our diet, and one out of 133 people have celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder that requires a gluten-free diet. (Still more have simple wheat allergies.)

Corn and rice, among other grains, are naturally gluten free. Chex cereals is the first mainstream, gluten-free cereal line, with Rice Chex, Corn Chex and new gluten-free Honey Nut Chex, Chocolate Chex and Cinnamon Chex.

We recently sat down with a box of “Simply Nutritious Honey Nut Chex With A Touch Of Honey.” WIth 8g or more of whole grain per serving, it is a healthier sweet treat than almost any other processed sweet treat (doughnut, breakfast pastry, raisin bagel), and nicely crunchy, eaten on the go from a plastic snack-size bag. We enjoy it.

But as we spend out days scrutinizing words and labels, we have two questions:

The new version of Honey Nut Chex is gluten-free and made of corn.

This recalled our favorite Abraham Lincoln quote: “You can fool all of the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.” We don’t know if there were ever nuts in Honey Nut Chex, but has anyone else noticed they’re missing?

Gluten-free cookies and milk. Photo by
Corey Lugg | THE NIBBLE.

More and more people are discovering that they have wheat allergies, if not full-blown celiac disease. Now, they can enjoy cookies so delicious that their wheat-eating friends will be grabbing for them too.

Thanks to the miracles performed at Glow Gluten Free, people on gluten-free diets can happily nibble away on Chocolate Chip, Chocolate Chocolate Chip, Gingersnap and Snickerdoodle cookies. How good are they? The label fell off the tin we were storing them in, and we didn’t realize they were the gluten-free cookies while eating them up at a visit with friends.

The all-natural cookies are also dairy-free and, of course, trans fat-free. (They do contain eggs and soy.) Share the Glow: Pass the word.

The cookies can be purchased online at GlowGlutenFree.com.

A gluten free burrito bonanza. Photo by Hannah Kaminsky | THE NIBBLE.

People cutting out wheat don’t need to be deprived of their burritos. Glutenfreeda has introduced four frozen burrito flavors:

The burritos are easily microwaved. Breakfast Burrito, with well-seasoned ground beef and potatoes, is the most flavorful and our favorite, followed by Vegetarian Bean & Cheese. Chicken & Cheese and Vegetarian & Dairy Free needed spicing up with some condiments—but there’s always a ton of salsa around THE NIBBLE offices.

Glutenfreedas Burritos are made from all natural and organic ingredients and, of course, contain no trans fats, no hydrogenated oils and no GMOs. The four-ounce burritos have a MSRP of $2.99 to $3.29. See retailer locations.

If you’re doing your share to celebrate National Ice Cream month, you need some appropriate toppings. Sweet & Saucy makes 20 different buttery caramel and rich chocolate sauces, handcrafted in small batches using quality ingredients. There’s a flavor for everyone:

The line is certified gluten free.

If you’re feeling saucy, also check out our Top Pick Of The Week chocolate and caramel sauces from:

From Cabernet Fudge to Orange Liqueur
Fudge to Peanut Butter Fudge, you can have
it your way at Sweet & Saucy.

While the world may need a better mousetrap, it isn’t looking for another sauce (…whatever). It’s tough even for spectacular products to survive. Some of our Top Picks Of The Week—the best of their kind we’ve ever had—have been shuttered (and by the same token, some truly mediocre products continue to sell well, year after year—a phenomenon previously noted by H.L. Mencken). In better economic times, we saw someone develop a unique and needed product to make tofu taste great, and the world did not beat a path to her door. Unless a close family member is CEO of a major food chain, getting distribution for a new product is like swimming upstream, without the genetics of a salmon. That doesn’t make us happy, because people who make specialty foods tend to be nice people, and we always want the best for them.

BBQ sauce with a focus on fruit. Photo by Emily Chang | THE NIBBLE.

The puzzler is, why is Oregon Dan selling Hawaiian recipes. Given that the snowy mountain peaks on the bottle labels are not Mauna Loa and the website survey suggests the next flavor will be coming from Oregon (bing cherry, boysenberry, marionberry, peach, pear and raspberry are the options—cast your vote), Dan might want to forget the “taste of Hawaii inside each bottle” and sell “BBQ Sauce With Fightin’ Fruit.” A 12-Ounce jar $5.50 at OregonDans.com. The line is gluten free.

The maraschino cherry is no longer a bad-tasting joke. Tillen Farms has created a delicious, all natural maraschino cherry—no artificial colors or flavors, no sulfites or preservatives, no high fructose corn syrup. (And we’ve been feeding these “standard” maraschino cherries to kids, who gobble up all that bad stuff!)

Now you can bring peace of mind to parents and happiness of palate to hot fudge sundaes and Shirley Temples, not to mention adult fare like a Tom Collins or a Manhattan. Tillen Farms all-natural Merry Maraschino Cherries are the way to go with maraschino, made only with cherries, water, sugar, vegetable and fruit concentrate (for color) and natural flavor.

If you happen to have some cherry liqueur/kirsch, drain 10%-20% of the liquid from the jar and replace it with liqueur. The kids may not like it, but you will. Brandy works, too.

The cherries are $6.99 for a 14-ounce jar. If you want to buy a 12-jar case for gifts, stocking stuffers, etc., the price goes down to $6.39 per jar. You can purchase Merry Maraschinos online at TillenFarms.com. Individual bottles are available at fine food stores nationwide. The product is gluten free.

By the way, the ubiquitous maraschino cherries were once quite elite:

Life can be a bowl of maraschino cherries.

The Marasca cherry (Prunus cerasus var. marasca) is a type of sour Morello cherry that grows largely in Bosnia, Croatia, Herzegovina, northern Italy and Slovenia. With a bitter taste and a drier pulp than other cherry varieties, they are ideal to make cherry (maraschino) liqueur. The cherries were originally preserved in the liqueur as a delicacy for royalty and the wealthy.

The Marasca cherry tree is very fussy about where it will grow, so in the U.S., the Royal Ann variety is substituted as a “faux” maraschino. The FDA’s Standard of Identity defines maraschino cherries as “cherries which have been dyed red, impregnated with sugar and packed in a sugar sirup flavored with oil of bitter almonds or a similar flavor.”

Another great popcorn flavor from DaleandThomasPopcorn.com.

If you’re looking for an inspired gift to send to your favorite camper, hostess or celebrant, we can recommend the new Dark Fudge Caramel N’ Almonds flavor from Dale & Thomas. We’re still equally fond of the other chocolate-drizzled flavors, including Chocolate Chunk N’ Caramel, Chocolate & Peanut Butter, Peanut Butter & White Chocolate, Toffee Crunch and Twice-As-Nice Chocolate (dark and white chocolate). A gift box filled with six large bags is $39.95, in your choice of a single flavor or one bag of each of the six flavors (highly recommended!). Dale & Thomas sweet popcorn is not overly sweet (that is to say, it’s welcomed by the sophisticated palate), and is elegant enough that it can become a light dessert, by itself or sprinkled atop vanilla or chocolate ice cream.

All Dale & Thomas popcorn flavors are certified kosher OU-D and are gluten free.

And now, some editorializing from our editor:

Our “Natural Break” GoPicnic box had 12g of dietary fiber
and 16g of protein, with healthy food choices like Food
Should Taste Good multigrain tortilla chips, Wild Garden
sundried tomato hummus dip, Late July organic cheddar
cheese sandwich crackers, Trophy Farms oven-roasted
almonds, Mariani Ultimate Apricots and Immaculate
Baking Co.’s Chocobilly Chocolate Chunk Cookies.

GoPicnic has packaged some of our favorite brands into the snack and meal boxes, including Top Picks Of The Week like Food Should Taste Good tortilla chips, Mary’s Gone Crackers and Sheffa Snacks, favorites like Salba Smart tortilla chips, Mrs. May’s Nut Crunches and Larabar, plus delicious new finds like Mariani Ultimate Apricots.

There are sweets in every box, too, but they’re guilt-free—either because they’re sensibly small, allergen free or otherwise “not junk food.” All the products are made with natural ingredients, no trans fats, no high fructose corn syrup, no added MSG.

And GoPicnic boxes are fun! Each colorful box contains six to seven tasty food items—many organic and lower fat—plus utensils, a red gingham paper napkin (for the “picnic” effect), utensils, a jumbo after-meal mint and a lemon scented Moist Wipe. You may not be headed to a picnic in the park, but you might be on a long car trip or field trip, an airline flight, a business meeting or a sports stadium. Or maybe you just work long hours and are always grabbing for the wrong snacks. If you belong to any of these groups, click on over to GoPicnic.com and take a look at the “menu.”