A variety of goodies from Andean Dream

If you’re not familiar with Andean Dream, they provide gluten-free quinoa products. Always one to be vigilant of fiber, I have often shied away from quinoa fearing it would upset my Crohn’s. Every time I have it though, I’m reminded how much I enjoy it, and that I should incorporate it more into my diet. Which leads me to this review. I was lucky enough to try out a variety of their products. The cookies, I had tried before, but it had been a while, and I’d never tried their pasta products. Speaking with Ingrid the founder of Andean Dream, she mentioned that their pasta is the only that is truly able to be prepared al dente–a real novelty for GF pastas. I’d never tried the quinoa pasta, so I was very curious. She also mentioned that in the past, she had been approached by Disney to use her products–some of the chefs actually tried the pasta and really liked it. Well, that settled it. Now I had to test it out!

Coconut Quinoa Cookies

First up were the coconut cookies. I love all things coconut, so to me, I expected to love these. At first bite, I was a bit underwhelmed by the lack of sweetness in them, but as I enjoyed these later on, I realized that it might have been because I had something very sweet right before I ate this cookie, because I really began to enjoy these. They almost have that shortbread sweetness. They also remind me of a cookie that I used to get as a child, so I loved the nostalgia in that familiar taste.

Cocoa Orange cookies

OMG I love these cookies. The chocolatey taste in these is delicious. As many of you know, I’m a chocolate-aholic! The combination of cocoa and orange was so lovely–not over-powering and very delicious. I’m ashamed to admit, I ate like three of these in a sitting. Yep, this is what happens when you really like a cookie!

Vegetarian Quinoa Soup…sooo good!

Ingrid told me the soups that they have are new, and I was eager to try them out, especially because of the pasta. Pasta soup is a hard thing to achieve successfully when it comes to GF and since Ingrid said the pasta had that al dente texture, I was very hopeful it would turn out great. It definitely exceeded my expectations! I made the soup, but also added pre-cooked homemade turkey meatballs just as the soup was finished. This made for a great meal, but I could have easily enjoyed it meat-free. It actually sort of reminded me of the Mrs. Grass’s soup, only healthy and tastier. Ingrid was completely on the mark about the pasta! It helped up really well, and especially well as I took it the next day for lunch at work. Reheating and sitting overnight didn’t kill it! Some GF pastas get really gummy the next day, and this did not. Score one for Andean Dream!! The other thing that I really liked about this soup was the variety of quinoa in it–little pastas, quinoa, and spaghetti pasta provided a variety of shapes and textures. Loved that! Plus, it has a fairly high level of protein in it, which makes it even more nutritious. Definitely a new favorite on my list.

Tomato Quinoa Soup

I haven’t had this soup yet, but I’m expecting to love it. I’ll add my review here when I’ve tried it!

Quinoa macaroni–wow!

Just a quick review on the pasta–I love, love, love this pasta! As I mentioned above, it holds up so well. I’m using it in soups and pasta salads. Next up on my list is going to be a vegan macaroni and cheese. Oh that is gonna be soooo good!

Quinoa spaghetti–great in soups and wonderful for saues

Overall, I’m very pleased with the products from Andean Dream. I know officially have a new favorite pasta–one that actually holds up like the pastas of my gluten days. I can see now why the Disney chefs liked it so much. It’s definitely much more appealing texturally and taste wise than some of the other versions. I can only hope that Disney will add this to their product list sometime!

On a personal note, I love the company’s message and support of local families in Bolivia providing a way to create sustainable business methods helping promote positive economic change. Food that tastes good, is good for you, and supports others is the kind of food I love.

Check out Andean Dream for yourself! You won’t regret it!

*Disclaimer:  I did not receive any financial compensation for this review. I received a sample of the products for review purposes. The opinions are my own and based on my personal experiences with this product.

Bee Nut Free: Bee Nut Free is located in Colorado, and I stumbled upon a new food allergy find list. Boy, am I glad that I did find them! It’s really exciting to find new products that are allergy friendly, tasty, and that make great snacks. I’m always struggling for good snacks for work, especially as someone with allergies and with Crohn’s disease. Bee Nut Free definitely fits this bill nicely.

A box of goodies from Bee Nut Free

Close-up of the box you’ll receive!

I was fortunate to get to sample a variety of the Bee Nut Free products to see what they have to offer. I love the variety of snacks from chocolate chip granola bar bites to sunflower ginger energy bar. They appeal to kids and to adults alike.

Probably my hands down favorite snacks is Sunny Honey Cookie Bites. OMIGOSH! These were to die for. I seriously scarfed them down in a nanosecond! If you like SunButter (I do! See the review of Stacy’s Gluten Free Goodies of their No Peanut Butter Sunbutter cookies…I’m so obsessed with SunButter right now!), you will love these. Note that their website says about this and soy allergies, “We do use SunButter in our kitchen for Sunny Honey Cookie Bites and Sunflower Fig Ginger Energy Bars (on dedicated equipment). SunButter is manufactured on equipment that processes soybean, and its mere presence does not allow us to claim to be a ‘soy free’ bakery.”  I really do appreciate that they note this. I think that’s the sign of a really allergen friendly and dedicated bakery. If you don’t have a soy allergy…order these babies now! 🙂

I also tried the chocolate chip granola bites which is a terrific version of a chocolate chip granola bar. Yum! Kids will really like this one. The cranberry citrus energy bar was also very good, especially if you like the cranberry orange combo! (another yes for me!) The Sunflower Fig Ginger Energy Bars as mentioned above also has SunButter in it, and this one has crystallized ginger, which provided a nice zing to the bars. If you’re not a huge ginger fan this might not be the one for you, but it isn’t overly powerful/strong, so you might want to give it a try! The combo with the sunbutter is very good. The Ten Mile Tropical Granola Bar was another exciting one to try. So different from the usual granola bar fare, and very tasty.

The last thing I tried was the Trail’s End Trail Mix (coincidence it has the same name as a Ft. Wilderness Restaurant? I think not!!). This was awesome. Another winner for those needing good filling snacks and great for kids. One of my favs.

Overall, I’m so thrilled to have found Bee Nut Free. I love the products, and I love Jo-Anne’s story and personal commitment to allergy friendly goods. To read her story, check out the website!

I’m super excited to see Bee Nut Free at the Dessert Party and am pleased to have found a new set of products. I plan on ordering the goodies there a lot! Those Sunny Honey Cookie Bites are seriously addicting! Don’t believe me…just try them yourself!

*Disclaimer:  I did not receive any financial compensation for this review. I received a sample of the products for review purposes. The opinions are my own and based on my personal experiences with this product.