Glutino honey mustard pretzels beat Snyder's

Last month, Glutino sent me a sample bag of its new honey mustard pretzels, which I really enjoyed. But at the same time, I noticed that Snyder's of Hanover also had gluten-free honey mustard & onion pretzels available in local stores.

So I finally got around to buying a bag of Snyder's and here's my verdict: the Snyder's pretzels are okay, but I have to say the Glutino pretzels had more flavor. And I'm not just saying that because Glutino sent me a free bag and I had to buy a bag of Snyder's.

At least there's some good news about Snyder's: the quality seems to be better than the gluten-free pretzels they were selling a couple of years ago, which often seemed to be stale. I never did contact Snyder's for an explanation but I noticed their gluten-free pretzels seemed to disappear completely from the market for a while, so maybe they were taking the time to improve the product.

I'll be looking for either the Glutino or Snyder's honey mustard pretzels to be on sale. Even though I prefer Glutino, I'd say both are worthwhile.

Glutino fudge covered pretzels

I got a sample bag of Glutino's chocolate fudge covered pretzels, which the company said was touted by its one of its fitness gurus as a favorite snack "that you don't have to feel guilty about indulging in."

That sounds kind of strange but the nutrition label on the package bears it out. A serving size of nine pretzels -- which is a pretty good-sized serving -- only has 140 calories and 12 grams of sugar. I can cut that in half and have a pretty good snack with only 70 calories and 6 grams of sugar.

Of course, they are delicious. I mean, fudge-covered pretzels, how can they not be?

I've seen these pretzels on sale at Winn-Dixie, so they should be easy to find if you have a craving.

Cheesecake Factory gluten-free burger pricey, but good

I went back to the Cheesecake Factory to try out the burger on its new gluten-free menu. I'm glad I did. This might have been the best hamburger I've had since I've had to go gluten free.

The waitress made a comment to me about how good the buns were so I asked where they got the gluten-free buns. She went to check and came back and told me they are from Udi's, which was a surprise. These seemed much better than the Udi's buns we can buy in the supermarket.

Cheesecake Factory is now the second place in Jacksonville that I know of where you can get a gluten-free burger, with bun, and french fries. The other is Epik Burger.

I want to support the local restaurant versus the chain but I have to say I prefer the Cheesecake Factory's burger. Actually, I really like the chicken sandwiches at Epik Burger so that's what I always get there. And at Epik Burger, I love the gluten-free onion rings, which are the only gluten-free onion rings in town that I know of.

Of course, it probably won't surprise you that the Cheesecake Factory burger experience was pricey. The burger and fries were $10.95, but they really get you with the $2.95 soda, which brought the total with tax to $14.88, plus tip.

At that price, I won't be going often, but it's nice to know it's there.

To review, if you didn't see my previous post on the Cheesecake Factory, it has a very impressive eight-page gluten-free menu that also includes a number of pasta dishes.

On the downside, the menu says it doesn't have a separate preparation space in the kitchen, so there is a risk of cross-contamination. But from my conversation with the waitress, I did get the impression that they are aware of allergy concerns and do the best they can.

Report says Dunkin' drops gluten-free doughnut plan

I've been waiting and waiting for Dunkin' Donuts to roll out its gluten-free doughnut nationally, even if they weren't going to be fresh baked in the store.

However, here's some bad news from Celiac.com: Dunkin' has apparently dropped its plans for gluten-free doughnuts after the test marketing didn't go well.

Hopefully I'll be able to find out more but in the meantime, you can read the Celiac.com report here.

Good deal on Barilla pasta at Publix

Last month I told you about Barilla's new gluten-free pastas, which not only taste good (at least I can vouch for the spaghetti) but are also reasonably priced.

So here's some better news. Publix has a 75-cent off coupon on Barilla pastas in its sales circular in the front of the store. That means that the gluten-free spaghetti I bought today for $2.39 actually cost me only $1.64. You won't find many better deals on gluten-free pasta.

The coupon is good until the end of the month. Good time to stock up.

Gluten-free living conference coming up in Orlando

There's an interesting gluten-free conference coming up in Orlando on the first weekend of April.

Gluten-Free Living magazine is presenting the conference at the Doubletree hotel near Universal Studios.

The conference only costs $15 a day in advance or $20 for two days. There are interesting speakers lined up and from my past experience with gluten-free conferences, the best part is the expo where a lot of gluten-free food companies give out free samples.

You can find more information at gflconference.com.