Glutino Gluten Free Candy Bar

Italian food can be one of the biggest challenges for people with celiac disease or other intolerances that make them unable to consume wheat or gluten. While an increasing array of frozen Italian meals have become available for those who avoid gluten, most have not focused on that traditional Italian staple -- pasta with a red sauce.

Luckily, Caesar's has recently come to the rescue, offering several gluten free Italian meals including stuffed shells in marinara sauce and a vegetablelasagna . In both cases, the pasta noodles are made with rice, but despite being gluten free their texture is just right -- not sticky or tough, and taste the way traditional Italian pasta should.

Also impressive about these gluten free frozen meals is that they contain no soy. Many gluten free products do and some replace traditional cow's milk cheese with soy variants. For those who are allergic to soy or avoid it for other medical reasons, this can be very frustrating. But Caesar's gluten free Italian meals solve that problem.

Those with other allergy concerns should be aware that these gluten free meals do contain milk and eggs are are produced in a facility that does process foods containing wheat, shellfish and fish. The company, however, says good manufacturing practices are used that prevent cross-contamination, and I've certainly never had any problems.

Caesar's gluten free meals have just under 400 calories and provide 3 grams of fiber or more. These gluten free meals cook well and easily, have plenty of flavor, and really do taste like home-cooked. For those without dietary concerns, Caesar's also makes traditional frozen meals that do include wheat-based pasta. Those with high blood pressure should be aware, however, that the Caesar's gluten free meals contain a good deal of sodium -- more than 25% of the daily suggested allowance.

Unlike many gluten free products these Italian meals from Caesar's are affordable, costing about $4 each, which is comparable to the price of standard meals containing gluten. It's particularly nice not to have to pay the celiac disease price penalty for these.

Cooking instructions for the microwave say that they are based on an 800 watt oven, but I have found that even on those, the cooking time varies from microwave to microwave and that can be too long. Keep an eye on these gluten free meals the first time you prepare them to avoid having the delicious marinara sauce dry out.