High up in the Bolivian Andes, 280 indigenous farming families, are growing and harvesting Royal Quinoa for Andean Dream pasta and cookies.

What's that you don't know what quinoa (pronounced keen-wah) is? That's okay, until I stumbled across the Andean Dream LLC, Quinoa Product website, neither did I.

Essentially quinoa is a "supercrop", it is one of the highest sources of protein, and has essential amino acids, which make it an unusually complete food.

Andean Dream LLC has taken this healthy grain, and has made pasta and cookies from it!

My family and I were able to try out the Macaroni Pasta and all of the cookie varieties!

Making the quinoa pasta (which also has rice flour in it), is as easy as any kind of wheat pasta. While the texture of the noodles is the same as traditional pasta, the flavor is a tad different (and it doesn't taste like rice either!). I had a hard time putting my finger on what the difference was, so I kept eating, and eating, and eating. While I'm still not entirely certain, I would say it had a bit of a nutty taste to it. We ate it just with a little bit of margarine mixed in, but I'd bet that if you put a sauce on it, one may not even notice the flavor difference at all.

You should also note that Royal Quinoa by nature, has no gluten, and Andean Dream Quinoa Pasta is organic and kosher as well. One 8 oz box of pasta has 24 grams of protein in it!

Well since we've had our main course, let's get to dessert shall we?

Andean Dream Quinoa Cookies. These crunchy cookies are available in five varieties, Chocolate Chip, Raisins & Spice, Cocoa-Orange, Orange Essence and Coconut.

If you are health conscious, and still want a treat, these cookies are just what you want. You don't even have to feel guilty while eating them because they are so healthy.

They are free from dairy, wheat, cholesterol, trans fats and nuts. So they are safe for those affected from most allergens too. They are also a vegan product.

Andean Dream Quinoa Cookies are about 2" in diameter and are individually packaged for convenience, and to retain their freshness. I liked the coconut ones the best, while Hubby naturally gravitated to the chocolate chip, as did Genius. Because they are low in sugar, they are not too sweet either. If you're looking for a little less crunch and a bit more moisture, the raisins & spice would likely suit your palate.

Not only are these products healthy for you, but they are fair trade products as well. The lives of the farmers that are growing the Royal Quinoa to be used in the cookies and pasta, are changing and improving with better housing, and fields because of the partnership of Andean Dream, La Francesa (the bakery in Bolivia that makes them), and Andean Valley (the exporting company of high quality Royal Quinoa to the United States).

So I say, try quinoa. For your health and for the impact it has on the lives of farmers who grow it.

You can purchase any of their pastas or cookies from their online store at http://www.adreamshopping.com/.