ALONG COMES MARY

You read right my flour-less friends. Yesterday I was a guest at the National Education Conference & Gluten-Free Expo held by The Celiac Foundation based out of Woodland Hills, CA. The weekend event was held in my hometown of Pasadena & it was an overwhelming, great time.

There was booth after booth, all offering great food & products for those of us with a wheat intolerant, Celiac or simply looking to cut gluten out of their diet. I tried so many great things either out already or coming soon. Here are my favorite moments….

Meeting Gluten is my Bitch blogger & author, April Peveteaux. I love, love, love April’s blog & bluntness about how crappy it can be to have to follow a gluten-free diet. Think Chelsea Handler for the Celiac. Shes not afraid to say how much it bites to pass on pancakes or else she’ll have toilet issues. I had a magical meeting with my fellow GF blogger & she signed my book which I already cannot put down…

Also at April’s table, I was so happy to hear from another fan that I am not the only one who is uncomfortable explaining my gluten-free lifestyle on dates, or to friends sometimes in general. Between selecting where to eat (Pizza? Sure….but do they have gluten-free? Burgers? Well, I am a vegetarian…they have a soy-meat patty….great, is that GF? What about the bun?) then wanting to change the conversation so the entire night isn’t about my digestive issues, it can be a challenge.

Learning about Well, Amy. This is a new web-site that is absolutely fabulous if you’re struggling to find GF or other allergen-free products in your area. Well, Amy features some of the best & top items for GF consumers, imagine an on-line Amazon for food allergies. Check it out & mention code GFAF2013 for FREE shipping on your first order!

Doing a GF beer flight tasting compliments of Whole Foods Beer of the Month, New Planet. I need to realize something: I just do not like beer. I have ‘regular’, I have had non-alcoholic & of course, I have had many GF varieties. New Planet’s was excellent….it tasted like a top-notch, perfect beer….therefore, not for me 😉 But I did try their pale ale, blonde & raspberry. Of the 3, I would have the raspberry again.

Finding out that….shhh….Gorton’s Fish knows how desperately we want a GF popcorn shrimp….its on their radar!

Discovering Crunchmaster Crackers. Imagine a Cheeze It that actually tastes like cheese, a white cheddar cracker or a cracker that literally taste like a pizza. Thats what I’m talking about! You can find these flavors & more from Crunchmaster.

New GF mixes on the way from Betty Crocker. I love Betty’s brownie GF mix, this summer look for banana bread & sugar cookie mix. Now, the big dilemma for me is: How do I make a batch of sugar cookies as good as their samples were?! It truly was the best cookie I have had in years….GF or not.

Seeing that gluten-free people are just like non GF people. This should be obvious, but sometimes I think others assume those who are forced to go GF must be very health conscious, ‘hippy-like’ & eat no meat. Attend a day like this, & you will see quickly that those myths are simply just that. Most GF patients are gathering at an expo like this hoping to see the mainstream brands like Betty Crocker or Gorton’s know we’re out there. It sucks sometimes to have to stop at a specialty/health food store in order to get dinner when we live around the corner from a supermarket & wish we could just grab any frozen dinner after a long day.

(*Disclosure: I was provided with complimentary tickets to this event.)