GFXCON: Thoughts, praise and a big Thank You to Kristin Carey!

I am so happy I was able to attend the  the first ever GFXCON! Didn't attend? Don't worry! I have it on good authority that there will be more! There was so much to do at this Gluten Free Convention that there was never a dull moment. There was not only the Expo, there was also Conferences, Cooking Demonstrations, and a dinner to close out the night. I missed some of these events due to scheduling conflicts but in the future I know that I will not want to miss out on the fun!

Who is the mastermind behind the GFXCon? Kristin Carey. Why does her name sound familiar? I have mentioned her prior; she is the owner of Nourish. She is incredible. She keeps bringing fourth new ways for the GF/Dairy free/Soy free/Vegan/Vegetarian/Allergen free communities together in exciting ways. This Conference was the perfect blend of food,education, and fun. I want to thank Kirstin Carey for creating such an all encompassing  Conference.

That said, I am a big supporter of all the GF conferences, I think we (Celiacs), should go to every conference  available to us. The more of us that show up and give the GF lifestyle a face; the more conferences that will appear in your area. This is better for us as consumers. Keep that in mind...

Back to the GFXCON:

This is what the GFXCon looks like when you enter. There were a lot of Vendors and they were all very informative. There was not one that was unfriendly. It was great to see familiar faces like Julia from Julia's Bakery!

I sampled a ton of delicious foods, drinks and tried a lot of new beauty products. Most of the tables looked like this:

This is the Udi's table. I have spoken about my love of Udi's many, many, many times on the blog. A lot of the tables were set up like the Udi's table. Had I not been chatting so much with the awesome vendors, I would have taken more pictures. I am sorry, I was having such a great time and learning so much that I neglected to take photos.

 At the bottom of the post, please check out some of the links I have included for you to look at.  Additionally, I will be posting a lot of new great reviews of products from companies that I wouldn't have otherwise known about, had I not gone to the Expo.

I also met some amazing bloggers! One that I have followed for years and one that I now am excited to read! Please check out these two awesome blogs:

Stephanie- I read her all the time when she was SkinnyJeans! She was so kind and I was very excited to meet her. I love it when readers come up to me and she was very personable. Please check out her latest blog.

Ken-Ken was so nice and he is GF. He is your go to guy for sustainable living the GF way!


While I was at the GFXCon, I happened to catch three speakers. I saw Dan Maakastad, Sous Chef from Nourish, Kirstin Carey, Owner of Nourish and Dr. Kyle Collins from Upper Cervical. Each speaker brought something very interesting and unique to the table. Dan talked about Grain Free cooking, Kristin talked about how to travel without having to worry about getting sick and Dr. Collins spoke about Eliminating toxins.

The Expo made me very hungry! So before I made my journey home, I ventured to Nourish and ordered a meal to go. 

Teriyaki Wild Rice Bowl with ground beef added. Delish! Also, I love the blackboard quote they have displayed.

I had a marvelous time. I cannot THANK everyone that made this event possible enough. I cannot wait for the next one. I was in the best mood all day because of it. I loved the GFXCon!
Every vendor there was great, please check out these websites because I think that they are amazing:

• Celicas Disease Foundation-East Valley Chapter
• I am Fine (Skin Care)
• Gluten Free Country Store
• New Planet Beer
• Treehouse Bakery
• Sprouts
• Lady Of Moore

Better Late Than Never... Stephanie's Birthday Lunch at Nourish!

Blogger has been having issues...so, I have been wanting to post these photos but I have been unable to.


These are from Stephanie's Birthday Lunch at Nourish!

Have you guys seen her cutie baby?

He makes me want to ovulate daily! He is so adorable! My bff is the BEST MOMMY EVER!

Lunch was fabulous! I loved it, I love Stephanie and her family. I adore Nourish. I have been there a few times before. I wrote about my first time, here. This time I ate the Italian Sub.

It was so delicious. Melissa is obsessed with the dressing they use on their sweet potato fries, she even bought some to take home!

It was wonderful to celebrate Stephanie's party. I love her! I think I made that pretty clear on my Ode to her a few posts back! Happy B-Day again!

Jason's Deli

Remember that time I asked you to vote to have GF food served at Jason's Deli back in 2010? Well, enough gluties did and Jason's Deli has been serving GF bread for a long while now. I have been a slacker and have not been able to try their sandwiches...whoops way to slack off!

The other day I was out and about town with Jacob, shopping for Stephanie's birthday gift (it is tomorrow , so make sure to show her blog some love!) and I drove past Jason's. Jacob loves sandwiches and I had a feeling he was hungry so I decided we should stop in. 

I am having issues with the photos I took on my camera phone ( I just signed up for mobile blogging,so I am going to try to send the photos on the blog in a few minutes to post those), sorry!

Anyway, Jacob loved the lunch he ate, he ate a non-gf grilled cheese with fruit. I ate a club sandwich on GF Bread with fruit. Jacob ate most of my fruit. I love that he loves fruit so much.

Jason's uses UDI'S bread, so that is great. However, always ask proper questions about cross contamination! The Jason's I went to was careful to prepare mine in a clean area but they don't have a designated toaster (remember my rant about "toaster sex" ) so I didn't get mine toasted.

It was a very delicious lunch and Jacob and I had a great time. It is great having the option to go out and grab a sandwich if I want. Thank you Jason's Deli!


I am so happy they added a GF MENU!

SPROUTS GLUTEN FREE JUBILEE GOING ON NOW !

Run to Sprouts because their amazing GF Jubilee is going on now until 1/19/2011! Happy shopping my wonderful readers!

Lucy's Chocolate Chip Cookies

I found these at Starbucks. They do not have milk, eggs, peanuts, or tree nuts! They also have organic ingredients and they are also vegan...I am sold. I got them after a long day out with Jacob when I failed to pack for a hunger emergency for myself (he is always well prepared, I am sometimes not!) so I gave in and purchased these. They were pretty good. They are not going to be my go to snack but they did the job and kept me satisfied. Plus, it is nice to know that if I am in a bind, I have options at a mainstream place like Starbucks!

The Stats:
Servings Per Package : 1.3
Calories: 130
Total Fat: 5
Total Carbs: 20
Sugar: 12 grams
Protein: 2

An Open Letter to Sprinkles Cupcakes from A Gluten Free Foodie!

Dear Sprinkles Cupcakes,

Thank you for making a gluten free option! When I heard that you carried red velvet cupcakes, I started to salivate. When a person is gluten free, simple pleasures like picking up a dozen cupcakes at a local bakery becomes a big deal. You are helping me regain some normalcy and that is priceless. Not to mention, that you are the creme de' la creme of cupcakes...and I would know, I am a self confessed cupcake addict. Your cream cheese frosting was the best I have ever had. I do not know how I will tell myself that these are to be reserved as "special treats".

As a member of the gluten free community, I applaud you for meeting our high standards! I was so pleased to see the cupcakes were not in the same case as the other cupcakes and they packaged them separately for me. I just hope that one day you expand your gluten free cupcake flavors so I can try more of your amazing tastes.

Sincerely,

The Gluten Free Glutton-
Michelle B

Fresh & Easy is making it EASY!

I received an email from Sallie over at Fresh & Easy letting me know that today Fresh & Easy was going to launch a few more gluten free items onto their shelves! They are also going to make those products easy to find with new labeling:
Now you can now print out a gluten free shopping guide to take with you to the store, here! Make sure that you go to your local Fresh and Easy to see these changes for yourself! How exciting, I love it when the world becomes more gluten free friendly!

Gelato 64!

(Originally posted on the Endless Possibilities Blog on 8/28/08)

My mom called me while she was on her way home from work. She wanted to know if after dinner I wanted to go to my favorite Asian market to get some rice noodles. I did, so I was getting Jacob ready to go while she made the commute home. We ate dinner and went to LeeLee's market.

While we were there, I wanted to pick up some miso soup since I had enjoyed some when I went out with Jared the last two times we had Sushi. Both, times I had gotten sick but I thought it wasn't related, since I am always vomiting. I looked at the ingredients and there was something in the soup with the name gluten..something. I don't remember the exact name. I just searched the web and it said that a lot of pre-made miso soups are not gluten free, so that may be why I got sick after eating it. Anyways, if you cant eat gluten, don't eat miso soup unless you know for sure what is in it!

LeeLee's is right next to my favorite places to get gelato. I love Gelato 64. It is yummy and they have my favorite flavor, hazelnut. I also love amaretto, which they have too. It was getting late, but I decided to make an exception and keep Jacob out past his bedtime. I don't take him for ice cream often and he was being so cute. Here are some pics from our outing:

With gelato on his face:


My mom feeding him :