Phoenix Gluten Free Expo

I went to the Expo today. The man didn't want to go, which worked out for me because I could chat and go in whatever direction I wanted and not worry about his boredom or whatever. Here's who/what I saw:

Tito's vodka: the guy was nice and confirmed it is made from corn, no yeast in the process. No, they weren't giving out samples. :(

My awesome cute friend at Celiac and the Beast gave me Red apple Lipstick samples and Erewhon cereal coupons.

Tonto is a restaurant in Cave Creek. It was the first sample I found I could eat: CAKE! Several other restaurants were represented. My favorite restaurant Nourish was there; unfortunately they weren't giving samples! Sauce was giving out samples of salad premixed with cheese so I skipped them. I talked to the lady at old spaghetti factory and found out they cook with soybean oil so that is off my list. The White Chocolate Grill and Tryst Cafe have gluten free menus.

This was an unexpected find. Way Better makes a chip that is flavored and doesn't have any yeast product. I'm pretty sure this is the very first one I have seen. And they are pretty good--more like corn chips than potato chips though.

Wei of Chocolate is no longer at the farmer's market so I've been concerned about my stash running out. When I saw them, I made a beeline and bought my favorites and a sampler bag. It was my first time using my credit card with one of those phone gadgets. They email your receipt right away; it's pretty cool.

Namaste makes the pizza crust mix I can have so I was excited to see them. They have a bunch of coating mixes. Now, I'm not saying you couldn't do this yourself, but I work full time, have a very full social life, have crappy unpredictable health, and am responsible for any healthy eating in my house, so I look for weeknight shortcuts. These are like awesome versions of Shake and Bake but with more uses. Yep, I bought some. Also available at Whole Foods and Sprouts.

This company was giving out bouillon samples. I didn't get a good photo of the back but it says no active yeast and then lists torula yeast in the ingredients. Huh. I got a sample but I don't think I'm going to use it.

Melaleuca sells all kinds of stuff direct. They had lotion that appeared safe in addition to all kinds of personal care products.

I talked to a guy at Kinnickinick, a really popular booth giving out bagels and donuts. He said they need at least one or the other, eggs or yeast for any baked product. SOL.

I was at the Sauce Goddess booth with another multi-allergy person and I think we overwhelmed the poor lady working there. She had spice mixes and sauces. The sauces had soy--boo--but the spice mixes didn't. However, they were mixed with sour cream and the samples were given on crackers. No and no. She ended up opening new containers and pouring a little in my hand. I only wanted to taste the one she gave me last and by then my mouth was all funky from the others. I'm having some trouble buying spice mixes (especially expensive ones at Whole Foods) when I know how to make spice mixes.

I had to fight through the Sprouts line (going around 3 sides of the room) to get to Mama Rose's teas and soup/meal mixes. The tea sample was good. I was able to eat 2 of the 3 soup samples too. They were fantastic. I bought several. They are available at AJs currently. I skipped the ridiculous Sprouts line. They were giving out full size samples of many products so it's worthwhile for other people, but I looked and only saw a couple of things I knew I could have and mostly things I knew I couldn't and maybe one or two that I'd have to look at to determine. Best product they were giving out: Clif's Kits Organic chocolate coconut almond bars. LOVE those.

Udi's was in a separate booth giving out snack bars but only had the chocolate chip ones that have soy. The lady showed me the box for the cranberry ones and they look like I could have them. [I had one later and they are like oatmeal bars--pretty good.]

There were several pasta tables. The worst was giving samples. I asked about how he was cooking it. After I had the bite, I realized it was a fresh pasta and I had missed asking a question about ingredients. I'm dreading the egg. Damn.

The other pasta table was Hodgson Mills, giving coupons and 4 in one measuring spoons. NICE!

I got some gummy fruit that is marketed to kids.

I bought a subscription to Delight Magazine and got a free back issue. (I've already looked through it and can use maybe 10 recipes.

I previously bought a Chebe bread mix at Sunflower market but never got around to making it (fear of failure) so I almost skipped their table. But I saw a mix for cinnamon rolls--yeast free cinnamon rolls. Really? The price on the mixes was very good so I bought a few different ones to try. Really, I'm going to try!

Arbonne had a couple of ladies there so I ordered a "refill" on my eyeliner. I've tried some other gluten-free ones but they don't compare to the Clinique eyeliner I used to use. I don't really like the pencils that you have to sharpen. These twist out of the container and stay soft. Love.

I saw some cool stuff at Rhonda's Cooking and chatted with them. I got the cookbook "So, What Can I Eat Now?" They also had that motto on their T-shirts--so cute. I got some goodies along with it and felt like I will probably be seeing more of Rhonda.

I saw Jewel's Cupcakes giving out samples. Celiac and the Beast loves them so I checked it out. I couldn't have the samples but they had 2 cookies in stock that were safe for me so I bought one of each. [The oatmeal raisin was good but I'm not really an oatmeal raisin cookie kind of girl; the snickerdoodle was very good, not Chino Bandido good but no one is, so it was very good.]

I also ran into a lady I used to work with years ago. Apparently she has had Celiac for years. I had no idea, which makes me wonder if she was eating differently and I didn't notice or she wasn't eating differently. (We didn't work closely together.)

I thought it was a worthwhile trip but exhausting.