Wisconsin Gluten Free Expo 2010

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Saturday, September 18th, 2010
Lakeland Union High School
9573 State Highway 70
Minocqua, WI 54548

11:00am - 3:00pm


We attended this event last year when it was in Wausau. Great event - well attended by visitors and vendors alike! Looks like this year will be no exception - over 60 vendors.

Take advantage of the pre-register option. It will cut down the wait time to get in.

Good luck Julianne & crew!



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WI GF Food Expo

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ECWGFG's Website will no longer be updated. Any new updates will be found here:






On Oct. 24th, Peg and I went to Wisconsin's Largest Celiac & Food Allergy Expo hosted by Wausau & Northwoods Celiac Support Groups in Rothschild, WI.

Kudos to Jennifer & Julianne for putting together a great expo! I'll have to see how things go, I may volunteer to help next year.

I was glad I followed their recommendation to pre-register! Yes indeed there was a line. It was nice to walk up to the Pre-registration table, check in and then head into the expo.

WIExpoCrowd
Once inside, Holy Cow! I thought the line outside was long! The room was packed. It was like one great big Conga Line all the way around the room.

One of the first things you could smell was deep fried fish, chicken and mushrooms. While that may not seem very exciting to gluten eaters - it's mouth watering to gluten intolerants - specially Wisconsin gluten intolerants.

You see, in Wisconsin, Friday night fish fries are eagerly anticipated and something to look forward to after a long work week. It's hard for non-Wisconsinites to fully comprehend the concept of the Friday Night Fish Fry.


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Dakota Lakes

dakotalakes
The Dakota Lakes company was sampling their Gourmet Coating mix.

Mmmm crispity, crunchity deep fried goodness with a bit of bite.

The good thing is that this mix doesn't have to be used strictly for deep frying. It can be added to burgers, meatballs, mashed potatoes, soups and stews.

Be sure to check out their recipe page.







The Bar - Wausau

thebarlogosmall
In true WI fashion the next table was from The Bar. They were sampling Redbridge Beer and GF pizzas that they serve in their 6 restaurants throughout WI.

It just so happens that The Bar is located right across the street from the exhibition hall - how convenient!

They have a nice selection of food on their GF menu. If you're craving "bar food", I think you'll be able to find it there. They have a dedicated frier for their fries.

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As a matter of fact, we had a late lunch here with a couple of friends that also attend this event. I couldn't resist the fries and had to get a pizza.

To read about my visit to The Bar in Oshkosh, click here.









Julianne Karow's
Celiac Resource Guide - Helping to Navigate Life's Detour


celiacresouceguide
Taking a break from food, Julianne Karow [one of the coordinators of the Expo] was displaying her new book - Celiac Resource Guide - Helping to Navigate Life's Detour.

Since we were in the middle of the Conga Line, I didn't get a detailed look at her book. It's a collection of websites, companies, and other hints & tips for those trying to figure this crazy gluten-free lifestyle. It looked like a nice guide for those just starting out or those needing a compact resource list to carry with them. Julianne does offer a sample page of her book.

In the brief time I did look at the book, I noticed that GlutenFreeAndBeyond.org and Glutenfree.com's Forums were listed in the Online Discussion Forums section. Cool!

For those that may not know, GFAB is a website/fourm I co-founded with a few of friends of mine [Anne, Cara & Kim] that I met early on in my GF journey. Glutenfree.com's Forums is a forum that administrate/moderate for glutenfree.com.



Bard's

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One vendor that was a particularly welcome sight [at least for me] was Bard's and their Bard's Gold Beer. No, I'm not an alcoholic - I'm lucky if I have 1-2 beers a month. Allow me to explain my enthusiasm...

The year was 2005. We attended a Gluten Intolerance Group Annual Conference in Chicago. I got to taste something that I had not had since that cold Red Stripe in hot Jamaican cab in March 2003. It was a Bard's; it was nectar of the gods. Bard's brewery was a young company started by Craig Belser and Kevin Seplowitz - both beer lovers and diagnosed celiacs. They were trying to restore balance in the GF world.

Indeed they did, but WI just had to be out of balance a bit longer. I asked Bard's on and off over the years when they would be coming to Wisconsin. After all, they were in every surrounding state, why not here? I felt it was a conspiracy by some of the larger breweries that were headquartered in Wisconsin - then again - it may have had something to do with the grassy knoll. Oddly enough, it did seem similar to the Margarine restrictions that ended in 1967.

I give the Bard's guys a lot of credit, they don't give up, nor do they forget! In mid-September, I received a response to my February 2009 email. They finally had gotten some distributors to carry their beer in America's Beer Dairyland. The only bad thing is that it wasn't in East Central Wisconsin. No worries, I'd travel to Madison [154 miles round trip] for a Bard's! I found out in October that Bard's is now carried within 20 miles from our house! Here's a PDF of places that carry Bard's.

Special thanks to both Brian's at Bard's for making it possible to get some samples for our support group. GF pizza, chili & beer party is on tap!



General Mills

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General Mills were displaying their line of GF Chex cereals & Betty Crocker baking mixes and passing out recipe packets. I think this is the first time I've seen a big, mainstream company at one these events.

Hopefully General Mills involvement in the gluten-free world will kick start a number of other mainstream food companies to follow suit. It certainly has made it easier for many get gluten-free products in a mainstream grocery store. I do worry about the negative impact it might have on those smaller companies that created similar products years ahead of the mainstream.

Rice Chex was the first cereal to be reformulated in April 2008. Corn, Honey Nut, Chocolate, Cinnamon, Strawberry Chex followed in June 2009.

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Also released in June 2009 were the gluten-free baking mixes of Brownie, Chocolate Chip Cookie, Devil's Food Cake, Yellow Cake.






Gluten Free Trading Company

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The Gluten-free Trading Company is one of the premiere GF stores around - at least in WI. If it's GF, they've probably got it! The owners are no strangers to celiac disease and food issues. It was good to see them again.

When I first went GF 6 years ago, we made a trek to Milwaukee to see them. Back then, they had a really tiny store, but it was stocked with all GF products. Everything was safe to eat!

What impressed me the most during our first visit was their willingness to help us out. We were brand new to being gluten-free - dazed and confused to say the least. The staff spent a huge amount of time taking us around the store showing us products, explaining things all the while.

We decided to purchase some BiAglut pasta and a box of Gluten Free Oats [from WY]. Peg had a chance to make herself some oatmeal with these oats. She prefers them over Bob's Red Mill for taste & texture. BiAglut pasta is my all time favorite, however due to the expense, I only get it on occasion.




Smooze Fruit Ice

smooze
Smooze Fruit Ice is a brand new product for me. I've never seen it anywhere.

What caught my eye was the fact it's made from coconut milk! I know many that avoid dairy, so this would be one more treat to add to their freezer.

We have not tried our samples yet.










Artisana - Organic Coconut Butter

artisanacoconut
Artisana is another company that I've not seen or heard of before. Again, it was the Raw Coconut Butter that caught my eye in their flyer.

They have a whole host of organic nut butters and coconut oil. I did not see any samples of their products, however it was late in the day and they may have run out.












Kettle Cuisine

kettlecuisine
The soups from Kettle Cuisine is another new product for me. I'm generally not wild for store bought soups, but we both liked the Angus Beef Steak with Chili with Beans and Chicken Soup with Rice Noodles.

I would buy a few of these to keep on hand. They are available at several large Wisconsin grocery chains. In East Central WI, that means Festival Foods & Woodmans.

I felt the sodium content was better than many canned soups. You will these soups in the freezer section. Perhaps this is why I've never seen them before.

The have 10 soups - all of them are GF. Six of them are dairy-free.

They are also certified GF by the Gluten Free Certification Organization and test below 5 parts per million of gluten.




WI's Largest Celiac - Food Allergy Expo

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ECWGFG's Website will no longer be updated. Any new updates will be found here:







The Wausau & Northwoods Celiac Support Groups host the 2nd Annual Celiac & Food Allergy Expo.


Attend Wisconsin’s Largest Celiac & Food Allergy Expo. Our goal is to help those within the community gain knowledge, research, and resources while providing opportunities for families with allergies to bond with one another. It is an Expo for the general public, food industry, and health professionals.



When: Saturday Oct. 24th 2009 11:00 am - 3:00 pm
Where: Cedar Creek Mall - The Patriot Center Rothschild, WI
Admission: $1.00 or donations to Toys for Tots & Coats for Kids


Partial list of exhibitors

Against the Grain
Allergoo
Aspirus
Bard’s Beer
Dakota Lakes
EnerG
Enjoy Life
Full Flavor
General Mills
Gluten free trading Co
Kettle Cuisine
Kitchentable bakers
Lbri
Life Beyond Wheat
Lisanatti Foods
Mary’s Gone Crackers
Molly’s GF Bakery
Nonuttin
Old Wisconsin
Pamela’s
Prometheus Labs
Pure Fit
Pure Fun
Saz’s
TH Foods
The Bar
The Silly Yak
Tree of Life
Trig’s
Wild Tree