Raleigh Trader Joe's Update - Opens 10/30/09

I first wrote about Raleigh's first Trader Joe's location last December. Tons of delays have happened since then but it looks like the official opening of the store will occur on October 30th, 2009.

Check out the New Raleigh article here.

FYI - The average Trader Joe's carries hundreds of Gluten Free products which will provide another grocery option which is never a bad thing.

Information
Trader Joe's Grocery Store
3080 Wake Forest Road (Wake Forest Road & I-440)
Raleigh, NC 27609
Trading Hours: 9 am -9 pm

Whole Foods Gluten Free Product Listing Update

Earlier this summer, Whole Foods removed their Gluten Free product listing while they did an extensive review. Good news, as of August 7th, 2009, the Gluten Free product listing is back and is 15 pages long! Click here for the Raleigh Store listing.

FYI - the Gluten Free - Casein Free, Wheat Free and Diary Free listings are still offline. I'll let you know when they are back.

Check out the Whole Foods Special Diet page for the Raleigh store here.

Grocery Store Review: Earth Fare

I've previously written about the grocery store Earth Fare numerous times. I've teamed with Kristi Kanzig (Earth Fare's marketing genius - check out her events here) on two occasions to host Gluten Free cooking classes with Celiac expert and author; Jules Shepard. I've also written before about some other Gluten Free classes conducted in Earth Fare's community room. Below is my full Grocery review for this awesome Gluten Free resource.

About Earth Fare
Earth Fare is a healthy foods supermarket which began in Asheville, North Carolina in 1975. An expansion, which began in the late 1990's, has brought the grocery store to Greenville and Columbia, South Carolina, Greensboro, Boone, Charlotte and Raleigh, North Carolina, Athens and Augusta, Georgia, and Knoxville and Johnson City, Tennessee. Earth Fare states on it's Web site the following about the products it chooses to carry -

We sell foods as close to the ground as it gets. Products with these ingredients/processes WILL NOT BE SOLD at Earth Fare :

• NO hydrogenated or partially- hydrogenated oils added trans-fats
• NO high fructose corn syrup
• NO artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners & preservatives
• NO antibiotics, synthetic growth hormones or animal by-products in the feed (fresh meats & milk)
• NO bleached or bromated flour
• NO irradiated single source spices, produce or meat
• NO animal by-products in pet foods
• NO inhumane treatment of the animals providing us with dairy, meat and eggs
  

Gluten Free Products
You can tell that Earth Fare takes a lot of pride in the products they carry by reading the above statement. In addition to that, Earth Fare also makes it easy for gluten intolerant customers to find foods they can stomach – pun intended. With thousands of gluten-free items to choose from and clearly marked “gluten-free sets” within the store, shoppers don’t have to guess about where to find gluten-free products anymore. These clearly marked "gluten free sets" are basically wood faced shelves. Earth Fare does mix in Gluten Free items with their Gluten full items throughout the store. If you are looking for GF cereal, head to the normal cereal isle and look for the wood shelves and well marked Gluten Free signage. They also have a very extensive frozen food section as well. Stop in to the customer service desk upon your arrival and ask for a "Living Gluten Free" brochure. It provides some more detail as to the brands they carry which are GF. Way too many to list here. I couldn't find this brochure on their Web site, so I scanned a copy I picked up the other day. Check with the store for the latest version.

To sum up - Pretty much any Gluten Free item you have seen or tried before (along with many you have not) is available at Earth Fare. Each time I visit, I'm pleasantly surprised to see new items. The folks at Earth Fare are great to work with and care about you as a Gluten Free consumer. Did I mention the thousands of Gluten Free items they carry?

Information
Earth Fare - Brierdale Shopping Center
10341 Moncreiffe Rd.
Raleigh, NC 27617

Phone: (919) 433-1390
Email
Web site

Store Hours:
Monday - Sunday 9am to 9pm


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Raleigh Trader Joe's Update

I've written about the much delayed Raleigh Trader Joe's grocery store before back in December, it now appears that the store will indeed have a 2009 opening - sometime this fall.

The Raleigh Trader Joe's store has officially broken ground and is currently under construction at the corner of Six Forks and Wake Forest in Raleigh. According to this article from the News & Observer's Sue Stock, the store will open in the October time frame.

FYI - The average Trader Joe's carries hundreds of Gluten Free products which will provide another grocery option which is never a bad thing.

Grocery Store Review: Harmony Farms

I recently had the pleasure of spending some time at Harmony Farms Natural Food Store in North Raleigh. Harmony Farms is not only a wonderful little neighborhood grocery but also a complete "Natural Wellness Partner that will work with you while we journey together on your Natural Wellness Path". Harmony is also Raleigh's only 100% Organic Produce store. The best thing about Harmony Farms is their customer service - a friendly environment in which the store representatives are truly helpful and knowledgeable.

Harmony Farms also stocks a HUGE selection of Gluten Free items. In fact, they dedicate an entire wall in the store just for GF items. On a recent visit, I was like a kid in a candy store. They had pretty much EVERY Gluten Free product I have heard of plus a bunch more that I had not heard of. I honestly tried really hard to come up with something that they were missing from their GF selection and couldn't. They have all kinds of items including frozen foods as well as GF suppliments and beauty products.

Here are some of the manufacturers they carry as seen on their Gluten Free page...
Arrowhead Mills, Barbara’s Organic Bakery, Blue Diamond Crackers, Bobs Red Mill, De Boles, Eco Fish, Edward and Sons, Ener G Foods, Food For Life, Garden of Eatin’, Gillian’s, Glenny’s, Gluten-Free Pantry, Glutino, Heartland’s Finest, Ian’s Natural Foods, Imagine Orginic Foods, Jennie’s Macaroons, Kinnikinnick, Lundberg Organic, Mr. Krisper’s, Namaste Foods, Nature’s Path, Newman’s Own Organics, Orgran, Pacific Organic Foods, Pamela’ Producsts, Sun Flour Baking Company, The Buffalo Guys, Tinkyada Rice Pasta.

Impressive huh! Not to mention that they can pretty much get ahold of any GF product out there - all you have to do is ask. A very special thank you to Gineve Yannessa- Marketing & Community Relations/Natural Lifestyle Consultant at Harmony Farms. She took me through a tour of the store's GF items and is on the Gluten Free Diet herself due to Gluten Intolerance.

Information
Harmony Farms Natural Food Store
North Raleigh
5653 Creedmoor Rd
Raleigh , NC 27615
919-782-0064
Email

Web site

Store Hours:
Monday – Friday: 10am – 8pm
Saturday: 10am – 7pm
Sunday: 1pm – 6pm

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Grocery Store Review: Lowes Foods

Every once in awhile, I will stop into a Lowes Foods grocery store. The location in Knightdale is close to my house and they always carry RedBridge (even though I usually grab the last 6 pack). Honestly, I do not usually go there to do my Gluten Free shopping. From my experience, it seems like they tend to mix Gluten Free items in with all the other non-GF items which makes things harder to find. I much prefer an organization (like Kroger, Whole Foods or Harmony Farms) which keeps Gluten Free items all in one area by themselves.

Regardless, Lowes Foods (like any other grocery) has their own brands of food items called Lowes Foods Brand or Full Circle Brand. Both have numerous Gluten Free items and this information is posted on Lowes Foods Web site.

Lowes Foods Brand Gluten Free List (Updated July 22nd, 2008)

Full Circle Gluten Free List (Updated July 22nd, 2008)

More information from their Web site...

The Gluten Free lists are subject to change thus we recommend that whenever shopping for gluten free foods, our customers carefully read the ingredient label and allergen statement on all packages and wrappers every time they shop.

For further assistance, our customers may contact Lowes Foods Corporate Nutritionist, Cindy Silver, MS, RD, LDN at cindynutrition@lowesfoods.com or 1-800-311-2117. Also please visit our company Web site at www.lowesfoods.com. To access nutrition education information and healthy recipes, simply click on Food & Nutrition at the top of the homepage and then select…visit our nutritionist.

Lowes Foods is a North Carolina grocery that has been around since the 1950s. They currently have over 100 stores in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia including about 20 in the Raleigh area. I plan on working with the folks at Lowes Foods (including their nutritionist) this year on their Gluten Free offerings and location of these products in their stores. More to come!

Click here to locate the Lowes Foods location nearest you.

Raleigh Trader Joe's Update

The Raleigh Trader Joe's store is currently under construction at the corner of Six Forks and Wake Forest in Raleigh. I have been informed that the store has a tentative opening date of late Spring 2009 (May/June). I will let you know more as soon as I find out.

FYI - The average Trader Joe's carries hundreds of Gluten Free products which will provide another grocery option which is never a bad thing.

Grocery Store Review: Kroger

I actually do most of my GF shopping at the Kroger which is right around the corner from my house. Whole Foods is about 20 minutes away (without any traffic) on the other side of town and the new Trader Joe's is not open in Raleigh yet (more to come on this).

Anyway, not sure if all area Kroger have the same selection of GF items as the one by me, but I am very pleased with what my local Kroger offers. I have an easy time finding cereal, pasta, frozen foods, soups, crackers, cookie/brownie/bread mix/pizza mix, frozen and fresh bread, waffles, power bars, cookies and much more in the Nature's Market section.

In addition, in the last few months, numerous Gluten Free signs have gone up beside the product price labels on store shelves. This really makes the item pop out at you when you are hunting through the other organic/non-GF items in the Nature's Market section (FYI - I always still read the ingredients!).

Here are a couple Web sites with more information.
Healthy Living page
Kroger Private Labels Product page
Gluten Store Guide page

Useful Resources: Triumph Dining's Gluten Free Grocery Guide

I recently received a copy of the latest Triumph Dining The Essential Gluten Free Grocery Guide for my review from Ross Cohen, the President of Triumph Dining. I had seen their 1st edition and was already considering purchasing the 2nd edition when it became available.

Triumph Dining was founded in 2005 by Mr. Cohen and originally published GF Dining Cards (translated to 10 languages) for people to take to restaurants to help get a GF meal. In just 3 years time, Triumph has blossomed into a full fledged publishing company and added publications like The Essential Gluten-Free Restaurant Guide (updated annually) and The Essential Gluten-Free Grocery Guide (also updated annually). In that time frame, the company has sold over 40,000 copies of their products. They also offer a newsletter available via email and also write information on a Blog.

The Grocery Guide
The 2nd Edition Grocery Guide is a 230+ page book which features nearly twice as many Gluten Free products as the 1st Edition. The guide has 30,000 products covered and includes over 1,000 brand name products. The Guide is smaller than the size of a sheet of paper and can easily be taken along with you to the grocery store. We all know that navigating a typical grocery store (usually has over 40,000) products can be a daunting task. My first trip after going Gluten Free cost me about 3 hours. The experience is better now but a guide can be very helpful. Personally, I use the guide to make notes on the grocery list (before I leave the house) about which brands I should look out for while shopping. Like if bacon is on the list, I would make a small note beside that item on my list for Oscar Meyer.

The Guide starts out with a Easy Reference Table of Contents which clearly shows which page in the guide has more information about the particular type of product you are looking to buy. Looking for Sour Cream, check out page 37... Taco Shells - page 110. You get the idea. You can then just flip to that page and find more details about the brands that make the GF product you are looking for.

Some products in the details section have little symbols beside them. The symbols let you know if the product is made in a facility with GF lines, equipment, environment of facilities or if testing is done to determine the level of gluten. There are also symbols to let you know if Cross-Contamination is a possible issue. Some products are also more closely reviewed by Triumph staff to determine the gluten content of the ingredients.

Next comes an eight-page section with general tips for grocery shopping, an overview of Food Labeling Laws and a helpful reminder about the limitations of the guide (always read the label before you put the product in your cart).

The last section is the meat of the guide which features over 200 pages of detailed information about GF products. The categories are as follows: Dairy & Eggs, Beverages, Baking Aisle, Canned & Pre-packaged goods, Packaged Sides, Meals & Meal Helpers, Condiments, Sauces & Dressings, Cereal & Bread, Snacks & Convenience Foods, Baby Food & Formula, Frozen Foods and finally Meats.

Click here to purchase your Grocery Guide for about $20. Triumph also offers a money back guarantee if you are not happy with your purchase.

Useful Resources: Amazon.com Gluten Free Grocery

Amazon.com is currently in beta release of their new online Grocery store. The concept is to offer non-perishable grocery items for delivery right to your house. They are currently offering around 22,000 items with about 1800 of them being Gluten Free. This is great news for those of us who would rather buy our Gluten Free items online than in the grocery store. The link to the Gluten Free Grocery Store is right on the front page and very easy to find (nice job Amazon).

Here are some of the categories of GF items they offer

• Baking Supplies
• Beverages
• Breads
• Breakfast Foods
• Coffee, Tea & Cocoa
• Condiments, Sauces & Spreads
• Desserts & Pastries
• Herbs, Spices & Seasonings
• Boxed Meals & Side Dishes
• Meats
• Pasta & Grains
• Snacks, Cookies & Candy
• Soups, Stews & Stocks

Amazon.com also has some pretty cool features like Your Shopping List and Subscribe & Save. Your Shopping List makes it easier to locate and keep track of items you are considering or plan to purchase routinely. Subscribe & Save allows you to save 15% off their prices, setup a routine delivery schedule (which you can change at any time) and free shipping on every order!

Click here to visit Amazon's Grocery Store Web site.

As always, please let us know if you are already using this service and what you think of it!

Reminder: Whole Foods Coupon Expires Today!

Just a friendly reminder that the Whole Foods $5 off $25 coupon I posted about earlier expires today!

So click the link below, print out your coupon and go buy a couple 6-packs of RedBridge! Yikes, I just did the math and a case of RedBridge costs $32 before tax - argh.

WF Coupon

Whole Foods Coupon

Here is something you don't see very often! Keep 'em coming Whole Foods!

See below for a $5 off coupon (must spend at least $25).
The coupon is valid from October 15 - October 22.

http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/products/wholedeal/index.php

Twins Kitchen Update - Harmony Farms

I spotted these 2 items on the Twins Kitchen Blog...

Starting tomorrow, October 7, Harmony Farms will be selling some of our baked goods as well as allow for you to order larger quantities from an order sheet they will have in the store. Harmony Farms is a natural health food store located at the intersection of Creedmoor and Millbrook in Raleigh, NC. Please stop by and see what they have to offer.

And

We now offer soy, casein, and corn free products, in addition to the gluten, egg, dairy, and peanut free options. We also offer low glycemic sugar options, which we use stevia or agave nectar to sweetener our products. We try to always use natural sugars, although some recipes do work best with other sugars, such as pure maple syrup, brown rice syrup, local black strap molasses, or raw sugar. Please remember to come by every Saturday to see what new options we have baked up for your enjoyment at the North Hills Farmers Market. The North Hills Farmers market will be open till November 22. Stay tuned for more information on the holiday market. As the holiday season is approaching, Twins Kitchen will be providing gift baskets that will be great for holiday parties for your work, friends, or family. More on this to come!

Check out their Blog and Web site.

Check out my other Posts about Twins Kitchen here.

Whole Foods North Raleigh?

I, like many of you, shop at Whole Foods for many Gluten Free items. I plan on doing a grocery store review in the near future which will include much more information about where to find GF items at Raleigh's grocery stores. The Raleigh Whole Foods located on Wade Avenue is not really all that convenient for me and pretty much every time I shop there I have to wait in line to go down the GF isle. Once I get down the isle, most of the items are picked over.

This summer, it was rumored that Whole Foods was looking to open a new store in North Raleigh. It seems that a neighborhood group has organized to try to make sure these plans are a reality. If you would like to join this group and support Whole Foods opening a second Raleigh store please see the following website for more information - http://www.bringwholefoods.com/index.html

On a side note, anyone else refer to Whole Foods as Whole Paycheck?