Gluten Free Raleigh Betty Crocker Giveaway Winner

Three weeks ago I announced the first Gluten Free Raleigh Product Giveaway Contest which featured the brand new Gluten Free baking mixes from Betty Crocker. To win, you needed to sign up for my email listing and be a Raleigh area resident. A whopping 75 people have signed up for the email subscriptions during this time! This has been a pretty successful method to gather contestants so I'll probably do this in the future as well.

Our lucky winner is email subscriber jaynspencer! Congrats! Hope you enjoy the 4 baking mixes from Betty Crocker. We made cupcakes last night and they were yummy!

Stay tuned for more prize giveaways in the future and a huge thanks to the folks at MyBlogSpark.com for making this giveaway possible.

FYI - things have been extremely busy for me lately but I hope to pick back up with some more great Gluten Free Raleigh stuff next week. Hope you are enjoying your summer (and the nightly thunderstorms).

In Case You Missed It: Another Jules Shepard Gluten Free Cooking Class

FYI - In case you missed the Gluten Free cooking demo with Jules Shepard on July 12 at Earth Fare, here is your chance for another class. Jules will be back in Raleigh on Saturday, August 1st, 2009 at Earth Fare in Brier Creek. The 2 1/2 hour cooking class will begin at 11am and will be followed by a guided tour of Earth Fare's 1,000+ GF items. See below for more details.

Stop by Saturday, August 1st from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. for Gluten Free Day at Earth Fare.

The demonstration will feature baked good items utilizing her own GF flour mix – a product line called Jules Gluten Free All Purpose flour and baking mixes. This portion of the event will feature an interactive opportunity to learn Gluten Free cooking tips and tricks from an expert in the field.

The class will be $35 per person and will include the following:
*Class fee includes the following: 2 1/2 hour cooking demonstration, free CD-Rom of Jules' new ebook, “Jules' Top 10 Recipes” ($10 value) and a $5 donation to the University of Maryland Celiac Disease Research Center.

Registration is due Tues, July 28 . You can register by visiting Earth Fare to pick up your tickets or by visiting http://www.JulesGlutenFree.com.

Unfortunately, due to an extremely busy schedule, the Gluten Free Raleigh blog will not be able to participate or organize this event. Jules and Kristi from Earth Fare are getting this one done without me this time. A special thanks to them for making this class happen again for those who wanted to attend but could not during the July class. This is the third class with Jules at Earth Fare this year - we are so lucky to have Jules visit so often and provide this service.

Click here for more information. You must register at Earth Fare (not this blog) by July 28th!

Check out some comments below from participants of the July 12th class

Excellent!! Valid gluten free information from Jules and the best tasting GF food I've tasted since my diagnosis 10 years ago. Thank you.

I don't think anything else could have been better. I learned so much. If I did not attend I never would have known about Jules' cook book (I bought two) or her wonderful flour. Thank you.

This was my first time to attend anything gluten free, and luckily it was with Jules!

I felt it was very informative. Jules seemed so interested and helpful.

Jules is great. Our first event for anything GF - our son was just diagnosed. Jules was knowledgeable and approachable. Just great!

Extremely satisfied. Thrilled. I was just sorry they ran out of Jules GF flour to purchase.

I thought it was perfect as it was. I think my daughter would have loved if all of us could bake at the same time.

Dear Abby Says "Invite People With Food Allergies Over Less"

Check out this post from the BeFreeForMe Blog about Dear Abby's recent advice to a lady who has a friend with a food allergy. Her advice is to offer her friend a salad (yummy) or invite her over less often for dinner!

Dear Abby is the most widely syndicated newspaper columnist in the world, whose column is published in about 1,400 newspapers worldwide, and has a daily readership of more than 110 million people. Let me take a wild guess - Abby doesn't have a food allergy.

Petition To Bring Back GF Cake @ Starbucks

Check out this online petition (already signed by over 1,000 people) started by the Triumph Dining Blog for Starbucks to bring back their recently decommissioned Gluten Free Orange Valencia Cake.

Raleigh CSA Support Group 7-16-09 Meeting Recap

Special thanks to Gail for taking meeting minutes during the last North Raleigh Celiac Support Group meeting on 7-16-2009. Below is a recap for those of you that could not make the meeting.

North Raleigh Celiac Support Group
CSA Chapter 108
July 16, 2009 7:00-9:00 PM
Whole Foods Gluten-Free Bakehouse, Morrisville North Carolina

“We Take Gluten Free Seriously” says the Whole Foods Market Gluten Free Bakehouse brochure. Our support group was treated to something seriously special at the Bakehouse. The welcoming staff escorted small groups all around their facility while explaining how the product lines are produced. The bakers are dedicated to strict allergen control and testing in their on-site testing lab to produce dozens of delicious G-F baked goods that are fresh, wholesome, and safe to eat.

After touring the facility, Lee Tobin, the Bakehouse Team Leader, welcomed us to very generous tastings of their products. Lee related the story of how he was challenged with Celiac Disease himself in 1996 and began experimenting with gluten-free baking. He developed successful recipes that sold extremely well for the customers in the Chapel Hill Whole Foods store. In order to keep up with the ever increasing demand over many stores, in October 2004 Lee was able to begin baking at a totally new and separate dedicated GF facility. A complete list of all their products is available online at www.wholefoodsmarket.com/products/gluten-free.php

Pat Berger provided a questionable ingredients handout for those who may not have gotten one at the last meeting.

Group member Mark LeSaint introduced his new project of Celiac Support Business Cards to share with the medical community in our area. It is hoped that this will be a resource to enable newly diagnosed celiacs learn about our support group in a more timely manner. Mark is looking for additional input from members and physician information. His email is mark.lesaint@gmail.com.

We will resume with celiac questions and group discussions when meetings begin after the summer break. The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, September 17, 2009 in the private dining room at Rex Hospital.

Submitted by,
Gail Harris

Rosie's Plate Pizza Party Today

Stop by Rosie's Plate in Downtown Raleigh today (7/17) for a pizza party!

The event runs from 5pm - 7pm and will feature free pizza tastings and a great discount if you buy a pizza to take home!

Check out my previous review of Rosie's Plate pizza here.

ENJOY!

Starbucks Update: Bye Bye Gluten Free Orange Cake?

I've been hearing rumors about this but have now found 2 trusted sources writing about the fact that Starbucks has discontinued their only GF food option (Orange Cake). This has only been in stores since May 1st!

Check out Nancy Lapid's About.com Celiac blog here.
Check out Atlanta's Gluten Free Examiner blog here.

I'm not sure how to react, I've tried the cake a few times and thought it was pretty tasty. I was excited yesterday when I received an email from KIND that their KIND bars (gluten free and dairy free) were going to be carried in Starbucks nation-wide. I didn't realize at the time, it was a replacement for the Orange cakes. I was not able to find an official press release from Starbucks about either announcement - I guess it was announced via Twitter. I've had KIND bars before and liked them but they are not anything like a nice muffin/cake that I would prefer to have with my coffee.

Check out the message from KIND below.

Dear Friends of KIND,
When we launched KIND Snacks five years ago, our goal was to create a great tasting, all-natural, real food bar made from wholesome ingredients you could see and pronounce™. We didn't know KIND would quickly become the fastest-growing line of bars in the United States. Since founding KIND, we have always focused on our philosophy of rejecting false compromises. Instead of "or", we say "and": healthy and tasty, convenient and wholesome, socially responsible and economically successful.

Thanks to your support and that of all who have raved about KIND to friends and family, I'm very proud to announce that our award-winning KIND Bars are now available at over 7,000 Starbucks stores nationwide. We're honored and excited to work with Starbucks and all it stands for - unrelenting commitment to taste, quality, and community, and it's new initiative to introduce healthier, natural offerings under the banner: "Real Food. Simply Delicious."

We hope you will try one of our delicious bars the next time you are at Starbucks: Fruit & Nut Delight, Cranberry Almond + Antioxidants and Mango Macadamia + Calcium. All of the bars make a perfect pairing with a Starbucks coffee, and on that note, we're thrilled to add one more "and" to our list: Starbucks and KIND.

Warmest,
Daniel Lubetzky
CEO and Founder, KIND Snacks

What are your thoughts?

Gluten Free Raleigh Fundraising Summary

Many of you have been very gracious and participated in one or more of Gluten Free Raleigh's past fund raising events. Just wanted to point you all to a new summary on the right side bar where I will keep track of the good we have done for the Celiac community. Hopefully this will continue to grow!

Thanks for your participation now and in the future!

Fund raising Summary - As of July 15, 2009
1) Jules Shepard Gluten Free Cooking Class - 7/12/2009
$300 donated to the University of Maryland Center for Celiac Research

2) Gluten Free Raleigh Run/Walk Fundraiser - 6/13/2009
$915 donated to Gluten Free Week @ Camp Kanata (GIG sponsored camp in Wake Forest)

3) Jules Shepard Gluten Free Cooking Class - 2/28/2009
$100 donated to the University of Maryland Center for Celiac Research
$400 donated to the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness (NFCA)

Grand Total = $1,715

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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Gluten Free Raleigh Dispatch: 7-13-2009

Gluten Free Raleigh Dispatch: 7-13-2009

• More info on the latest Celiac Study from the Mayo Clinic which details a dramatic increase in the number of Celiac cases versus 50 years ago. Reuters | NY Times | About.com's Celiac Disease blog | Celiac.com | Savvy Celiac
  
• The Super Allergy Girl has a new cookbook (405 pages) of recipes (gluten-free, casein-free, dairy-free, egg-free, peanut and tree-nut free and other allergen-free) and also has offered up a new travel tip video and tip sheet at her Web site. PRWeb
• Nancy Lapid's About.com blog article on Celiac Disease See's Candy Company and their Gluten Free product list. See's doesn't have any NC locations but you can purchase their products online . Nancy also has a larger Gluten Free Candy list here.
• Introducing Celiac-Disease.com version 3. Kyle does a great job covering Celiac Disease and the Gluten Free Diet. If you are not reading this Web site, you should be.
• Celiac.com article linking Autism and Celiac Disease. A new study shows that if mom has an auto-immune disease (like Celiac), the child is 3 times more likely to be Autistic.
  
• The Gluten Free Hub has an article about personal care products from Clinique that are Gluten Free.
• Survey results from Savvy Celiac around the FDA's proposed 20 PPM Gluten Free food labeling law. Interesting stuff here - I'm a little confused about the folks who say it must be 0 PPM - there is no testing available for this (lowest I've seen is 5 PPM) so how is the FDA supposed to regulate?