Gluten Free Hour On QVC

Not sure if you saw this or not, but the home shopping giant QVC had it's first hour long show dedicated entirely to gluten free products today. The show featured many gluten free products ranging from baked goods to crab cakes to cookbooks to snacks to ribs from Shane's Rib Shack.

Some facts I picked up on are below.
-more than 1500 of the cookbooks sold at $20 each according to the counter at the bottom of the screen.
-nearly 22,000 Boomi bars sold in a few minute segment (a sell out).
-over 7,000 crab cakes sold at about $7 a pop.

Overall, this was a pretty interesting show and featured some good tidbits and facts about Celiac and gluten free living.  QVC said they did the show due to high customer demand.  Anyone order?  I must admit that this is the longest I've ever watched a home shopping channel.  Has gluten free officially gone mainstream?

Gluten Free Cooking Class - March 24th @ Whole Foods Wade Ave

Cooking With Gluten Free Grains, with Jean Wright, Certified Health Coach

6:30 - 8:00 pm $5, Pre-Register

Are you looking for inspiration on ways to jazz up a gluten free diet, or just looking for new and delicious ideas to add more ancient grains to your menu?  Then this is the right class for you!  Join us for an intriguing workshop with Jean, where we’ll learn about the wide variety of gluten free grains available here at Whole Foods Market, how they are so good for you, and what to do with them.  She will discuss tips on selection, storage, and preparation of grains.  Jean will also share some recipes that are simple and delicious, and family-friendly, too! As an added treat, we will get to sample a yummy recipe at the end of class.

If you are moving toward cooking more gluten free meals, then you won’t want to miss this educational and delicious experience!

Jean, AADP Board Certified Health Coach and Speaker, is the founder and director of Health From Inside Out, a successful health coaching company located in Raleigh. She works with clients who are looking for balance in their lives, who want to explore new foods, gain confidence in their own cooking skills, reduce stress levels, and experience renewed vitality. To learn more, please visit  www.healthfrominsideout.com

Fraudulent NC Gluten Free Baker Update - Criminal Trial Begins March 28th

All Gluten Free and Celiac eyes will be on Raleigh very soon as the criminal trial against Paul Seelig, former owner/operator of Great Specialty Products, is scheduled to begin on March 28th, 2011.  If you are not familiar with the situation, please read the following posts for all the juicy details and history.  At a high level, the state of North Carolina has charged Mr. Seelig on at least 25 felony counts of Obtaining Property via False Pretenses arising from his fraudulent sales of fake Gluten Free baked goods to Raleigh area consumers in late 2009/early 2010.  Mr. Seelig has been charged with purchasing regular wheat baked goods and repackaging and reselling those goods as Gluten Free.  He has been jailed (in lieu of $1.5 million bail) on those charges since June 2010 while awaiting trial.

North Raleigh Celiac Support Group Meeting

Just a friendly reminder about this month's Greater North Raleigh Celiac Support Group meeting. The meeting is Thursday, March17th at 7pm at Rex Hospital, Private Dining Room, located in the rear of the cafeteria.  Member Thomas Munn, will talk to us about his newest flour and bread mixes.

Check your calendars for our April 21st meeting.  We will be touring Whole Foods Gluten Free Bakehouse in  Morrisville.  Lee Tobin has the tour scheduled for 6:30PM - 8:30PM and will need to know the number attending in early April.

Please email Pat Berger to request more information about the group or if you are interested in attending this month's meeting.

You can also check out the Support Group's Yahoo Web page here.

Trying To Locate....

If you see your name in the list below, please email me as soon as you can.

Sonya and Frank McRoy
Ashlyn Bradshaw
The Palmer Family
K J and Liz Hill
Charles Cox
Salina Russel
Sheila McVeigh
Kelcey Beech

Whole Foods Market North Raleigh Location Opens Wednesday 3/16/2011

Attention all Whole Foods Market fans in Raleigh... A much needed second (and larger) location which has been in the works for nearly ten years will finally open on Wednesday, March 16th, 2011.  I've been following this story since September 2008 when a neighborhood grassroots effort began the process of attracting the grocery chain to North Raleigh.  The store officially broke ground in February 2010 and is now ready to open.  The new store is located at 8710 Six Forks Road near the intersection of Six Forks and Strickland just south of the I-540 Outer Loop.

Gluten Free Raleigh Goes Mobile

The formatting around reading Gluten Free Raleigh on a mobile device has been an issue for me since getting my first smart phone nearly two years ago.  The entire blog loads into that little window and you must pinch & zoom just right to be able to see anything.  Unfortunately, the Blogger software behind this blog has not been very nice to those of you (including me) viewing GFR on a mobile device.  According to my Google Analytics for GFR, that's about 5% of my total pageviews so far for 2011.  Well, that has recently changed and I've been able to update GFR to use a new feature in Blogger to show a better format when browsing mobile.  See the picture for a preview or browse the blog from your smartphone now to see for yourself.  Hope this helps.

Sad Day For Raleigh Gluten Free Consumers: Rosie's Plate Closing Today

In some very sad news, Rosie's Plate will be closing today after serving Raleigh Gluten Free consumers since 2008. Rosie's Plate was a pillar of the Gluten Free community here in Raleigh and this move takes us back several steps.  See letter below from owner Rose Waring.  Thanks for all you've done over the last several years and best wishes.

March 4, 2011

Dear Friends,

It is with a heavy heart that I tell you that Rosie's Plate will be closing today. For a number of personal reasons Emily and I have both decided that it's time to move on.

From students at Duke University to patients, visitors and employees at Rex Hospital and all the families in between celebrating birthdays and other special occasions Emily and I, and our wonderful staff, are so gratified to have the opportunity to help so many people.

Five years ago when we concepted Rosie's Plate there weren't many options for people on gluten free diets and even less for those that live with multiple food allergies but today as I look around I see many more choices. So, as I turn off the lights I feel a little better knowing that those with restricted diets are in a much better place today with an abundance of options out there.

We thank you for letting us into your homes these past few years and wish you good health and many, many wonderful meals ahead!

Take care,
Rose Waring