I can’t even begin to tell you how much fun I had on my trip to Portland and Seattle a few weeks ago – I’ve been trying to tell you via photos and posts though! We went to the Pacific Northwest for the Gluten Intolerance Group Health and Wellness Expo. Although we intended to attend all of the great session, the awesome products got in the way of our educational experience. We only attended two sessions – one on nutrition as a Celiac and the other session that talked about differences between sensitivity, intolerance, and Celiac. But I don’t feel like I’m scientific enough to provide you with an accurate translation of the data presented, so why don’t we just look at some new products and brands?!?
Earth Balance’s Coconut and Peanut spread is Ah-mah-zing. I need this ASAP!
Kind of weird for us to be trying samples of a butter-replacing spread, but it tasted pretty good. Nice dairy-free alternative from Earth Balance.
I had reviewed these garlic pretzels from Ener-G a few months ago, but didn’t publish the review because they’re still working on their packaging. These are a cool new version of their already popular pretzels.
It’s our friend Nadine at Gluten Free RN!
Obviously I love The Gluten Free Bar, I did a review on it a month ago. Hopefully they come out with some new flavors soon. I’m excited about this brand!
The Pure Pantry and their great mixes. I highlighted one of their products in a cookie recipe for a support group meeting.
King Arthur Flour is great – and they had a lot of fans there. You can read my review for their brownies here and pancakes here.
Au Naturel Botanicals were a great team of gals that showcased a lot of great-smelling herbal and botanical products and essential oils. They were also handing out aromatherapy books as well. Everything smelled awesome. I can’t wait to try out some of these products!
Obviously we’re already fans of Way Better Snacks if you didn’t already read my review on them!
Bold Organics is a great dairy-free alternative to typical gluten-free pizzas. Honestly, they weren’t bad! I’m excited to find these pizzas – even though I’m going to have to drive 45 minutes away to the nearest GF grocery store.
Oregon Cracker Company was there to showcase their cheese, vegetable, and multigrain crackers.
Montana Gluten Free showed off a selection of their mixes. I have a bag of their pumpkin mix at home.
Brazilian cheese bread was highlighted a few times in this conference. The first one we sampled was the Paobread. It’s a really interesting cheese bread that I had never had before the expo.
Harvester Brewing uses chestnuts. Yes, chestnuts! And it’s a dedicated facility. Awesome! We had a great time trying all of their samples.
I have a crush on French Meadow Bakery and their frozen chocolate chip cookies. They’re pretty hard to find in Arizona, but they have always been worth it.
I’d love to try more from the WOW Baking Company, as I’ve heard so much about them.
This was…interesting. If anyone knows of a gluten-free jerkey (or jerquee?) that’s not beef, you’ll have to let me know. Not sure I’m ready for soy jerkey.
Although I didn’t do a good job of capturing their smiling faces, since they were mid-sentence (I am not a photographer by nature, I just try to make sure I have record of everywhere I went), this was one of the best-designed booths there. Mama’s Mixin’ Bowl rocks. Everything was beautiful and fit their 50’s/crafting theme. They definitely win for best booth. Their treats were to die for.
Pure Market Express is a new brand out there (at least to me). Their products are gluten-free and dairy-free as well as raw. The desserts were just perfect – frozen dessert singles. But it’s not just dessert, there’s raw entrees, snacks, smoothies, etc. This could be a very interesting up-and-coming company.
A great dedicated bakery out of the northwest. Their bread is gluten-free, dairy-free and soy-free. Fancy Free Bakery is in Kirkland, WA.
I’m sure all of you are familiar with Canyon Bakehouse, but this is my first time trying it out. This focaccia was just brilliant.
Mmmmmm So Delicious. It was…delicious. We loved their chocolate coconut “milk” and all of their frozen desserts. I stayed away from the no-sugar products, as I disliked those products I tried before.
CC Gluten Freed is a great lady and I can’t wait to connect further with her advocacy. Please check her out and become an advocate! Speak up for your Celiac disease!
Another Brazilian cheese bread – this time through Brazil Bites! They were fresh from the oven and cheesy and yummy and spicy!
Glutino, the champion of the gluten-free world, was there to show off all of their products – especially the Genius bread and the bagel bites. Not a very exciting booth for such a strong brand in our universe – I always expect more from them at expos, but they never really do anything creative. C’mon Glutino! We love you!
I’m not a fan of the new nut chips from Blue Diamond, but I do adore the Nut Thins.
Kinnikinnick – we love you! Read my review for their new soft breads here!
Nonuttin‘ is a cool company that I was just introduced to. Their granola with sunflower seeds and blueberries were amazing. I have yet to try their oatmeal, but I can’t wait! Peanut, tree-nut and dairy-free on top of being gluten-free.
I’ve been searching around for Rudi’s gluten-free tortillas for ages. I FINALLY got to try them here at the expo and I was so impressed. Can’t wait to get a hold of all of the flavors!
Zing bars showed off all of their flavors as well as some new product prototypes. Yum!
The coolest thing there – I got to finally become the gluten-free avenger that I know I am!
What did you like best about all the photos posted? What looked most exciting? Anyone else go to the expo and have additional products that I missed out on sharing?
Everything at the Expo looked amazing! Wish i could have gone but i live all the way over in Scotland in the UK
All your photo’s looked great though i didn’t know any of the companies or people showing off their products except for the Genius bread and i still didn’t know about the company that made it, seems Scotland or the UK at least is just behind you guys in all this