Article by Erica Dermer, Celiac and the Beast
As you know, I work with Gluten Free & More Magazine and their sub-brand My Life With Food Allergies. There’s a great team of bloggers on My Life With Food Allergies– and Austin was lucky enough to host 5 of us! Pam from I’m a Celiac, Cindy from Vegetarian Mamma, Kelly from Raising Jack with Celiac, and Chrystal from Gluten-Free Palate.
I can’t even tell you the awesome fun we had in Austin, and I’ll try to tell you all about it in this and multiple posts – but I’m pretty time crunched getting ready for my version of Christmas: Expo West. Here are some products that I think are pretty great that I’d love to be able to feature in the future! Keep your eyes out for this!
Very excited about Bona Dea gluten-free mixes. They are quick and easy (thank God) and whole grain and vegan. I can’t wait to try out their products. I got a few to sample at home. They will also be at Expo West, so you’ll probably see more about this brand soon.
I’m in the midst of reviewing their gluten-free donut mix that they launched last year, but I’m so excited about King Arthur Flour continuing to make amazing gluten-free product mixes for our community. And I really liked seeing their kick-ass bake truck inside the Austin Convention Center. I can’t wait to see it again on the Expo West show floor!
Probably the most mind-blowing thing you’ll see in months is what’s coming from 6Sensor Labs. Their product, NIMA, can easily identify gluten in your food.You heard me. This WILL REVOLUTIONIZE OUR LIVES. And you get to see it all coming true first-hand. From their site, “Every day, people are becoming more aware and more concerned about what hidden things are in the food they’re eating. Our Founders have long struggled with Celiac Disease and various food allergies, and we’re tired of repeatedly wondering if our food is safe to eat…Born out of MIT, our founding team decided to build a company to bring clarity and trust back to the dinner table. With our breakthrough technology, we’re creating a brand new product category that will enable anyone to quickly and discreetly detect minute traces of toxins in their food…Our first product is a portable allergen sensor, allowing you to test your food for gluten before you eat it. Anywhere. At any time.” I adore this, and I adore the co-founders. You’ll see a lot from me about this product coming up…
Lentils and beans are the next big thing for gluten-free pasta. Not only do we get a safe pasta, but we get a HIGH PROTEIN pasta that fills you up without empty carbs. Power Pasta is a great company that has been at a few other GFFAFests and I loved having a hot bowl of pasta for lunch during the expo! You can purchase this product online or at future expos.
I’ll have a future post on my time at the actual Sweet Ritual store, but I was so happy that this Austin-based company was able to make it to the Austin GFFAFest. This is nut-based vegan gluten-free ice cream and it’s pretty damn delicious. While they were only sampling some of the more tame flavors, I can’t wait to tell you about their chai and coffee ice cream flavors on my next post. Drool-worthy!
You know I love my Red Apple Lipstick. I’ve been a super fan of theirs since I was first on the gluten-free scene. If you don’t know why I love them – they have safe makeup for celiacs. But besides that, it’s the best make-up that I’ve ever used. EVER. They have killer lipstick, lip gloss, eye shadow, primer, and mascara. Use code CATB on their site to save on an order of $50 or more (FYI this is an affiliate links so if you click here and order I get a % of sales).
One of the highlights of the day was being able to present on stage with two champions of the gluten-free universe. Jules and Beth Hillson. Both work with Gluten Free and More magazine and I am so proud to be able to be a part of this community with strong leaders like this.
I know that many of you can’t make it out to these shows because there’s not one close to you. Hopefully you will be able to find one close to you this year – check out where we’ll be at GFFAFests. If you can’t make it, i’ve got an AWESOME giveaway just full of stuff from the event. I’m also giving away a second prize full of coupons from the event. Just make sure to follow the terms and conditions of the RAFFLECOPTER below!
