Living Without's Gluten Free Food Allergy Fest: Portland Oregon 2014

I was so honored to be included on the blogging team for Living Without's trip to Portland. It was such an incredible weekend filled with tons of tasty gluten free samples, awesome new products and companies, educational demos and lectures, and everything gluten free you could imagine. Head over to Living Without Magazine to find an expo near you. 

This was Living Without's first expo in Portland and it was beyond amazing! Tons of companies joined in, some of my favorites and of course my new favorites! My top two of the weekend are both Portland based companies that deserve national recognition. Julie's Original and New Cascadia Bakery, thank you for creating some of the tastiest gluten free goods i've ever had. 

Julie, a professional baker for years like many had to cut out gluten. So instead of crumbling like a cookie, she created these incredible and super easy bake mixes. They are Gluten Free, Egg Free, Dairy Free, Nut Free and Soy Free. We all can win using these. Not only can we bake like Julie but we can also cook like her as she has a series of mouth watering cookbooks out. All allergy friendly and easy to cook recipes. Check out Julie's Originals to stock your pantry with some fudge brownie mix! 

New Cascadia is one of Portland's best Dedicated Gluten Free Bakeries. I survive off their everything bagels and honey gold sandwich bread. It is definitely worth a trip to Portland just to try their baked goods. Every time I try something new from them I order 5 more. They have a variety of bagels, breads, and sweet treats all incredible, tasty, and gluten free.  Visit New Cascadia at 1700 SE 6th Ave, Portland Oregon 97214. 

RP's Pasta is one of the best around. Pasta is a hard one for gluten free folks. Most comes out gooey or hard but it's never the right texture... Until RP's Pasta. It is p.a.s.t.a. 

Love me some Brazi Bites. They are soft, cheesy, fluffy, and everything bread lovers need. 

Harvester Brewing (Now Groundbreaker Brewing) is a 100% gluten free brewery here in Portland. They have brewed some of the tastiest gluten free beers around. Squash Ale? Beer made with Lentils? You guys gotta try it. They offer shipping so if you don't live in Portland you can still get your hands on some of these brews. They also have a restaurant attached to the brewery that is filled with tasty gluten free food that you can pair with your choice of beer. I'll meet you there! 

As always, I love seeing Enjoy Life at these expos. They are like the ultimate top 8 allergen free company. Full of flavor, free of allergens, you can't beat that. I stocked up on my favorite SunButter Bars and Plentils, the perfect snacks for just about anything.

King Arthur Flour joined the fun this year. Fluffy pancakes, flakey topped brownies, bendable bread, they have some of the best baking mixes around. 

The lovely Kyra Bussanich from Kyra's Bake Shop! So excited for the upcoming months because Kyra's Bake Shop is expanding! There's a new location in Lake Oswego Oregon just about to open up. I've gotten a sneak peak and guys... it's pink, still 100% gluten free, and with tons of new menu items. They will now be offering lunch! I can't wait to have a panini on Kyra's house made bread, followed by, well of course, a gluten free cinnamon roll. 

The hilarious Erica Dermer from Celiac and the Beast! She is making huge strides for the gluten free community. If you haven't read her book, you need to! 

Check out some of the other tasty companies and i'll see you at the next expo!

Barnana: New Flavors!

I met Barnana back during the first annual Gluten Free Oktoberfest and became hooked. These little nuggets of tastiness are gluten free, vegan, non-gmo, and organic. The best part of Barnana is they are packed with flavor, potassium, and give you all the benefits of raw bananas. 

Barnana introduced two delicious new flavors, Organic Coconut and Organic Peanut Butter. These happiness inducing snacks blew my mind! The peanut butter made me do a happy dance and although I am not a huge coconut lover, I inhaled that bag as well. I love finding products to share with you all, and this one is not to be missed. All of the original Barnana flavors are incredibly delicious too. Head over to Barnana to find out some more information and where you can get your hands on a bag... or 6

Living Without's Gluten Free Food Allergy Fest

I am so very excited to announce that I will be part of the official blogger team for this years Living Without's Gluten Free Food Allergy Fest here in Portland Oregon! It is going to be an amazing event packed with tons of gluten free samples and snacks, expert chefs to help ya out, bloggers and authors galore, and tons of allergy free fun. All my girls will be coming from around the country (Erica Dermer from www.celiacandthebeast.com, Kyra Bussanich from www.kyrasbakeshop.com, Mary Fran Wiley from www.frannycakes.com, Brandy Wendler, Miss Alaska and Celiac Advocate, Allison Needham from www.agirldefloured.com, and K.C. Pomering from www.gfreefoodie.com) We are all beyond excited to spend the weekend spreading the gluten free love. I have two free tickets to give out so look for a giveaway on my social medias. Make sure to head over to http://www.glutenfreefoodallergyfest.com for all of the info! I can't wait to see you there!

Roasted Poblano White Bean Dip

I love me some poblanos. Roasting them is my favorite way to cook them and it makes your house smell amazing! This dip is super easy to make and only takes a few ingredients. Be patient and roast your poblanos, it is so worth it. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
-1 Poblano Pepper, Roasted and Peeled 
          *How to roast peppers in an oven
-1 Can (15oz) Cannellini beans (Or other white bean), Rinsed and Drained
-2 TBSP Fresh lemon juice, About 1/2 Large Lemon
1 Clove Garlic, chunks
2 TBSP Olive Oil
2 TBSP Cold Water, more if needed. 
1/2 TSP Pink Sea Salt

Add all ingredients to a food processor and blend until desired consistency! Easy as dip!
Pair with some persian cucumbers or your favorite Gluten Free Cracker (Like Crunchmaster, pictured above) 

Bloggin' Break.

As most of you know, I moved to Portland Oregon about 6 months ago. I visited the PNW during a road trip and I fell in love with this gluten free filled city. I had to move here. I packed my car and headed up the west coast to start this amazing new journey. The past few months have been crazy, the best kind of crazy. I still drive around and catch myself smiling at the fact that I live here. Getting settled hasn't been an easy feat. Job searching, friend searching, life searching... It's been my main focus and my blog has taken a back seat and for that I am sorry. Don't worry, there has been tons of gluten free cooking, eating, and sharing going on. I am back and I can't wait to share some of the new recipes i've created and all of the incredible gluten free food that Portland has to offer.  Thank you everyone for your support and love! 
XO
-Annie

Here's what I have been up to the past few months. Cooking in my new tiny apartment dancing around to Otis Redding, working at World Foods Everett, cuddling with Stella Bean, exploring Portland and trying as many gluten free restaurants as possible. It's been incredible. 

Kyra's Bake Shop

Kyra's Bake Shop is by far the most magical place on earth. Located in Lake Oswego Oregon, Kyra Bussanich, a 3-time Cupcake Wars Winner, opened up a 100% gluten free bakery for all of us to enjoy. I stopped by on my road trip in June and fell in love. I have dreamed of their insanely tasty baked goods since. Now I live in Portland Oregon, dangerously close to Kyra's Bake Shop... This is what happened next..

Everything Bagels! 

The hardest part of going gluten free for me was saying goodbye to everything bagels. Growing up, we always had bagels in our house. Fresh, everything bagels toasted with cream cheese. I'm a simple gal and that's all I need in life. Kyra has created the most delicious gluten free and vegan everything bagels. They are soft and chewy, and not the least bit crumbly. It's incredible. One of the best gluten free bagels out there. They have bagel Thursdays,Doughnut Fridays, and daily specials at the Bake shop. You can check out their menu and their daily menu too!

There is a reason Kyra won the Food Network's Cupcake Wars 3 times. They have the most delicious, moist, flavorful, and creative cupcakes around. Let's be honest, I walked out of there with a box full of treats. I ate the Cupcake Wars winning cupcake The Caramallow Fluff Cupcake (Chocolate cake dipped in dark chocolate ganache, rolled in handmade caramel corn, topped with marshmallow fluff marscapone whipped cream) Is this heaven? Did I also mention I was building Ikea furniture at the same time? The cupcake made it all okay and happy, I didn't even cry from ikea frustration. (photo below) 

Have you gotten your copy of Sweet Cravings yet? It features the Cupcake Wars Winning recipe for African Yam Cupcakes and other award winning recipes. Tons of amazing recipes from cookies, cakes, breads, pies, tarts, brownies, cobblers, crisps, puddings, pretty much anything you can dream of. You can also purchase dry mixes which are easy to use and come out tasting like you are a pro-baker. The snickerdoodle cake mix is my favorite one but all of the varieties are delicious. You can even get baked goods shipped directly to your house. Make sure you visit Kyra's Bake Shop next time you are in Oregon, I'll see you there. 

Kyra's Bake Shop 

460 5th Street

Lake Oswego, OR 97034

info@kyrasbakeshop.com

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Have you followed Annie's Gluten Free Grub on Instagram? It's my favorite one of my social medias because you can see my gluten free experiments, restaurant and bakery finds, messes in the kitchen, favorite GF products, a whole lot of selfies, cat pictures, and other pointless things. Anniesgfgrub on instagram! xo

GFAF Expo 2014: San Francisco

The Gluten Free Allergen Free Expos never cease to amaze me. I am always honored & thrilled to be in a room filled with so many amazing people in the GF world & of course the tastiest of GF foods.  There were so many great new companies this year and tons of our current favorites too. I am excited to share with you some of the great products from this weekend that actually taste good & the awesome companies & people behind them. Thank you to everyone, especially my GF family (& new additions to the family) for making this expo weekend so wonderful. From adventures with my main girl, Pica Pica Maize kitchen, expo wandering, made to order ice cream with liquid nitrogen, it was a weekend for the books...or blog
(Cake by Zest Bakery, San Carlos California) 

So let's get started on this expo journey; A two day gluten free adventure in the bay area. It's always fun to go through my photos and decide which two products were my favorite of the weekend. This time it was a no-brainer.

Bread Srsly. I love you. 
Gluten Free Sourdough Bread. Let's take a moment. 

I was lucky enough to connect with the wonderful Sadie behind Bread Srsly a few months ago through social media, so when I found out I get to hang out with Bread Srsly (and by that I mean Sadie, and the bread) all weekend at the expo I was excited. Guys, she makes Gluten Free Sourdough bread. I can't emphasize that enough. It really is true. Not only that, but they come in a variety of flavors including kale sourdough, apricot fennel, original, whole grain chai, and a few others that rotate weekly.

The sourdough is amazing. It's taste and texture is spot on. Sadie also makes some other little treats like Molasses cookies and sourdough rolls. Head over to Bread Srsly and get yourself some incredible gluten free bread. Plus it's free of dairy, egg, soy, nut, potato, tapioca, and garbanzo. A million thumbs up. 

What is better than a company with a cause? How about a tasty company with a cause. These bars are awesome, for more than one reason. They are gluten free, vegan, all-natural, non-gmo, they taste great and they have a simple and dedicated goal "Buy a bar, feed a hungry child" Read about their mission here. It truly is amazing and they have an incredible team behind this company fighting to help end childhood hunger.  

Head over to their website to read all about the incredible things they do and how to get your hands on some of these delicious bars. Thank you 2 degrees!

Chebe has been one of my favorite bread mixes around. They are super easy to make, 100% gluten free, gmo free, and tastes great. They have a ton of varieties of mixes, savory and sweet in the form of dry mixes as well as frozen doughs. Head over to Chebe to find out where you can find Chebe products. 

One of my favorite summertime, or anytime in San Diego activities was having a picnic. So the idea of a gluten free picnic wrapped up and ready to go is awesome. GoPicnic ready to eat meals have a ton of gluten free options that you can choose from. They are perfect for gluten free traveling as we know it can be tricky.  They come with perfect little portion size snacks, all shelf stable, no transfat, no added msg, and gluten free. (They also have other combinations that are not gluten free, so make sure to check. They are clearly marked gluten free, here's there GF products page) The best part about it, they all come with a little sweet treat.

One of the biggest gluten free tragedies was finding out Soy Sauce had gluten in it. That was the moment of fear for me."Gluten is hiding in everything" Thankfully, I found San J products. San- J has been one of my favorite staple companies from the start for me. My fridge is usually fully loaded with Tamari and my personal favorite, Thai Peanut Sauce. They have a huge list of gluten free sauces, marinades, dressings, and products like rice crackers and soup mixes. Not only that but they have my personal favorite of little to-go packets. They make things a lot easier than carrying a bottle of San-J Tamari in my purse for sushi. 

Let's be honest, every time I try and roast pumpkin seeds during halloween I burn them. Call me crazy, but burned pumpkin seeds aren't super tasty so pumpkin seeds never were on my radar. Meet Super Seedz. The best dang pumpkin seeds ever. They come in a ton of flavors sweet and savory. They are gluten free, vegan, have no cholesterol, no transfat, and are a perfect snack for on the go. Check em out! Super Seedz 

"Tak for Mad" means Thanks for the Food! These danish inspired crackers are truly delicious and addictive. They are hand made in small batches using the best organic, locally sourced and of course gluten free ingredients. Check out Kettel Krakkers

This magical babe was there! Kyra Bussanich of Kyra's Bake Shop in Lake Oswego, Oregon. She is a 3 time winner of Food Network's Cupcake Wars. I don't make this claim a lot but Kyra by far has created the best gluten free baked goods out there. Lucky for us! She has created cake mixes for us to use at home and an amazing cookbook so we can bake like a cupcake wars champion. Want to hear the coolest thing ever? Kyra is heading out on a gluten free cruise in May where she will be teaching gluten free cooking classes while exploring Alaska HERE is some info, or call 1-800-Sun-Ship for more details. 

Canyon Bakehouse how I love you so. Soft and fresh tasting packaged gluten free bread doesn't seem real, but I assure you, this is real. Canyon Bakehouse has baked up multiple varieties of breads like a good old white bread, cinnamon raisin, focaccia, hamburger buns, and the best sandwich bread for your home. I typically don't buy a lot of bread but when I do, it's always Canyon Bakehouse. Head over to their website to grab a $1.00 off coupon and find out where you can pick up a loaf. 

Ginny Bakes was there to spread the GF organic love! They have some super delicious baking mixes for cookies and muffins and tons of delicious packaged products that are certified gluten free, non-gmo, kosher, organic and vegan. What an amazing line up! Thanks Ginny Bakes! 

My favorite Dallas GFAF Expo find Red Apple Lipstick was there in San Francisco as well! I adore this company and their products. Literally, right now if you opened my purse I have four Red Apple Girls lipsticks. They are the smoothest, most vibrant, long lasting lipsticks. All of their make up in 100% gluten free, paraban free, lead free, animal cruelty free, and gorgeous! Check out their lipgloss above and head over to their site to see all the Red Apple Girl products.

Cheez-it guys! Gluten Free Cheez-its, but even better! They are packed with oats, brown rice, millet, quinoa, amaranth and they are way more tasty. Van's has some great gluten free snacks like these crackers, tasty breakfast bars, and chips. They also have a tons of ways to make breakfast easy and gluten free with cereals, gf waffles, gf french toast sticks. 

I love finding awesome local companies through these expos. Nana Joe's is a San Francisco based company creating some of the tastiest, freshest granola and gluten free treats. They have an online store so you can get them delivered to your door or if you are lucky enough to live in the bay area go check them out at the Farmers Markets! 

Loved getting to see this awesome family farm again! Redwood Hill Farms is a goat dairy farm and creamy in Sonoma County California. They have been a family owned and operated farm since 1968. They pride themselves on being certified humane and taking a natural organic approach to raising their goats. You can taste the difference in their products. I absolutely love their goat kefir and yogurts. Head over to their website to read more about their story and what makes Redwood Hill Farms so special. 

Tera's Whey is an organic whey protein company that is 100% gluten free and it actually tastes good. They make their whey from fresh whey they get from small local cheese farms in Wisconsin. They know where their ingredients come from which means that WE get to know too, and there is nothing better than that! Check out Tera's Whey to find out more.

Did you know that Barilla makes gluten free pasta?! What!? Crazy right, but they do! and it's pretty tasty too! Not only is it 100% gluten free, but they also use non-gmo corn. Thumbs up. They make their gluten free line of pasta in it's own dedicated gluten free facility so no cross contamination from their other pastas. Great expo find, Thanks Barilla! 

Another great expo find this year was Real McCoys rice puffs and rice chips. This family owned company has some of the most flavorful snacks around. 100% gluten free, non-gmo, and some even vegan! The Hatch Chili rice puffs were so addictive! Head over to their Facebook and you can grab a free sample! 

What an incredible expo. Thank you to GFAF Expo for welcoming me to the blogger family again. Thank you to the companies, the guests, the bloggers, authors, and everyone who walked through those doors, YOU RULE.  These companies and the people behind them work so hard for our gluten free community. Thank you all for being so dedicated
All my gluten free love, XO 
-Annie