Beth, myself and the rest of the Gluten Free & Allergen Free Wellness Event gang returned to our homes from Austin a couple weeks ago. I had only been to Houston for events and had always wanted to visit the Lone Star State jewel of a city. Austin is well known for good music, lots of great Tex-Mex food, and we must not forget golf. But there is a deep undercurrent of progressive thoughts and culture that beats strong in their food.
We were joined by Pam Jordan, the best Blogger Coordinator/Speaker/Cookbook Author I have ever worked with! She also did an excellent job of putting together some great videos for her contribution to My Life Without Food Allergies. Please take a look at them and see for yourself.
My favorite pic of Pam, she is on the far left grinning
from behind her vendor booth in Raleigh, NC
The night before the Austin GF/AF Event, we all met at Garrido's downtown. This restaurant is well known for having local, seasonal, and fresh Mexican inspired dishes. Their seafood is out of this world yummy and their menu items can easily be gluten free in most cases. The staff was knowledgeable and one blogger shared that she didn't get sick with such excitement that it made my heart melt.
Blogger dinner sponsored by Andrea and Jay from Red Apple Lipstick
And I am officially in love with Red Apple Lipstick, Rallye Balm, & eye colors! Andrea, thank you!!
Seared Salmon with a Mint Sauce, Roasted Brussel Sprouts and Quinoa at Garrido's
FACT: It does snow and sleet in Texas
Well, I remember looking at the weather forecast once someone commented on the Facebook page, but I had no idea that we were about to get an Arctic blast felt once every 10 years. Austin was spared, but the upper half of the Lone Star State was covered in it. The morning of the event it was 30 degrees! The wind is something not to fight with in Texas either. When it gets windy and cold, it's bitter. And Texans just don't deal with it as well as some of us from the Northern half of the US.
Even so, we had wonderful people travel in from Dallas, Corpus Christi, Galveston, and Houston. No one was in an accident that we know of, thank goodness. Everyone filed in with eager faces and smiles. They came to hear informational speakers and share in warming up with some New Planet Beer, Tito's Vodka Kombucha Punch, Leprechaun Cider and Gatti's Pizza made by Smart Flour Foods. They also had hot food at My Fit Foods booth, with Lemon Pepper Chicken and Brown Rice with veggies and a Say CheezZ warm cheesy brazillian bite to go with it. Green Plate Foods is always a favorite for us when in Texas as well.
The snack foods like Veronica's Health Crunch, Boundless Nutrition, Bakery On Main & Kind Healthy Snacks (Dark Chocolate & Sea Salt, need I say more?) were full of goodness and showed the growing trend in people taking an interest in healthier alternatives to sugar laden gluten free foods.
Our favorite sponsors were there as well, Udi's/Glutino with Udi's new peanut butter(yum), Enjoy Life Foods bars, Kinnikinnick cookies (chocolate fudge cream, need I say more?). Delight Gluten Free Magazine had a great booth and we got to try the new Australian Noosa yoghurt!
However, everyone deserves a treat! Better Bites Bakery fooled people into thinking their treats were not filled with healthier organic and natural ingredients, As did Ebenezer Foods, Freedom Foods, Namaste Foods, & Little Herds...Little Herds had some interesting chocolate chip cookies going on , made with roasted cricket flour? Yes you read that right!
Little Herds is a charity organization whose mission is to educate the population in America on the more sustainable protein source of insects and the growing trend of people trying Entomophagy (the eating of insects) as a dietary novelty that may just be the best thing to happen to our environment, but not the cattle farming industry.
Nothing is funnier than reading Tweets that say, "I just ate a cricket and washed it down with some Tito's Vodka #BOSS"
On left Roasted Crickets and on right cookies made with their milled flour
How did we become the first GF/AF Event in the country to offer cricket cookies to our attendees? Because we're just that crazy about education!
To back that claim, we invited the founder of Gluten Free School herself, Jennifer Fugo, as our keynote speaker. And we are so glad we did! I just love Jennifer and love her passion! Her no nonsense approach to helping those in need of easy and cost effective gluten free dietary regimes was highly motivational.
Thanks for sharing your big warm heart Austin, Texas!
We'll see you all next year :)
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