Gluten Free Fair!

This weekend I had the awesome chance to attend a gluten free fair. To me...this was Mecca!! Walking into the rather small banquet hall, I had my reservations. Those reservations completely vanished when I hit up my 1st booth for a free sample. Chocolate chip cookies? I think yes :) Not only was the food delicious, but the people were wonderful, and for me, I think that was the best part. Because I am so new to the vegan/vegetarian/gluten free/dairy free/nutritionally packed world- I was overwhelmed with the friendly feeling and willingness of others to share their experiences. 1 of my goals at the moment is to learn how to make delicious gluten free, dairy free cupcakes. Luckily, many booths were geared towards just that. Each representative gladly shared with me the types of flours they used, what xanthium gum was, and what tasted best- after sharing my goal with them. At 1 booth, I encountered an older couple who had discovered how to make gluten free bread mixes with almost no loss in taste from a typical gluten filled loaf. I immediately supported their efforts after tasting an amazing buckwheat loaf and I am excited to bake my 1st loaf of bread! I was also able to find some kelp noodles- delicious clear noodles made from sea kelp and high in minerals. They are great in salads- and I will be posting a recipe once I am able to use them :) Hint- chickpeas, hot peppers, and tomatoes go best with just a little olive oil and salt! My favorite part of the day- seeing a fellow School of Integrated Nutrition member- on the main stage, teaching a class of people how to cook! Not only was she confident, cool, and collected, but also inspiring and cooking a wonderfully delicious and nutritious meal. I was able to snap a photo of her in action.



She kicked some serious gluten free butt! I will be sure to share my new food learnings and recipes from this fair here soon and encourage all of you to get out there and try something new! I am so grateful for the experience I had today with the wonderful and supportive community within the nutrition world and I so look forward to my many more experiences with others here on the West Coast who have a love for delicious food and a happy life :)
xoxo AA