Kroger-New Products

On a recent trip to the Kroger on Roxboro Road I was happy to see some new gluten free products in their Nature's Market section of the store. They had a wide variety of French Meadow Bakery products. I have written in an earlier post about how Kroger is a great place to find many products. Click here to review previous posts about Kroger. I had tried the French Meadow line of rolls and wraps but had a hard time finding them locally. Kroger had a nice display of many of their products. I tried a blueberry muffin and a loaf of their multi-grain bread. One slice of this bread provides 3 grams of fiber! Both were very good. To examine more specifics about the French Meadow line of gluten free baked goods click here.

Kroger
5116 N Roxboro Road
Durham, NC 27704
919-471-6263

Jules Shepard Gluten Free Thanksgiving Cooking Class @ Earth Fare

I've written numerous times about Celiac expert and Gluten Free cooking guru Jules Shepard before on Gluten Free Raleigh. Jules currently resides in Baltimore but has North Carolina ties and stops in for a visit every few months. Each time she stops in we are very lucky! I have had the pleasure of organizing 2 previous cooking classes with Jules (February & July) and she stopped by for another one in August. I have great news to report, Jules will again be back in Raleigh, this time for a timely Gluten Free Thanksgiving themed cooking demonstration. Thanksgiving can be like navigating a Gluten minefield, this class will be the perfect way to have a great GF feast.

See below for more information. I encourage you to sign up soon as space is limited and Jules' classes are in very high demand. As always, portion of the proceeds will go toward Celiac Disease research.

GF Thanksgiving With Jules Shepard
Earth Fare Raleigh
Sunday Nov. 15, 2-4:30pm

Jules Shepard returns to Earth Fare Raleigh to get us all ready for a delicious gluten-free Thanksgiving! Come experience firsthand how knowledgeable, entertaining and encouraging North Carolina native and gluten-free cooking expert Jules Shepard can be, at this in-person demonstration with the focus on Thanksgiving! Learn how simple it can be to prepare amazing gluten-free meals everyone in your family will enjoy this holiday season.

Dishes like gluten-free and dairy-free homemade casseroles, pie crusts, pumpkin pie, dinner rolls and stuffing! Sample a wide variety of goodies, ask questions and have Jules sign one of her two books at this limited-space class. Reservations are on a first-come, first-served basis.

As a special bonus, registrants in this Thanksgiving class will each get Jules' brand new 34 page Thanksgiving E-book full of recipes and tips for a great holiday (a $12.95 value)! See you there!

Class Fee is $40 (a portion of this registration fee will be donated to the University of Maryland Center for Celiac Research)

To register, visit JulesGlutenFree.com or call (433-1390)/visit Earth Fare.

Halloween Treats

With Halloween just a few days away I wanted to direct readers to a wonderful resource compiled by Cheryl Harris, RD who is another Gluten Free dietitian like me. She lives and works in Virginia. Cheryl has a very informative website and her Gluten Free Candy List entitled "Rock"tober 2009 is 22 pages of updated information on tons of treats. You can access her website here and the direct link to the candy list here. Well Done Cheryl!

Blue Corn Cafe, Restaurant Review

I had an awesome dining out experience the other evening at Blue Corn Cafe, located on Ninth Street in Durham. Blue Corn is owned by husband and wife team: Danielle Martini-Rios and Antonio Rios, the same owners of Tosca. See my earlier post on Tosca here. Blue Corn Cafe offers Latin American foods in a casual atmosphere. There are several options that work in a gluten free diet. Our server, Nala, was extremely knowledgeable and willing to accommodate my GF needs. In fact she just about new what questions I would ask, before I asked them. She assured me that the chips are made on site and prepared in a designated fryer. She made several recommendations on menu selections. Although my first choice was salmon, (which they ran out of that evening) I settled for Vegetarian Fajitas with rice and black beans. She offered to bring me corn tortillas instead of flour but I chose just to mix the veggies with my rice. The service, gluten free options and quality of food was excellent. I would recommend you try Blue Corn Cafe.


Phone: 919-286-9600
Directions:
Located on Ninth Street right near the University

From I-40, take Durham Freeway North, Exit #14 (Swift Ave.), turn right; 1st light - left on Main Street; next light - right on Ninth Street-1/2 block on the right.

Hours:
Mon - Thurs 11:30 to 9:00
Fri & Sat 11:30 to 9:30

Gluten Free Week at Camp Kanata-2010

Registration has opened for campers to sign up for Camp Kanata's Gluten Free Week. The 2010 camp week will be June 27-July 3 and "Olympics" will be the theme for the week. This camp is one of two guided by the Gluten Intolerance Group of North America (GIG) and is located in Wake Forest, NC. The Philosophy of the GIG camp is stated as:

GIG believes that kids following a gluten-free lifestyle need to learn to be kids in the real world. Therefore we operate GIG Kids Camps as a part of the mainstream camping programs. As a mainstream camp we are able to get to know every GIG Camper by name and better meet their needs because our total number of campers is less than the dedicated camp. To read more about camp from GIG click here.

This will be my fourth year as the Dietitian overseeing GF week and Camp Kanata! It is a great week for both volunteers and campers. To read my previous post about camp click here. Camp Kanata will have an information table at the Gluten Free Fair at Raleigh Whole Foods on Saturday, October 17th. Stop by to ask me questions or talk with other volunteers.

Note: camp usually fills very quickly. In past years most slots are full by the end of January. To register go to the Camp Kanata web site.

Gluten Free Fast Food Guide

Wendy, who writes the Gluten Free Greenie blog in Durham, has posted a very helpful tool to her site. She has taken the time to compile 17 pages of information from various fast food restaurants including: Arby's, Boston Market, Camille's Sidewalk Cafe, Chick-fil-A, Fire House Subs, Panera Bread, and several others. She has put the document on Scribd. I was able to download the document once I signed up for a free account with Scribd. To access the resource click here. This is a valuable reference to keep in your car, so you have gluten free information on hand when you need it! As always ingredients can change so if you have any questions ASK and make sure you are using the most updated information for each restaurant. Thank you Wendy for sharing this with the gluten free community!

Vita, Restaurant Review

I've found a Durham Restaurant that offers several gluten free options, delicious food and an affordable price: Vita Restaurant Although they do not have a special gluten free menu several offerings work in a gluten free diet. They have salads and the fillings of several sandwiches would make a nice meal. Some sandwiches fillings that could be served as an entree include: ground sirloin burger, portabella mushroom, flank steak, chicken salad. Unfortunately they do not offer gluten free pizza or pasta but I enjoyed a serving of their "Eggplant Parmigiana della Melanzana" which was made from eggplant, mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce. Average price for a lunch item is $7.00 and $9.00 for a dinner entree. Our server was very helpful and happy to answer all my questions. If I am going to an Italian restaurant during a non-busy time I will often bring my own gluten free pasta along and ask if they would prepare it for me, (always noting the importance of a separate pot to boil the noodles and the need for a clean colander). Many Italian sauces are naturally gluten free. I hope to try this when I return to Vita for another meal. Vita offers indoor and outdoor dining. Reservations are recommended for large parties of 6 or more and take out ordering is available.

Located in Erwin Square next to Parizade Cafe at
2200 West Main Street
Durham, NC 27702
919-286-9755

Hours:
M-Th: 11:00-10:00
F-S: 11:00-11:00
Sun: closed
Bar open until 2:00