Friday, April 30, 2010

North Carolina Governor Declares May Celiac Disease Awareness Month

Media Release

North Carolina Governor Declares May Celiac Disease Awareness Month

• Triangle residents can participate in a gluten-free food drive at various locations or make a monetary donation to help stock the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina
• Bella Monica Italian Restaurant is hosting a six-course gluten-free dinner prepared by Vanessa Maltin, food and lifestyle editor for Delight Gluten-free Magazine
• A top food allergens poster is available for restaurants to download to educate their staff about these items, including gluten

Raleigh, N.C., USA, April 30, 2010 – The Gluten Free Raleigh Blog has announced Governor Beverly Perdue has declared May 2010 “Celiac Disease Awareness Month” in North Carolina. The Gluten Free Raleigh Blog and Pat Berger, leader of the North Raleigh Celiac Sprue Association (CSA) Support Group brought the petition to the Governor’s office regarding the awareness month.

Celiac Disease is a genetic autoimmune disease that affects one in 133 people in the United States. It interferes with the absorption of nutrients from food and can cause gastrointestinal and neurological issues, infertility, skin rashes and cancer. The only treatment for Celiac Disease is lifelong, strict adherence to a gluten-free diet.

“The Governor’s proclamation paves the way to further educate the community on Celiac Disease and helps to create a positive impact on the quality of life for people living with this condition,” said Zach Becker, creator of the Gluten Free Raleigh Blog. “It’s my goal to help raise awareness so those living with this disease can safely eat out at restaurants and have easier access to gluten-free food.”

In an effort to educate, raise awareness and give back to the community, there are a number of gluten-free events scheduled during the month of May.

• A gluten-free food drive will be held on Saturday, May 8 to benefit the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina. Special discounts at the drop off locations may be available in exchange for your donation. Bins are set up in each of these locations to accept the packaged gluten-free non-perishable food items:
o Rosie’s Plate – N. Person St., Raleigh
o Bella Monica Italian Restaurant – Edwards Mill Rd., Raleigh
o ZPizza – Falls of Neuse Rd., Raleigh and Cornerstone Dr., Cary
o Mellow Mushroom – W. Peace St., Raleigh
o Whole Foods Market, Raleigh – Wade Ave., Raleigh
o Earth Fare – Moncreiffe Rd., Raleigh
o Harmony Farms/CafĂ© Harmony – Creedmoor Rd., Raleigh

• A virtual food drive will be held all month to benefit the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina with gluten-free food. The link to donate can be located on the Gluten Free Raleigh Blog.

• On Sunday, May 16, beginning at 5 p.m., Bella Monica Italian Restaurant will host a six-course gluten-free dinner prepared by Vanessa Maltin, food and lifestyle editor for Delight Gluten-free Magazine and Corbett Monica, head chef at Bella Monica Italian Restaurant. They will be preparing dishes from Maltin’s gluten-free cookbook entitled The Gloriously Gluten-Free Cookbook: Spicing Up Life with Italian, Asian and Mexican Recipes. Copies of the cookbook will also be included. Tickets are required for this dining event and can be purchased by calling Bella Monica Italian Restaurant at 919-881-9778.

• The Gluten Free Raleigh Blog worked with Sofia Noble of the design firm This Is Beautiful to create a poster featuring all of the top food allergens, including gluten. This poster is now available for download in English and Spanish at the Gluten Free Raleigh Blog. Wake County restaurant owners may use it to educate their staffs about these foods.

“Research indicates there are approximately three million people living with Celiac Disease in the United States and of those, only about 120,000 have been diagnosed,” said Alice Bast, founder and president of the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness (NFCA). “It’s great to see North Carolina working to raise awareness about this disease so perhaps others can be accurately diagnosed by their doctors. Zach Becker and the entire North Carolina Celiac Disease community should be commended for their leadership and successful advocacy efforts.”


About Gluten Free Raleigh Blog
Zach Becker was diagnosed with Celiac Disease in May 2008. He founded the Gluten Free Raleigh Blog in August 2008 and has created similar blogs across the state. He has recruited writers for these blogs so gluten-free information in those communities can be shared. The blogs contain restaurant and grocery store reviews, summaries of national news as well as highlight local companies that cater to the gluten-free community. Becker is an advocate for those living with Celiac Disease in the Triangle and donates his time to educate the newly diagnosed, local restaurants and government leaders on this condition.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Gluten Free Wine Dinner at Bella Monica


The great thing about living gluten free in Durham is the easy access we have to other resources in the greater triangle area. I have just learned of a Gluten Free Wine Dinner being held at Bella Monica in Raleigh on Sunday May 16th at 5 pm. The event will feature guest chef and cookbook author, Vanessa Maltin and the $50.00 fee includes the dinner and a copy of the book The Gloriously Gluten Free Cookbook. Some of the menu items include: Bruschetta, Pesto Risotto, Chicken Fennel Lasagna, White Chocolate-Mango Cheesecake and more! For more information contact Bella Monica at 919-881-9778.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Finally: Gluten Free Pizza in Durham




As written in earlier posts the Durham Mellow Mushroom has launched their gluten free pizza about a week ago. My family finally had the opportunity to visit the Mellow Mushroom in the American Tobacco District for lunch the other day. How awesome it was for those of us that must follow a GF diet to order pizza along with the non-GF folks in our family! Zach, at GF Raleigh did an extensive post when the Pizza made it to the Raleigh market read here for lots of great details! We enjoyed our pizza. It was thin crust and plenty to serve two people with 2 left over slices (6 slices in all). The flavor was very good. The crust was also good but I would have personally liked the crust a little more crisp. Overall I would recommend trying the pizza. I just want to give a shout out to all those Durhamites that we finally do have a place to go to order gluten free pizza and post a few pictures for your review.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Equipping Dietitians to Serve the Gluten Free Client


I had the opportunity today of speaking at the 77th Annual Meeting and Expo of the North Carolina Dietetic Association (NCDA). This was a 2 1/2 day event that brought 300 dietitians, students and vendors together to share products and evidence based nutrition information with one another. It was encouraging to see an enthusiastic attendance at the break out session "Navigating the Gluten Free Diet with Confidence: Equipping Dietitians to Serve the Gluten Free Client". There were dietitians present from across the state of North Carolina in variety of positions including, clinical hospital settings, school lunch, private practice, and university professors, to name a few.

I would like to say a special thank you to Rosie's Plate for sponsoring my talk at NCDA and for exhibiting information at the conference. I would also like to thank Zach, from GF Raleigh for conducting his informal poll of people's interactions with dietitians in respect to the gluten free diet. These results were shared during my talk.

I am encouraged by the interest in this area and by the availability of gluten free foods in an increasing number of settings.

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Gluten Free Meals for a Week at Rosie's Plate


Need some menu ideas? Help organizing your meals for the week? Then you may be interested in registering for the following class at Rosie's Plate in Raleigh:
Gluten Free Meals
For A Week
Thursday, April 22 7-8:30 pm $50

Gather the inside scoop on preparing a week's worth of healthy meals in one day at this fun class. You'll learn how to plan, cook and store these meals that everyone can enjoy!
Reserve Your Seat
833-0505




Rosie's Plate
701 N. Person Street
Raleigh, NC 27604
919.833.0505
www.RosiesPlate.com

Friday, April 16, 2010

Local Resources Twins at the Durham Farmers Market




Just a reminder that Twin Cakes Bakery will be at the Durham Farmers Market on Saturday and every Saturday. Come out and buy a gluten free goodie and let them know we appreciate the efforts to come to Durham! This Weeks menu includes:

Markets menu:

Carrot cake mini bundt cakes

Coconut lime bundt cakes

Lemon lavender scone

Ginger Pear scone

Orange cranberry scone

Cinnamon blueberry coffee cake

Cinnamon baked donuts

Chocolate Chip Cookie Sandwiches (mint,vanilla, and coconut lime filled)

And more

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Gluten Free Challenge

The Gluten Intolerance Group and Pamela's Products are teaming up together to sponsor the Gluten Free Challenge. You can get more information and sign up to receive a recipe of the day and tip of the day at Go GF Challenge. The event kicks off April 21st with a weekend challenge to non GF folks to join us on the weekend of May 22 to experience the joy and challenge of eating gluten free! The month long event is in honor of Gluten Free Awareness Month in May. In addition to recipes and tips there will also be various prize drawings.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Duke Diabetes Day-April 24,2010

The risk of Celiac Disease is increased in those who have Diabetes. Following a gluten free diabetic diet can be very challenging and extremely important in obtaining optimum health. On April 24, 2010 Duke Diabetes Day will be held at Sherwood Githens Middle School. This is FREE fun filled day geared toward children, young adults and their families who have diabetes. Medical providers are also welcome and CEUs have been applied for. The event runs from 9:30-3:15. Of particular interest to those with Diabetes and Celiac Disease are a few specific topics: Celiac Disease and Diabetes and Gluten Free Diet and Celiac Disease. There is also an option of ordering a gluten free lunch! Prize drawings are planned and ongoing events include: ask the doctor, ask the dietitian, field day, diabetes games, emergency situations, and much more To see the complete itinerary of events click here.
To Register for this event call 919-681-6063 or email peddiabetes@mc.duke.edu. Include name number of attendees, and if you need a gluten free lunch or vegetarian lunch.

Monday, April 5, 2010

Gluten Free Pizza arrives at Durham's Mellow Mushroom


After several weeks of waiting it is true Durham now has gluten free pizza! I first started writing about this back in January. Zach called attention to the breaking news last week in his gluten free Raleigh blog. The company website confirms that Durham, Raleigh and Burlington are the North Carolina test market sites for Mellow Mushroom's new gluten free pizza. And the launch date is Monday April 5th. I know where we are going for dinner!

Note: When I called Mellow Mushroom Saturday evening, the person I spoke with did not seem to know anything about the gluten free pizza option??? You may want to give a call before showing up to order your GF pizza. I will update information as it becomes available.

UPDATE as of Monday April 5th 4:30pm
I did receive an email confirmation from Jason Kemp with marketing at Mellow Mushroom that the GF pizza would be available today. However after speaking with a manager in Durham this afternoon she has stated that the GF pizza will be available to order in a week on MONDAY, APRIL 12; and she also noted they have gluten free beer too!

Mellow Mushroom
410 Blackwell Street
Durham, NC 27701
(919) 680-8500

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Twin Cakes Comes to The Durham Farmers Market


This Saturday Twin Cakes Bakery will debut at the Durham Farmers Market. I can attest to the quality of their gluten free products! They will be at the market from 8:00-12:00 and the following items will be available:
Markets menu:
Carrot cake mini bundt cakes
Lemon Poppy seed bundt cakes
Lemon Blueberry scone
Strawberry Banana coffee cake
Baked chocolate glazed donuts
Mint Chocolate cupcakes
Pizza Crust
*new item - Pizza Rolls
*Frozen Pretzels

** Easter Special: If you spend over $25 you will receive a bag full of Easter Sugar cookies (only while supplies last)

Dry Mixes that will be available this week:
Pancakes
Brownie
Raw Cheez Cracker
Raw Pumpkin Kale Cracker

The weather forcast is great for the weekend! I am headed to the Farmers Market to welcome Twin Cakes Bakery and to stock up on some Easter goodies.