Gluten Free Friday - Gluten and Allergen Free Expo

Last weekend Skylar and I had the opportunity to attend the Gluten & Allergen Free Expo!  We’ve been waiting a long time for this event to come back to Chicago, and it was definitely worth the wait.

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The first thing I noticed was that this expo was PACKED!!!  I’ve never seen so many people at an event like this.  The picture below was just part of one of the 2 rooms they had filled with vendors.

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(Please excuse my mixture of phone and camera pictures!)

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We had a great time going around to all the booths, trying samples, gathering take-home samples, and collecting information about all of the amazing companies there.  We found so many new great foods that I can’t wait to start looking for in our local stores.  Skylar’s favorite?  We found GF Pierogies and Gnocchi!! (I plan to give more information about individual products when I find them and try them at home) 

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Schar had a great kid’s area set up.  After working our way through the super crowded vendor hall, it was great for Skylar to get to take a break and have some fun.  They gave the kids free t-shirts to color, snacks, coloring pages, and there was a man making balloon animals.

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At one point, we heard an announcement over the loudspeaker that there were free massages being offered.  Skylar shouted really loud: “Mom!  Gluten Free massages!!”.  Everyone in the immediate area got a pretty good laugh out of that.

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This expo was a great way to expose us to GF companies that we had not heard of before.  They also offered cooking classes, which I was unable to attend this year, but I overheard several people saying they had enjoyed them.  These events are currently held in Chicago and Dallas, but they have an area on their website where you can vote for other cities for them to expand to.  They also have a blog!

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I think the best part about attending the expo was that Skylar got to see that she is not alone.  There are lots of people out there that need to eat the same special food she does.  There were several booths there for companies that were geared towards kids.  She ate food all day long without having to ask if it was safe.  She was stuffed and happy (and ready to get out of that crowd!).

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So, the expo was a great success, and we can’t wait for it to come to town again!

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Have a great Gluten Free Friday everyone!!

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Lizz

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