weekend of deliciousness

This weekend is a gluten free delight: Cincinnati Celiac Support Group luncheon at Maggiano's Little Italy and Jungle's Jim's Weekend of Wellness. 

Lunch was specially made by Chef Carl, whose mother-in-law has Celiac.  This was our menu:

The chopped salad - with avocado and green apple - is my undeniable favorite.  Currently, the lasagna is not on the menu.  For the pasta, Maggiano's imports Mariella Gluten Free Penne Rigate Corn Pasta from Italy.  All of their sauces are gluten-free, and it's recommended to speak with the chef directly to determine the best meal for your needs & tastebuds and to provide 24 hours notice.  Each of the 44 restaurants nationwide has the corn pasta.

We got word that Maggiano's is developing a gluten-free menu.  At the moment, this particular Maggiano's gets an average of 10 gluten-free customers per day - far more than any other food allergy sufferers.

Then later today, we went to Jungle Jim's Weekend of Wellness.  It's still happening tomorrow, so it's not too late to catch it yourself!  Admission is $8, and it's well worth it to me with so many samples and sometimes even free products from the 49 vendors.  They paid a lot to be part of the event, so I want to make sure they get the publicity they deserve for their dedication to the gluten-free community.

Shown here are all of our free gluten-free goodies that we didn't eat on the spot:

• Enjoy Life Plentils, a variety of Enjoy Life cookies, and thinkThin Bars 
• PopCorners 
• Sweet Perry Orchards Baja Blend fruit & nut mix from GoPicnic 
• pink lady apples, red delicious apple, kiwis, & a granny smith apple from Indianapolis Fruit 
• Simply 7 Hummus Chips 
• Harvest Bay Coconut Water
• Boomchickapop 
• a gluten-free vanilla creme submarine from Sonny Marie's 
• urban raccoons Gluten Free Granola Bars 
• amafruits Acai organic fruit puree
• two packets of Simpli Gluten Free Instant Oatmeal

There was a selection of sauces and salsas from Local Folks Foods; delicious bread from Eban Bakery out of Grove City, Ohio; i heart keenwah quinoa clusters; Schar products; a fantastic snack mix from el's gluten free snacks (and met El); Angie's Kettle Corn; Lifeway Frozen Kefir; Plainville Farms chicken; Edible Ohio Valley magazine; samples from Moondance Desserts; and New Planet Gluten Free Beer (the 3R Raspberry Ale is dangerously tasty), Woodchuck cider varieties, and Green's Gluten-Free Belgian Ale.

What a tasty Saturday!

Happy eating!!  :)