Posts Categorized: GFG updates

guest blog: Italpasta dishes it out

Italpasta‘s Ultimate Vegan Gluten-Free Pasta Salad

 

We are just days away from our favourite event in the city—Gluten Free Garage! And we couldn’t be happier to be supporting the GFG team again this year.

If you have attended Gluten Free Garage in the past, you know that our booth is BUSY—and that we’ve run out of plates two years in a row :/  Embarrassing, we know, but it just means that our #glutenfreepastalovers can’t get enough of our gluten-free pasta samples!

This year, we’re dialing it up a notch. We’ll be sampling THREE different recipes: Penne with Basil Tomato Sauce, our Ultimate Vegan Gluten Free Pasta Salad, and a Vegetarian Lasagna using our new Oven Ready Gluten Free Lasagne.

But that’s not all! We’re also sponsoring a GFG speaker session with the very talented Irene Matys, a local farm-to-table advocate and freelance food stylist who is a regular on The Marilyn Denis Show. Check out her mouth-watering Instagram account @TheSpicyOlive1 and look at the gorgeous farm-to-table Kale, Basil Pesto and Zucchini Gluten Free Lasagna that she created for Gluten Free Garage!

If you think that looks good, Irene is going to show 50 lucky GFG attendees how to take their gluten-free pasta dishes from ordinary to extraordinary with a few tips and tricks. You won’t want to miss her “Say Ciao to Boring Bowls of Pasta” presentation on Sunday May 27th at 12 noon! Everyone who attends will receive a gift bag with Italpasta gluten-free pasta samples to try their hand at saying ciao to boring bowls of pasta! Line up about 15 minutes early outside of the Wychwood Barns Community Gallery—it’s first come, first served.

We can’t wait to see our gluten-free pasta lovers at the 2018 Gluten Free Garage!

 

Irene Matys will show you how to take your pasta to the next level!

 

 

guest blog: Neal Brothers turns 30!

 

Gluten Free Garage is one of our all-time favourite events! Not only do we get to share lots of yummy gluten-free goodies with everyone, we get to introduce exciting new brands and looks!

This year is especially exciting for us, as Neal Brothers Foods turns 30. That’s right, the big 3-0, the dirty thirty, whatever you call it, we’re turning it! We are so happy to be at this point; Neal Brothers Foods has become so much more than a brand. It is a distribution company, it is a family, it is a household name, and it has brought various innovations to the market over the years.

This year will be no different. Not only are we changing up the outside of our packages, we are also changing up some of the insides as well! Don’t worry, all the favourite snacks (corn salsa, blue with flax tortillas, etc.) are staying exactly as they are. But we have completely overhauled our pasta sauce and organic salsa lines. Our pasta sauce line is now 100% organic. In addition, we have added a flavour, Greens & Pepperoncini, to make a total of six all-organic delicious sauces. New formulations are currently out on the market in new packaging! Our organic salsa line has also had some tweaking, with new packaging and a new formulation inside, giving a fresher and lighter taste!

We can’t wait for everyone to see and try these tasty new products! At Gluten Free Garage, our new logo will be on display while we sell the favorites: kettle chips, cheese snacks and our new organic white tortilla! Stop by to check out our show special, we promise you won’t be disappointed! At the Neal Brothers booth you’ll also find:

enerjive quinoa crackers

Primal Kitchen dressings and marinades

Chickapea gluten-free pasta (with only two ingredients)

YumEarth candies

Hippie Snacks sesame snacks

 

Neal Brothers at the 2016 Gluten Free Garage!

 

Neal Brothers Foods has been a sponsor of Gluten Free Garage since the very first event in 2012! Look for their booth at the Wychwood (east) side of Artscape Wychwood Barns.

 

bring a non-perishable GF food item to GFG!

WIFEY KNOWS BEST: Jessica Danford (aka Gfree Wifey) is on a mission.

Last year Toronto’s Daily Bread Food Bank saw 990,970 client visits to the 100-plus food programs that it supports. When we consider that 1% of the population requires a gluten-free diet and that celiac disease is becoming one of the fastest-growing autoimmune diseases, access to safe food for all is a growing concern. This issue is often overlooked or not taken into account because most food programs are at capacity or struggling to provide to the clients they have before they can even consider food restrictions.

One of the reasons I started the GfreeWifey Foodbank last year is to use my position as a positive influencer in the gluten-free community to bring greater awareness to celiac disease while advocating for access to safe food. As someone with celiac disease who has used the help of food banks and food programs in my past, I feel passionate about this and am now in a position where I can champion for the cause. In April I donated $1,000 that we raised for the Daily Bread Food Bank!

I do short-burst fundraising for local food banks and food programs to provide safe gluten-free food to people in our communities. If there is an organization you know of that needs support with access to safe food—whether it’s a food bank, before-or-after school program, soup kitchen, breakfast club or other food support system—please let me know. I will gladly learn about what they do and find the best way to support them.

I will be at Gluten Free Garage on May 27th to meet everyone and collect non-perishable gluten-free food items for The Canadian Red Cross. The Red Cross provides emergency relief hampers with 3-4 days’ worth of food every two weeks to people who are in a vulnerable position and have been referred to the program by a professional. This is one of many organizations that have expressed they are at capacity and staggering to keep up with the demand, let alone provide safe food to people with dietary restrictions like gluten intolerance and celiac.

I invite you to open your cupboards and bring a non-perishable
gluten-free food item to Gluten Free Garage!

There will be a collection bin at registration. If you forget your item at home, you can  “buy two, donate one” at the event—it’s also a terrific way to support your favourite gluten-free vendors who will be there!

Many people struggle to afford food—and we know how costly gluten-free food can be! A gluten-free diet is a necessity for 2 in 100 people. It is not a trendy lifestyle choice. It is mandatory in order for people with celiac to recover and maintain their health. Let’s work together to END HUNGER close to home.

Please join me in providing access to safe gluten-free food by donating something from your pantry that’s on this most-wanted gluten-free grocery list:

  • crackers
  • flour blends
  • rice
  • pasta
  • canned beans and vegetables
  • soup
  • soy sauce and condiments
  • pancake and muffin mixes

For more information about me and the Gfreewifey Foodbank, please go to www.gfreewifey.com

—Jessica Danford

skip the line at #GFG18

Purchase your tix in advance, skip the line and don’t forget to grab your free GFG tote bag on your way in!

 

♥︎

First, a HUGE thanks to you for coming to Gluten Free Garage.

Whether this will be your first show or your fourth, welcome (or welcome back)! Though I never get tired of seeing your happy faces as you dig in to a dumpling for the first time or bite into a fresh bagel, I have to admit you are not the reason I started this pop-up gluten-free market. This girl is.

The GFG muse decked out in GFG swag at our 2017 event. Gluten Free Garage is her favourite day of the year. Last year she was a guest speaker to a full house!

 

♥︎

When I launched Gluten Free Garage in 2012, I told Lily it was going to be a big party for her where she can eat anything she wants. Just like we turned our house into a gluten-free zone, this party was going to be 100% G to the F. Heading into our 7th event, I know that it’s become a big party for so many other people. A festival that is entirely gluten free and worry free, featuring more than 60 vendors sampling and selling a delicious variety of food and other goodies. An event where the community gathers to eat, drink, shop and learn from one another.

We have got a fantastic lineup this year—some of our fave GFG regulars and a whole new bunch of gluten-free finds! Lead sponsor Italpasta is back, along with Neal Brothers and Fiesta Farms! And we’d like to welcome Burger’s Priest and Keto Buns as new sponsors this year! Check out our vendor page to get pumped!

We’re pretty excited about our speaker sessions too. Check back for more speakers soon!

When you buy your tickets in advance on Eventbrite, you’ll go to the ticket holder registration when you arrive at the event, grab a free tote bag we’ve set aside for you (guaranteed if you buy your ticket online, no matter what time you show up at the event), and head right in. And basically start eating your face off.

Last fall we did a survey to get to know a bit more about our visitors so we can make Gluten Free Garage even better. Thanks to everyone who participated! You shared your thoughts about the event and told us some interesting things about yourselves and your gluten-free lifestyles.

A few things we learned:

♥︎ 48% of you have celiac disease and 31% of you are gluten intolerant (that’s nearly 80% of you who eat gluten free for health reasons)

♥︎ 85% of you say the highlight of Gluten Free Garage is “discovering new products” (almost half of the vendors are new to GFG this year!)

♥︎ 82% of you plan on coming to the next Gluten Free Garage! (Yay! Come hungry!)

Also, many of you have other nutritional interests, such as dairy free (61%), organic (49%) and vegan or vegetarian (38%). We’re happy to announce that this year GFG is going to showcase more of these options than ever before.

There’s something for everyone at GFG. Vegan, vegetarian, paleo, kosher, keto, meat eating…you name it. Sweet and savoury. Decadent and healthy. What all the vendors have in common is that they’re gluten free (but you don’t have to be!).

See you on May 27th! Maybe wear some loose-fitting pants?

#tbt to last year’s GFG

 

Who’s excited for the 7th annual Gluten Free Garage?

Toronto’s pop-up gluten-free marketplace will be back at Artscape Wychwood Barns on Sunday, May 27th from 10 am to 5 pm! With 60-plus vendors, food trucks, libations, guest speakers and more, Gluten Free Garage is your one-stop shop for the latest and greatest gluten-free goods! We are grateful to welcome back platinum sponsor Italpasta (have you tried their new GF oven-ready lasagne noodles?!), along with silver sponsor and snack kings Neal Brothers.

Last spring, Chef Adam Heard, of Adam Cooks Everything, took his cooking video series Wheat Sucks! on the road to Gluten Free Garage.

Featured are GFG sponsor Ste. Anne’s Bakery, a few of our awesome local vendors, including Social Lite Vodka, Sudsatorium, Just Shut Up and Try It and Steambox Dumplings, and gluten-free queen Rachael Hunt who runs GlutenFreedom Inc., the popular blog dedicated to dining, cooking, travelling and living gluten free.

We still have room for more vendors this year, so let us know which brands or products you’d like to see at Gluten Free Garage! Drop us a line at info@glutenfreegarage.ca