Tuesday To Do List — what to buy, spy, and try! (or sometimes cry about)

Tuesday To Do List is my newest attempt at bringing you tidbits from the gluten-free world each week. This will continue until my mind-that-doesn’t-rest comes up with another way to entertain you guys. Cross your fingers I am back here next Tuesday with another list…

Three cheers for three weeks in a row! Big summertime commitment.

Speaking of commitments — last week we celebrated our FIVE year anniversary of Gluten Free Get Together events in and around Milwaukee. Each month I organize a dinner, event, or field trip and am joined by other gluten-free friends in the area. This group has become like family, I love them so.

And so do the generous companies who helped me fill GF swag bags for our event. The love they sent this year has left me speechless. (and we know that’s rare.)

Today’s to-do list is a shout out to ALL the companies who made our party such a huge success.


Please go spy, try, or buy ANY of these companies’ products! (some may even make you cry — tears of JOY that is)

 

image
Red Apple Lipstick — I’ve been singing their praises since I first tried their lip glosses. Now most of my make up bag comes from them. I have converted many friends and family members to their Lash Project Mascara. (read all about it HERE) The ladies were thrilled with the lipsticks and ralleye balms in their bags!


(Isn’t Katiekins just gorgeous!? She’s a Red Apple girl for sure!)
The Gluten Free Bar (the GFB) — Marshall and I have been in touch since he first started his company. Stories like this make me smile. He started with just a couple of bar flavors and has now expanded the business and is making his way across the country into stores. Kudos to him and his team!

Sentry in Delafield — Kerry and her team at the store are all about making our community happy. Their GF aisle and freezer section is impressive and their willingness to order new goods is appreciated. It’s my go-to store in the area!

GF Harvest — Another story that makes me smile every time. Forrest started this company in high school, yes high school, as a school project. I have been ordering their certified gluten-free oats for years and am always on the lookout for their new product lines. (like yummy granola!))

 

 

 

G.H. Cretors popcorn — they sent bags of their “Chicago Mix” and boy am I glad they did. AH.mazing.

Lovely Candy Co. — I’ve had a couple of their licorice products and was just as impressed with their caramels. Melt in your mouth!

Fahlstrom Farms — three cheers for this “Minnesota Nice” company that sent FULL sized bags of cheddar biscuit mix! If I’m going to buy a brownie mix, it will be theirs.

Ciderboys — Thanks to their bottle openers, we’ll be sipping cider all summer!

Cup4Cup — As you know, I’m a long time fan of Cup4Cup. For me, it’s worth the cost to have my family recipes convert over and turn out every single time.

Pamela’s — Game changers in the gluten-free s’mores world! The new mini graham-like crackers are too good. (meaning I could eat the whole box in one sitting!) The crowd gobbled these up for dessert. (my mamasita thinks these  will make excellent dippers for pumpkin dip!)


Jovial — the perfect pasta in gluten-free land! When I can use a pasta in a cold salad, I get excited. And when the husband asks for it, you know it’s good. Someday I hope to take my celiac sista on their GF trip to Italy!

Sweet Ali’s Bakery — we are BIG fans of Sweet Ali’s around here. We even take field trips down to the bakery (it’s not too far) in Illinois to get our fix. The dessert tray was gone in no time!

The Better Chip — my mama found these chips years ago and we have been eating them ever since. Their unique flavors: beets, jalapeno, spinach & kale, corn, and chipotles keep us on our toes. My nephews call the kale ones, “the green chips” and ask for them often. (they’re 3 and already on the kale train!)

Canyon Bakehouse — I just mentioned their deli rye style bread in last week’s post and am still raving about it. LOVE their breads. Period. (and everyone gets to try them now with the coupons they sent!)


Jones Dairy Farm — we love Wisconsin companies! The coupons they sent will be used on our breakfast menu soon.

Freedom Foods — they make a version of GF fruit loop-ish cereal that I eat by the handful. Their coupons will be put to good use!

 

And a special shout out to Marty’s in Delafield!!! (not to be confused with their Brookfield location — this safe, amazing service comes from Delafield only) We had to move the location of the event at the last minute and Duane, Maynard, and our fantastic servers made us feel right at home. (they even went out and got Lakefront New Grist for one of our GF peeps!) The pizzas were perfect, the salads were spot on, and the wings were baked rather than fried, just for us! THAT is the kind of safe service the gluten-free community deserves.

Head over to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and all their websites — give them some Milwaukee gluten-free love and let them know how you liked their products. (also sign up for email lists to be up to date on their latests news and deals!)

Here’s to another five years of fun — thanks for being part of it all!

 

FoodFightMKE: help fight hunger in Milwaukee

Usually when I log on it’s to share a new recipe. Or my new go-to product in the gluten-free world. And every week I do my Friday Photos posts highlighting our plentiful meals from the week — we never go without.

But sadly so many do.

Right here in Milwaukee… one in four families with children suffer food hardships.

We actually were one of those families growing up. Not here in Milwaukee, but in a small town in southwest Minnesota. A single mom with three children, barely making ends meet. She worked full time, but sometimes that wasn’t enough. We received food stamps, made trips to the “food shelf” (the local food bank) and relied on the help of others to make our holiday season seem “normal” through their donations to our family.

Right before Christmas, Santa would show up with his helpers and deliver food baskets with turkey or ham, fruit and vegetables, and gifts for us kids. It was pretty amazing — I still remember feeling like the luckiest girl. Not realizing at the time that we were on the receiving end of charity, I just thought they did that for everyone.

Growing up going without makes me appreciate all that I do have today. And it motivates me to give what I can to help those who are in need.

Talk about motivated, have you heard of FoodFightMKE? It’s a movement started by a group of students from three universities in Milwaukee. Their goal? To help fight hunger in Milwaukee by inspiring people to join their cause, raising awareness about the serious situation many face in our community, and motivating our community to give how they can.

Take a second to peruse their website — check out their flash mob outside the Bradley Center! (really, go check it out)

Ok, good… you’re back.

Because now I need your help.

I know times are tough, believe me. And it may be difficult to help out financially, but no worries — there are many different ways you can give.

  • SPEAK UP: talk about this cause. tell your friends and family about it. take 10 seconds and post it to your Facebook profile or tweet about it.
  • SHOW SUPPORT: change your profile picture or Twitter avatar to the FoodFightMKE logo. you can see mine over on Twitter.
  • LEND A HAND: have a couple hours to spare? you can volunteer. sort food, help out at events, all kinds of crazy-cool stuff. email marie@hungertaskforce.org to learn more.

And if you’re lucky (like me) and have a job with benefits that allows you to dine out on occasion, indulge in happy hour from time to time, check out the latest flick for a date night or head to the mall for a new Christmas sweater… then you can put a small amount towards a good cause, yes?

You can “give hunger the finger, with your two thumbs” by texting “FOOD” to 52000 to make a $10 donation to Hunger Task Force.

It’s just $10. That’s it. And because I love you guys, I already thought of the ways you can come up with the money.

  1. have a date night at home and rent that movie
  2. wear your new Christmas sweater for the date night… so you can turn the heat down just a tad, cozy up to the one you love and save some pennies
  3. make it a two drink maximum instead of minimum for happy hour — put the extra dough you saved into this fund

It’s easy-peasy. Seriously, you can do it right now. Just pick up your phone, put 52000 in the “To:” field and “FOOD” in the message and hit send. You’ll get a message back that asks you to confirm by replying with YES. (my co-worker just made her donation from the other side of the room — thanks Chris!)

Maybe you’re not into texting, we’ve got that covered too. You can donate on the Hunger Task Force donation page.

More of a social butterfly? You can go to their Soup & Bread event tonight — where the food is free, but donations are welcome.

What am I doing?

  • sent my $10 text donation on Thanksgiving
  • blabbing about it to anyone who will listen (again, thanks Chris!)
  • collecting food donations at our Holiday Happy Hour Gluten-Free Get Together dinner next Thursday at Transfer
  • donated food at our campus wide food drive for Hunger Task Force at work

So you see, texting the $10 doesn’t seem so bad huh?

The campaign runs through the end of 2011, so you still have a couple of weeks to get this done, but why wait — just do it today. It’s a small favor I ask of you. And in return, I’ll share as many Grandma EdithAnn recipes with you as you’d like.
Actually, you know what? If you give hunger the finger, by donating the $10 — leave a message below telling me that you did, on January 1st I’ll put the names in a hat and draw one lucky winner. Then I’ll whip up a batch of my grandma’s cookies (of your choice) and mail them right to your house.
What are you waiting for? Get texting. Ready, set, FOOD FIGHT!

Gluten Free Get-Together V ~ Friday, June 25

Summer has finally arrived in Milwaukee.

Perfect timing for our next Gluten Free Get-Together. This month we are headed to Tess in Milwaukee for dinner. You can view all the details over on the invite on Facebook.  I have been there several times, pre-gluten-free and after, and have always left in a food coma, with a smile on my face.

My hope is for more amazing weather that would allow for some outdoor dining. Much of their menu is designed to be naturally gluten free and they have Crispin. Have I mentioned how much I like Crispin before? Don’t worry, if you missed it you can still read about my love for Crispin Cider.

My new friends at Canyon Bakehouse will be providing samples of their products and the friendly folks at Pamela’s are also sending treats for all to try.

You can RSVP through my Celiac in the City Facebook page or leave a comment below with the number attending. Everyone is welcome, the more the merrier!

Round 2 ~ Gluten Free Get-Together ~ March 11th @ 6pm

Last month was a huge success!

Such a success that we didn’t even take time for photos… except for this one at the end of the night. Two happy (and stuffed) gf friends with to-go boxes with leftover pizza from Pizzeria Piccola , treats from Molly’s Gluten Free Bakery and samples of cookies from Wow Baking Company.

Hope all the Milwaukee-area gluten free friends can join us this month.

P.F. Chang’s is debuting their gf menu that week. We want to be there to check it out. You should too.

Check out the invitation on Facebook and stay tuned here and on my Celiac in the City Facebook page for future dates and info. (our next event will be April 8th @ 6pm)

RSVP now so we can have one big table this time!