What we ate at Celiac Education Day

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia hosted its annual Celiac Education Day on Sunday. Informational sessions aside, we learned there was a lot to love about gluten-free foods.

It started with breakfast.

I most enjoyed the warm Sweet Note Bakery bagels. Warren and I are big fans of the "ET" (or "everything") bagel, and we slathered ours with cream cheese. Our daughter loved the plain bagel. We all may have gone back for seconds. (Thank you, Brittany!)

The ShopRite Greek Yogurt was another hit with my little party. My daughter LOVED the vanilla, while I preferred the strawberry. Udi's muffins also went over well with Warren and I especially enjoying the blueberry, but the chocolate also was delicious.The muffins were soft and flavorful without falling apart, like so many gluten-free products.

Celiacs welcome here

The Wegmans company offers an abundance of gluten-free products for sale, including a comprehensive line of its own store-brand items, so it's natural that it would honor National Celiac Awareness Day.


On Friday, Sept. 13, the Wegmans store in Mount Laurel is hosting a free public event, 3-8 p.m., that highlights the gluten-free products its carries and provide meal ideas to those of us living the GF lifestyle. The evening promises to have available product samples and recipes, as well as snack and lunch ideas for kids going back to school.

We frequently shop at Wegmans stores and regularly purchase store-brand gluten-free items, which tend to be significantly lower in price than other companies' products and are of excellent quality. A bag of pasta, for example, costs $1.79 compared to $3.49 for another brand of equal size. The tastes and textures of the store brands are often better than other brands, too.

Gluten-free: It's what's for breakfast

I got my gluten-free breakfast fix this past weekend with a couple of bagels produced by Pennsylvania wholesaler Sweet Note Bakery. Mine were purchased at Mount Laurel Bagels & Bakery. The everything bagel with cream cheese was delicious! I also tried the plain version, which was good too. Both required toasting to soften them up a bit, which was recommended by the a staff member who lives gluten-free.

In the few days since my visit, Sweet Note announced they are now delivering to The Bagel Spot on Kings Highway in Cherry Hill. In addition to these spots and the two Bagel Talk locations previously mentioned on this blog, these gluten-free bagels are sold through The Kibitz Room in Cherry Hill, Maidenhead Bagel Co. in Lawrenceville and Blue Plate in Mullica Hill.

Where will they show up next?

Still on a Sweet Note

Fresh-made bagels landed in Jersey earlier this fall. The makers, Sweet Note Bakery in Pennsylvania, have now extended their reach to two new locations.

The bakery announced today its deals to supply doughy, holey rounds of gluten-free goodness at a pair of Bagel Talk stores in Central Jersey. They're located at 8 S. Main Street in Marlboro and 3177 Route 9 in Old Bridge.

For more on Sweet Note Bakery, scroll down to my earlier post or find it here: http://gfgardenstate.blogspot.com/2012/10/beginning-on-sweet-note.html

Beginning on a Sweet Note

There are several varieties of frozen GF bagels available in grocery stores, but a freshly baked bagel would be so nice.

Luckily, such a GF product does exist and will be available at the Collingswood Farmers Market, starting this Saturday. The market runs 8 a.m. to noon near the PATCO rail station.

Fresh bagels are being brought to Jersey via Sweet Note Bakery. The company typically sells its products by wholesale to stores in Philadelphia and its suburbs in Pennsylvania. According to its website, the bakery's products are available in the Garden State only in Collingswood and will be sold at the Amaranth Bakery stand, close to the police station.