Healthy Living Market and Cafe

I was in Vermont again last weekend.  This time I went for work.  I had to sit at a table in Burlington for several hours and hand out information about my company.  Not my normal job, but I'm always willing to help out when needed...especially when it means I get to go home for free.

Knowing that I was going to be sitting at a table for the majority of an afternoon, I wanted to bring lunch with me.  I went to the trusty Gluten Free Travel Site and searched Burlington, VT.  It was there I stumbled upon a review for Healthy Living Market and Cafe across from the University Mall.  It was a perfect quick stop before I headed downtown for an afternoon on the waterfront of Lake Champlain.

At the risk of sounding like the dorky gluten free person I am, Healthy Living Market was amazing.  They have an entire gluten free section when you first enter the store.  I don't mean a small section of an aisle.  I mean a whole mini store within the store.  It gives G-Free NYC a run for it's money.  Here's a low quality picture I took in my excitement:

You can't really tell how amazing it is from the picture, but they have everything.  What you see here are mostly the dry goods.  There is a row of freezers all along the left hand side with only gluten free stuff.  To the right before the food there is a section with gluten free magazines and books.  In the middle there is beer and behind that fresh baked goods and bread.  Nearly every gluten free product I've ever seen was here.  I even saw (and purchased) the new New Planet beer everyone's been talking about.  I also got the Bakery on Main instant oatmeal I've been wanting to try.  Seriously, this store has everything I could ever want for my gluten free needs.

But that's not all!  That only covers the market part.  They also have a cafe with lots of gluten free goods.  I got a gluten free raspberry muffin that was great.  And then... I was able to order a sandwich from the deli for the first time since I was diagnosed with Celiac 2 years ago!

For those of you that don't know me, this is very exciting.  I miss sandwiches and being able to order them for lunch.  We had to play an icebreaker with the summer interns at my job in June.  Everyone had to write down a t-shirt slogan that describes them and then other people have to guess who's slogan goes with who.  Mine said "I miss sandwiches."  I hate icebreakers.

I wish I could tell you I loved my sandwich, but I wasn't that happy with the bread. I did really really appreciate it though.  They have a hot bar with lots of gluten free options and I hear they even have gluten free pizza sometimes.

If you are gluten free and live within an hour of this place you have to go.  Or, if you are visiting lovely Burlington, VT, make sure to stop by.  Honestly, it's better than Whole Foods.  That's right, I said it.

Main Line Baking Co.

Ok, so my last post was about eating healthy on the road, and this one is about a bakery...oops?  But everyone needs some sweets in their lives, and this is just what I got at Main Line Baking Co.  I have tried a few of Main Line Baking Co.'s treats at G-Free NYC, but this was my first time visiting.

The bakery is very simple and located inside the Wynnewood Train Station in Wynnewood, PA outside of Philly.  They have cupcakes, muffins, cookies, brownies, pound cake, coffee cake, and they even cater.  Everything they have is gluten free and dairy free.  There is nowhere to sit, but it's a great treat for people commuting into Philly - gluten free or not.

I tried a vanilla cupcake with chocolate frosting.  The cupcake was very light (compared to many gluten free cupcakes that are often too dense) and the frosting wasn't too sweet.  I also got a piece of coffee cake to take with me.  They were both very good.

If you aren't in the Philly area, Main Line Baking Co. treats are also offered at other locations in PA, NJ, and NYC.  Enjoy!

G-Free NYC - A Gluten Free Store!

A fully gluten free store just opened in Manhattan.  This is very exciting for several reasons, the main one being that I don't have to worry about checking any labels to see if something is gluten free.  It is also exciting because they carry a lot of my favorite products, as well as a lot of products I've been wanting to try.  They have a large selection of frozen foods as well as shelf stable.  They also get baked goods delivered from Tu-Lu's every morning.

I've been twice in the last week and I got a bunch of goodies.  Most of them are pictured below.  I had never tried any of them before.  I also got a box of soy sauce packets so I can throw a few in my purse instead of lugging a bottle around with me when I want to go for sushi.  I have already used these and have deemed them a great purchase.  I tried the granola as well and it is really good.  I got another box of it with cranberries and cashews.  Mmm.

This is the soy sauce.  Best purchase yet.

You can't see the prices in the picture very well, but the bread is $5.95, the granola $6.20 for 4 packets, the crackers $4.95, the dumplings $7.50 for 8 dumplings, and the mac and cheese $3.  I'm too lazy to get up and see how much the granola bar is.  Even though the prices seem - and are - high, they are about the same, and in some instances lower, than I've seen at other stores.  (This is pretty depressing.  You pretty much have to be rich to be gluten free.  I'm not.)  Kudos to these folks for not bumping their prices up even higher though, because it is an especially specialty, specialty store.

So, go to this store.  Support them in their gluten free mission.  I know I will.

G-Free NYC

g-freenyc.com
77A West 85^th Street
(between Columbus & CPW)
New York, NY 10024

Telephone: 646.781.9770
Email: info@g-freenyc.com

  

Hours

Monday: Closed
Tuesday – Friday: 11am-7pm
Saturday – Sunday: 10am-6pm