It was another deliciously exciting and eventful weekend at the GFAF Expo in Arizona this year.
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The crowd was bustling, excited to try the newest sampling from some of the best gluten free and allergen friendly brands in the market today. The expo took place the last week of June at the gorgeous Renaissance Resort in Glendale, AZ where I spent the weekend with my boys.

I'd love to say the weekend was blissful and smooth, but after our first expo day and a wonderful night of delicious, healthy eats, swimming in the pool and grabbing frozen yogurt, the night took a turn when our little man took a fall in the hotel room, ending in a trip to the emergency room. He's ok now, but after six stitches and many tears (from all of us), we had to forego staying the night. 

We returned the next morning (after closely monitoring Grey in the night and seeing that he was good in the morning), for day two of the expo. More on our wonderful hotel experience (aside from the hospital detour) is coming soon to Wanderlust, so stay tuned! Now, on to the expo!

If you caught my Instagram Stories, you got to experience much of the samplings and booths live along with me, however, if you missed it, this post will share my personal favorite finds and highlights of this years GFAF Expo of Glendale, AZ. 

A long time favorite, Mikey's was in attendance with their Lemon Blueberry and Chocolate Muffin Tops. Moist and satisfying, the muffin tops are Paleo and perfect alone or on yogurt bowls, dessert bowls or oatmeal. Their traditional Paleo english muffins have been a longtime favorite of mine are a staple in our home for breakfast sandwhiches. 

Thrive Life, a shelf stable dried food brand, great for easy meals and long term emergency food storage now offers full, pre-prepped meals that are nutritious and cater to various food allergies.

Grey's favorite, Enjoy Life Foods, had the CUTEST booth. It was set up like a little land to visit, complete with a maze of trees and a chocolate forest where you collect free samples along the way. We LOVE their chocolate chips for all things snacking and baking. Their Rice Milk Crunch Chocolate bars are also my go to indulgence for candy when I want something sweet and crunchy. 

Canyon Bakehouse was the blogger sponsor, and were SO sweet to us! They fed us a DELICIOUS gluten-free breakfast and my favorite products were by far the blueberry bagels and the Hawaiian bread! So delicious and the family can't even tell they're gluten free. 

 Veggiecopia offered little travel packs of olives (a great snack for both mom and babe!) while Mozaic Snacks provided the most delicious pea based chips. The sea salt and salsa flavors were the BEST! 

Other favorites included Grandpa's Kitchen, a new small company that sampled pumpkin cake using the BEST gluten free all purpose flour I've tried. (and I've bought many that are on the market today. GFC Bakery, a local Arizona bakery, also offers amazing pre-baked breakfast items, desserts and birthday treats. 

Picazzo's Italian, another local Arizona eatery, is BY FAR our FAVORITE nosh spot for allergen friendly food and they were on site sampling delicious and fluffy gluten free vegan pizzas. I'm going to be completely honest and say we circled back a couple of times to visit, it was one of our faves and the staff were SO nice. 

The show has inspired me to plan a BEST OF 2018 list of items ranging from breads to pastas, drinks to eateries around the U.S. that are the best in gluten free, dairy free and allergen friendly ingredients. I'd love to know what YOU would like to see, so comment below and I'll make sure it makes the list. 

Summer means BBQ's, pool parties, vacations and Arizona's Gluten Free and Allergen Friendly  Expo. This year will be my third year in a row attending and I'm so excited to be sharing my journey once again and bringing YOU along. 

Before I get into what it's all about, the products you can expect to try and taste and how you can get a ticket for free, make sure you're following me on Instagram (@noshandnurture) to be able to see my weekend at the expo live! 

I make a point to attend most of the West Coast food expos and conferences, so I can be best equipped to know what gluten free and dairy free foods will be hitting the shelves, not just for my readers and clients but for my family as well. It's better to be able to get a hands on taste test before I have to shell out cash to try something I may not like, and I can then report back on my findings here on the blog as well as live through Instagram from the expo floor this month! 

So onto the details!

You can view the expected vendors list here, but below I named some of my favorites if you're looking for some new stuff to try.

Enjoy Life - The best dairy-free chocolate for noshing, baking and more. 
Blue Diamond - Almonds are life. 
Bob's Red Mill - The only way we cook up pancakes in our home. 
Mikey's - They revamped their line and their muffins are now better than ever!
Picazzo's - Our FAVORITE Italian eatery for safe foods and ambiance. 
Sprouts - I don't know how we'd eat without this store, honestly. 
San J - The best sauces. Safe AND savory! 
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I know, I know you're wondering HOW DO GET A DISCOUNTED TICKET to sample all of this gluten free goodness? Well... I have TWO WAYS for you to save some cash, by either grabbing an early bird ticket with a 20% discount below or entering to win on my Instagram page. 

Presented by Enjoy Life, if you visit for no other booth other than theirs (except we all know we will all be sampling ALLLLL the goodies) Enjoy Life products makes the trip worth it. We are HUGE fans of their strict food allergy protocols and I feel so confident in their products in our home when it comes to wanting allergen free chocolate, snacks and treats. 

I hope to see you all my Arizona locals there! It's going to be a GREAT time with great food, great friends and a ton of fun in the name of healthy noshing. 

​Will you be joining us?