Welcome!

Welcome to Allergy Free & Cheap Like Me!

gluten, dairy, egg & soy free

I’m so happy you are here! I hope to create a place for you to find lots of information about food allergies, as well as, lots of goodies to help you not only eat better, but more affordably! Please feel free to share all of your own tips, tricks, and recipes too! Thank you for stopping by and I hope to see you again very soon! You can read more about my allergy story here.

Friday, May 18, 2012

Rudi's Spread the Bread Campaign!



During the month of May, Celiac Awareness Month, Rudi’s Gluten-Free Bakery is giving back to the celiac community by donating up to $30,000 to various celiac organizations, via their SPREAD THE BREAD campaign!

Starting May 2, 2012, you can go to Rudi’s Facebook page and select one of four celiac organizations – Celiac Disease Foundation (CDF), Celiac Sprue Association (CSA), Gluten Intolerance Group (GIG), and the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness (NFCA) to receive a one dollar ($1.00) donation from Rudi’s. Visitors will also be able to download a $1.00 off coupon for any Rudi’s product … so basically you will be getting $1.00 for having Rudi's give $1.00 to a celiac organization of your choice!

Rudi’s Spread the Bread campaign is a great way for you to give back to the celiac community, all you need to do is click and choose which organization, and don’t forget to download your coupon!


Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Gluten Free Blog Hop: 10 Days of Gluten Free


Another great event happening during May in honor of National Celiac Awareness Month is the 10 Days of Gluten Free a blog hop created by Linda, The Gluten-Free Homemaker. 10 bloggers have come together to give gluten-free information and tips. Each blogger was given a particular gluten-free topic to post about every day for ten days (Monday through Friday for two weeks) starting May 7. The tips are short so you can hop on to the next blog in the blog hop. There is also a giveaway on each blog that will be given away at the end of the blog hop that you can enter to win each day. 

Here are the topics and bloggers who are participating:

Check out the blog hop there is some great information being shared! Don't forget to enter to win the giveaways on each blog each day!


Monday, May 14, 2012

Domino's New Gluten-Free Pizza

By now I am sure you have all read the headlines Domino's Pizza launched it's gluten-free pizza crust last week. But don't get too excited the news came with a disclaimer, while the pizza crust is certified gluten-free, the pizza itself is still prepared and cooked in oven with gluten filled pizzas. I thought I would write a quick post to give you some of the facts on the new pizza from Domino's. 

Yes, Domino's, the world's largest delivery pizza chain jumped on the $6.2 billion dollar gluten-free bandwagon along with the likes of Frito-Lay, Subway, Anheuser-Bush, and P.F. Chang's (*more about them below), boldly stating that "they are the first national pizza delivery chain to offer a gluten-free option". 6% to 8% of the US population are on some kind of gluten-free diet, according to Alice Blast the president of the National Foundation of Celiac Awareness.

Domino's press release states,
“While Domino’s new Gluten Free Crust is appropriate for those with mild gluten sensitivity, Domino’s and the NFCA do not recommend it for those with celiac disease. Domino’s and the NFCA found that while the crust is certified as gluten free, current store operations at Domino’s cannot guarantee that each handcrafted pizza will be completely free from gluten.”

“Please be advised all of Domino’s menu items, including pizza made with Gluten Free Crust, are prepared in a common kitchen. While the Gluten Free Crust contains no gluten ingredients, there is a risk of gluten exposure. NFCA supports the availability of Gluten Free Crust at Domino’s, but CANNOT recommend the pizza for customers with celiac disease. Customers with gluten-related disorders other than celiac disease should exercise their own judgment in consuming pizza made with Gluten Free Crust."

Jump on over to the NFCA's FAQ page regarding Domino's new gluten-free pizza to find out more information. Here are a few interesting bits but I highly recommend you check out the entire FAQ if you are sensitive to gluten and are thinking of ordering up Domino's new crust.

  • The Gluten Free Crust is stored in a separate area of the walk-in cooler until it is ordered.
  • The Gluten Free Crust pizza is made on the same pizza screen and uses the same makeline, ingredients, and utensils as all other pizzas.
  • Employees use the same pizza peel and pizza cutter on the Gluten Free Crust pizza as all other pizzas.
  • There is no airborne flour in the store. Domino’s® ingredients that contain gluten and should not be added to a Gluten Free Crust are, Philly meat, Alfredo sauce, and Cheddar sauce.

So what are the facts that we know at this time? The crust is indeed certified gluten-free, however each pizza will be prepared and cooked along side non-gluten-free pizzas, and the pizza is not intended for folks who are extra sensitive or have celiac disease. Oh and by the way, just like every other gluten-free product, it will be $3 dollars extra.

According to Domino’s, the pizza is safe for people with a mild gluten sensitivity. Personally, I feel like it is geared towards people who have gone gluten-free as a part of a fad diet.
It's not surprising that Domino’s would jump on the fad bandwagon, like I stated above it's a $6.2 billion dollar industry, but I will say I'm a little disappointed that they don’t have more regard for those who need to eat gluten free for medical and health reasons and are not willing to go the extra step to insure their pizza's are safe for the entire gluten-free community. 

To read more facts and questions about Domino's new gluten-free pizza crust head over to Domino's gluten-free FAQ page

What is your opinion on Domino's new gluten-free pizza crust? Will you be trying it?


*P.F. Chang's currently has 25 gluten-free dishes and just added seven more to its menu, including Gluten-Free Caramel Mango Chicken and Gluten-Free Asian Tomato Cucumber Salad. P.F. Chang's also uses gluten-free soy sauce. 
Frito-Lay, has begun to label more than a dozen of their packages with a special "GF" icon or a statement on the back of the bag on their gluten-free products.
Subway has been testing gluten-free products, bread and brownies, in four key markets since early 2011. Oregon being one of them look for my review coming soon! 
Anheusher-Busch launched Redbridge in 2006 which was the first nationally available gluten-free beer and will also begin to roll out Michelob Ultra Light Cider in the coming months.


Thursday, May 10, 2012

National Celiac Awareness Month!

It is already the 10th of May and I haven't even mentioned the fact that it is National Celiac Awareness Month! Shame on me, I guess I am still recovering from participating in the Health Activist Writers Month Challenge (HAWMC) in April! There are so many exciting things happening this month in honor of Celiac Awareness. I hope to share some of them with you throughout the rest of the month! 

The first one I want to share with you is the K.I.S.S series by The National Foundation for Celiac Awareness (NFCA). They are celebrating by rounding up 16 bloggers for a series chronicling every stage of the gluten-free journey, from Day 1 basics to advanced cooking and advocacy. In keeping with this years theme, Keep It Simple and Safe (K.I.S.S.), each blogger is offering 5 key tips or lessons related to that day's topic. Check out their blog, Celiac Central: Bits and Bites daily!

Weekly Focus
  • Monday – Cooking/Baking Gluten-Free
  • Tuesday – Nutrition/Wellness
  • Wednesday – Raising a Gluten-Free Kid
  • Thursday – Dining Out Gluten-Free
  • Friday – NFCA Resources You Should Know About

Schedule and Guest Bloggers:
Week 1: Just Diagnosed (April 30-May 4)
Week 2: Getting the Hang of It (May 7-11)
Week 3: Hitting a Roadblock (May 14-18)
  • Diane Eblin of The WHOLE Gang – 5 tips to get out of a food rut 
  • Alisa Fleming of Go Dairy Free  – First gluten-free, now lactose intolerant? 5 tips to becoming a dairy-free diva
  • Wendy Kaho of Celiacs in the House – Gluten-free challenges at school
  • Michael De Cicco-Butz of Gluten-Free Mike – Traveling while gluten-free
  • NFCA – 5 resources to handle life’s hurdles
Week 4: What’s Next? (May 21-25)
  • Amie Valpone of The Healthy Apple – Publishing your gluten-free recipes
  • EA Stewart of The Spicy RD – Healthy gluten-free foods you’ve never heard of
  • Katie Chalmers of G-Free Kid – 5 tips to empower gluten-free kids
  • Carrie Forbes of Ginger Lemon Girl – Starting a gluten-free dining group
  • NFCA – Ready to fundraise? Here’s how to start
Remember all of these posts will be on the NFCA’s blog, Celiac Central: Bits and Bites.
Also for some more Celiac Awareness Month fun, including a chance to win a Gluten-Free Pantry Raid, visit CeliacCentral.org/awarenessmonth.

I hope you enjoy all these great resources and Happy Celiac Awareness Month!


Tuesday, May 1, 2012

HAWMC Day 31, Recap HAWMC!

I made it! WEGO Health's Health Activist's Writers Month Challenge (HAWMC) is over! I managed to write 30 posts in 30 days not skipping any days. I have to admit it was a real challenge for me at times and I am a bit relieved it is over. But I really enjoyed it, the challenge pushed me to get out of my writing comfort zone and write about topics I normally wouldn't. I hope you enjoyed it too. Thank you for sticking with me during this challenge, I know it was a lot more posting than I normally do. Today I am supposed to just write a quick recap of HAWMC. Recap HAWMC; You did it! 30 posts in 30 days. Which was your favorite prompt? Which was the most difficult? Which ideas will you reuse? Who was your favorite fellow blogger? 

Here are my thoughts on the challenge. 

Which was your favorite prompt?

I would have to say my favorite prompts were, Quotation Inspiration - I really enjoyed drawing inspiration from quotes. Dear 16 Year Old Me - surprisingly I really enjoyed this one. When I first looked at the list of prompt this one made me kind of roll my eyes but in the end I think it was kind of therapeutic and I really ended up enjoying it. 10 Things I Couldn't Live Without - this one made me think of what is really important in my life. The Things We Forget - I will definitely use these Post-Its again, and Word Cloud - I've always wondered how people made those word clouds and now I know, I see a lot of them in my future! 

Which was most difficult?

The most difficult ones for me were, Health Mascot - I just really wasn't into this one much I don't really feel like my blog needs a mascot although I still like what I came up with for my mascot. Third Person Post - I found it hard to think of a memory I wanted to write in third person so I kind of veered from the topic a bit on this one, and Health Tagline - although I think it might be great to write a tagline for my blog I just wasn't feeling this topic so found it hard to write on. Looking back, all of these that I found difficult were in the last stretch of the challenge so maybe I was just a little burnt out, who knows maybe I will explore these further later.

Which ideas will you reuse?

Definitely the more list based posts. They felt easy and more fun to read, not to mention easier for me to write! Also the posts that allowed some creativity such as, The Things We Forget, Word Cloud, and Keep Calm and Carry On were a lot of fun for me and not something that I normally would do.

Who was your favorite fellow blogger?

I have to say, one of the things that I regret was not being able to have the time to read through more of other bloggers posts during the challenge. I know there were some great posts out there that I missed and hopefully I will find the time to slowly read through some more of them. 


I also just want to say thank you to WEGO Health for putting together this challenge, it has been a lot of fun and what a great way to bring together so many wonderful bloggers!


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