My Story

My allergy story starts in May 2009 when I found out I was allergic to a number of different foods. I had gone to see my ND (naturopathic doctor) about my seasonal allergies I have suffered from for years.  My doctor suggested we test for food allergies that could be affecting my body’s response to outside allergies. When the test results came back we found out I have a TON of food allergies!  The big ones are gluten, dairy, eggs & soy… and a few in between! :)  I was shocked! I had absolutely no idea!

After recovering from my initial shock I decided to do some research.  I found it to be very daunting and overwhelming looking from site to site, book to book, for tips, tricks and recipes for things I actually wanted to eat - normal things!  Or what about a safe place to eat out when I didn’t feel like cooking? I found some information and help about my allergies separately but when I took into consideration all of them it seemed there was very little to nothing out there to help me. 

This struggle is what inspired me to create Allergy Free and Cheap Like Me. I not only wanted to be able to share things I have learned but also wanted a place for others who may be in the same situation to share what they have learned.  I hope you find Allergy Free and Cheap Like Me useful and please feel free to share your experiences. I also hope to incorporate into Allergy Free and Cheap Like Me the cost of eating on a special diet. If you have recently looked at some of the allergy free products out there you know it can become very expensive very fast.  I hope to share with you some of the cost saving tips my husband and I use to stay within our food budget. 

The newest hurdle in my allergy world has been my husband and my recent move to Fairbanks, Alaska!  Fairbanks has limited places to buy groceries and places to eat out and it’s expensive! It has been a new challenge to figure out how to eat the way I need to and have it fit into our budget.  

***Disclaimer: I am in no means an expert on allergies or any other topic for that matter. :)  Recipes I share although I have found them safe for me may not be safe for another person with the same allergies. All of our bodies react differently to different levels of allergens, so please take caution. None of my allergies cause me an anaphylactic reaction, a trace amount of an allergen found in one product or another may not affect me the way it would affect someone who has a higher sensitivity.  Having said this I really do try very hard to find products that are guaranteed completely safe. But given the current regulations on labeling, labels are not always complete and companies do not have to list trace amounts of allergens, it is not always possible.  Also, although a product may not list an allergen in their ingredients list it may come into contact with an allergen during the production process. So please keep this in mind!