The Allergy Grocer

This is a website I was pointed to by the nurse at our allergist's office (who also has to deal with multiple food allergies in her home).

http://allergygrocer.com

Their list of products was unbelievable - I felt like a kid in a candy store. I started ordering and couldn't stop. Not long into my order, I realized it was getting a bit expensive so I decided to stop for the time being. Happy with my order (on a Sunday night I must add), I proceeded to the check out. I ordered a few frozen items (which them mentioned that they only ship at the beginning of the week so that they don't get stuck in the mail), chose my delivery options and found out that I was about to be charged over $200 for $97 of food!!! I couldn't believe it! The site didn't give you this information before you confirmed the order and there was no way to go back! I quickly emailed them that I wanted to cancel the frozen items and stick to the rest of the order (which would have only been $20 for shipping). I didn't hear anything back on Monday morning, so I quickly called them. Thank goodness I did as they say they didn't see my email and were getting my order ready. The woman I spoke to was very nice and told me that I could get it sent by a cheaper ground option since I lived in MA (they're located in MD) which wasn't available or mentioned on the website. I chose that instead and received everything a couple of days later. I mentioned that they website should tell you the shipping price before confirming, but she didn't say much other than my credit card would be credited for the difference in the shipping. I've learned my lesson, if I'm going to order from them again, I'm going to call them :)

Household ratings:
selection of items: 9/10
website ease of use: 5/10
prices: 1/10 (items are expensive and that's not including the additional shipping)
overall: 5/10

Basha's Natural Marketplace & Cafe - Hudson, MA

I found Basha's Natural Marketplace & Cafe on the same google search that I found Debra's Natural Gourmet.

http://www.basha.com/home.html

I also only stopped by because they were local. To be fair, because of their website, I should have been able to tell that food was not their top priority (they are more of a supplement store). They have one small isle of food items, but was happy to find corn pretzels and a chocolate flavor of the Rice Dream Ice Cream there. Their cafe sounds great (their menu is on their website) and looked great, without allergen free bread, it wasn't a choice.

I doubt I will be going back since there was nothing there that I couldn't get (or have ordered) somewhere else.

Household rating: 3/10 (based on grocery items alone)

Debra's Natural Gormet - West Concord, MA

I did a google search of Health Food Stores near Sudbury, MA and was pleasantly surprised to find one in Concord. Their website is:

http://www.debrasnaturalgourmet.com/index.html

By visiting their website, I never would have guessed that the store was as great as it was. If it wasn't for being so close by, I'm not sure I would have even ventured there. Luckily we decided to take a ride yesterday and liked what we found. They have a fantastic selection of just about everything I can think of. They have a great selection of the different kind of flours that I've researched but hadn't found yet. At some point I will get around to trying some of them and will review them for my blog. In the meantime, I stuck to the basics - corn pasta, maple syrup, enjoy life rice milk bars, cornbread mix, and egg replacer. The store itself had a very friendly atmosphere and you can tell that the people there were genuine when offering to help you. They also would order items needed, I just was looking to find things (BREAD!) before having them order it for me. Luckily they carry other items from companies I've researched for bread, so as soon as I try them and like them, I know I'll be getting them to order for me. Although some of their prices for staple items were more expensive (as to be expected compared to chain grocery stores), I know we'll be shopping her frequently.

Household rating: 7/10 (with the potential to be higher once we work with them on getting more specific items)

Whole Foods - Wayland, MA

When I first learned of Emily's allergies, I started looking for food options at our local grocery stores. Whole Foods seemed to be a good place to start and I found a wide variety of things I've already blogged about (baby food, enjoy life brand, and more). It wasn't until we confirmed her wheat allergy that I realized the store wasn't enough. They have a frozen section with lots of gluten-free breads, but every one of them contains egg! They don't have any options for those with multiple allergies. I will still continue to shop there for staples (rice pasta, rice milk, baby food), I just would love to find a place that I can do more of a "one-stop shopping".

household rating: 5/10

I'm back!

Sorry for the lack of posts the last 6 weeks or so. The baby had many more bad nights that lead us to eating an extreme elimination diet so I didn't have anything new to report. After a couple trips to both the pediatric allergist and the pediatric GI doctors - I think we're finally getting somewhere. Emily had another RAST blood test that came back positive for milk, egg, and peanut. She also had low positives for wheat and oat, but the allergist thought they were too low to worry about. He asked me to try to reintroduce them back into her diet and see what happened. The baker that I am (and the fact that her 1st birthday was approaching), I started with wheat. Not only was I to use the 4 day rule, I was also to wait a week inbetween any new introductions. She got sick right away on wheat - so we were back to the doctor again. This time they did a skin prick test which was positive for wheat. If there was any good news in all of this, it was that she seems to have outgrown the soy allergy. She passed both the RAST and skin tests for it. I haven't reintroduced it yet, but I hope it will go well. Last week we reintroduced rice and this week corn. Next week will be turkey! I timed this because of thanksgiving of course as I couldn't imagine going without (but would have if I had to). Since I have to have it one day anyway as a tester, I'm waiting until Thanksgiving day so that I can have it guilt free. The other advantage is that if she does get sick through the night, both my husband and I are off work the following day!

We've been trying lots of items lately - both some successes and some failures. I'm hoping to try to get caught up on my reviews this weekend, so there will be many more posts. I've also visited some new stores that carry allergen free items so I'm thinking about doing reviews on local places I've found as well as some online grocers.