Hello my Loves!
The month of August literally flew before my eyes. Where did Spring and Summer go?
First off, I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for letting me be a part of your lives. Your support has really humbled me throughout the years.
When I created TheFrugalistaMOM blog almost 8 years ago, on September 13th to be exact, my goal is simply to share my little joys and frustrations as a mom trying to manage her children’s multiple food allergies. It was really a lonely world back then as most parents avoid discussing the subject.
During the early days, I started reviewing some gluten free and allergy friendly products I found so that I can save you the burden of having to buy expensive items which will eventually end up in the trash can. One, because your child simply refuse to eat it. Two, it is simply not worth eating or three, it doesn’t work at all.
Then, I slowly posted our well tested and well accepted recipes. Not only did my kids have a readily accessible recipe collection, I was also able to help you feed your allergic child and find some “normalcy”. Remember the donuts, cupcakes and the mango ice cream?
Finally, I wrote more of our experiences. Then out of the blue, I found myself being called an official blogger and influencer. I never considered myself anything “fancy” as I feel I am just a mom trying to feed my food loving kids (who happen to have a bunch of food restrictions) and sharing my experiences to others like you who are also on the same boat as we are.
In fact, all these years, I consider myself as a serial “imperfect” blogger. Many of my pictures are not magazine ready. My posting schedule is notoriously inconsistent. Oh, and don’t get me started on my ever changing newsletter. Yes, I do cringe whenever I read articles about what bloggers should not do.
A part of me struggles whenever I post something that doesn’t seem perfect. But a small voice inside me always says “click it”. That’s good enough. You see, in my heart, I am doing this because I felt I was put into this situation for a purpose. And that is to help YOU better navigate life with food allergies by showing the raw, unscripted and real me.
This pandemic has cancelled all the things that kept me busy (mom life) and gave me the greatest opportunity to reflect on what I can do to better reach out to you, my beloved readers and followers.
After putting this amazing and often requested idea on the side for years, I finally said “I WILL.”
Early this month, I launched an online TALK Show called “GETTING CANDID WITH ROCHIE”. (FYI, Rochie is my childhood nickname and this is what my all friends all know me as.) Every Wednesday, a special guest and I will go LIVE on my FB Page and YouTube Channel and we will talk about a specific topic that I know is something that is also close to your heart.
Because it is LIVE, you are more than welcome to join the conversation by typing questions, personal tips and ideas during the show. Something like a coffee (or wine) meet up.
You can check the list of past episodes of Getting Candid with Rochie. I highly recommend the episode with Dana Martin of ABCGlutenFree where we talked about Living with Food Allergies While Raising Kids.
Speaking of YouTube, I finally felt inspired and confident to create videos for you. Which got me thinking, what type of content do you like to watch more of?
- Product Reviews
- Cooking and Baking How To’s
- Q and A’s
- Food Allergy / Gluten Free News or updates
Please help me know what you like by commenting below, sending me an email, or a direct message on any of my social media accounts. I really want to hear what you think.
Before I end, I would like to invite to this Wednesday’s LIVE with Stephanie Sorkin, the author of Nutley, the Nut Free Squirrel. Mark your calendars okay.
The past eight years was filled with so many intersections, detours and even jughandles (just like New Jersey). But thankfully, you stayed with me on this journey. For that I can say “I am truly blessed”. I hope you will allow me to be a blessing to you to as well.
“It is not about how much you do but how much love you put into what you do that counts.” – St. Teresa of Culcatta
Hugs,
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