That said, this post is about a deal. And here's why.
The last time I had oats I was doubled over in pain for 12 hours. My stomach did NOT forgive me for that. I decided that I must be intolerant to oats the same way many gluten sensitive people are.
But then I read more, and I discovered that most oats are heavily contaminated by gluten, so its very possible that I wasn't reacting to the oats themselves, only to the gluten that it was contaminated with. To know if it was oats I was sensitive to or just to the gluten contamination, I looked to buy certified gluten free oats, or certified gluten free oat flour.
Yea...
Gluten free oats here cost nearly 7 dollars a pound. Gluten free oat flour costs 14 dollars per pound. Yes, seriously. That's approximately what a T-bone steak costs here per pound. And T-bone steaks aren't cheap here...
Yea, I couldn't justify buying gluten free oats just to test it out...
And then I heard about vitacost.com. My friends bought from Vitacost and told me about their referral program. If they referred me to Vitacost, they'd get a 10 dollar off coupon and so would I. Each person they referred to Vitacost would earn their friend a 10 dollar off coupon and them a ten dollar off coupon.
And just to make it more appealing, my friend pointed out to me that I could buy gluten free oat flour from Vitacost for a little under 6 dollars a pound. And then if I buy that and something else (so my total is 10 dollars or over), I could use my 10 dollar coupon and pay NOTHING for the gluten free oat flour, only shipping.
And oh, international shipping is a flat rate of $6.99 per pound so long as your purchase weighs less than 3 pounds.
So, I ordered a pound of gluten free oat flour, and a pound of xylitol, because its supposed to stop tooth decay and we're having problems with my kids teeth (and their blood test for celiac came back negative, but we didnt gluten overload first... and I still am cutting back on the amount of gluten they eat to see if that helps their teeth) and I'm hoping that my kids brushing their teeth with xylitol will stop further decay...
So, the xylitol was also approximately 6 dollars per pound. And oh- did I mention that you can't buy xylitol here as far as I know?
Total cost of my order before using the coupon? 12 dollars.
Total cost after applying the coupon? 2 measly dollars!
Total cost after adding shipping? 9 dollars.
9 dollars for a pound of gluten free oat flour and a pound of xylitol, when locally, even one pound of the oat flour would cost 5 more dollars, but this price also includes the xylitol. (You know something is wrong when purchasing something from overseas is cheaper than buying it locally...)
Anyhow, because of this referral program, I got a terrific deal.
Vitacost has so many different types of products, and most of them have very good products. They have health foods, gluten free grocery items, vitamins, herbal remedies, healthy bath and body products, and many other things. And if you join through this link, you get 10 dollars free, and I get free 10 dollars so we both win. And then if you refer people to Vitacost, through the referral program they get 10 dollars free and you get 10 dollars free for each person that joins.
Its a win, win situation, in my opinion. Who doesn't like free money? Who doesn't like to support their favorite blogger while at the same time getting free money for themselves?
So anyhow, check out and Join Vitacost. Its really worth it, in my opinion!
On top of their pretty good prices, they also have decent sales pretty often! (P.S. But that doesn't mean I'm advocating consumerism. Only buy something you'd be getting anyhow- don't splurge on something just because "there's a sale".
Have you ever heard of Vitacost before, and have you purchased things from there? If you've checked them out before, how do their prices compare to your local prices?
If you're sensitive to gluten, are you able to eat oats? How much do gluten free oats or gluten free oat flour cost locally?
Ever hear of xylitol? Do you use it?