Encouraged but poor!
This is what I said to my mother after we'd left a gourmet grocery recently. I'd gone to scope out the gluten-free dairy-free scene to see what substitutes I could get to make this trial month easier. In short: EVERYTHING!!! And more! There is even more variety than if I were eating a regular diet. Take the flours for instance: almond, oat, chick pea, coconut, cassava.........I had my pick. Side note: cassava flour is gross! I bought a little pack back in 2020 and I think it will still be in the fridge well into 2025!
Anyway, I walked around the grocery in awe, but more so because of the PRICES! The first thing I'd come across was butter. The first price tag I saw was about $100. My heart sank! The butter I get is usually around $30 and that's fairly expensive. I saw an everything-free one for $60 though and figured I could try that. After the initial shock from the butter price I swung around to the nut butter shelves: another $100 or more! I was about ready to walk out at that point! Unless you're planning to "eat from the earth", this journey is EXPENSIVE! Unfortunately my budget is not. Oh, the fancy flours are around $100 as well, for a bag that's still smaller than a $20 regular one.
I left that store (with the butter, which tastes pretty good!) feeling happy that at least there were options for everything, but I quickly realised that when I have no problem fitting my groceries into my budget at present, I was going to be in a serious predicament come April!
However, faith was restored since Mummy has been experimenting up a storm over the past few days. I've had coconut flour pancakes, plantain with several meals, salmon in different ways, dhal and almond bread, and almond flour pizza. Nothing tastes like the original but I'm not starving. Apart from Mummy's food, I'd been really bad for a few days, soaking up the last chance to eat bread and cheese. Paid for that dearly.
I think I'm ready for April though. I'll make a trip to the fancy grocery again to get a few things (read: SNACKS), but since Mummy has been cooking, I'm realising I don't NEED to have everything substituted. I discovered that some veggie substitutes I had been eating contain gluten (another reason why I couldn't figure why my stomach would hurt) so I have to cut those out. In addition, my cousin alerted me to something called "nightshades", which are certain foods like my good ole potatoes that some people find may cause stomach issues. I'm not getting rid of potatoes completely, but can monitor the amount. This means that my food choices are shrinking more but I have come up with a list of 20 food items I can tolerate and enjoy, which would include some veggies and fruits, carbs, proteins, and fats. Drinks allowed would be water, tea and wine (hooray!) I got this!
