As y’all have no doubt noticed, the $35 a Week project has been offline for quite some time now. Most of this is due to the time-sucking vortex that is Life With a Baby, and another part of it is due to the fact I work from home now, and any free time I have during Baby F.’s two distressingly short naps a day goes toward…well…making money. Not blogging. But I am still cooking! Am I doing it for under $35 a week, you ask? (And many of you have asked.) Unfortunately, no. For two reasons: 1. Baby F. is sensitive to dairy, so as long as I’m nursing I’ve had to cut out any traces of dairy from my diet—cheese, milk, buttermilk, etc. I couldn’t go straight vegan because I still needed protein for the nursing, so this necessitated eating more meat, which we all know is not cheap. And 2. We’ve switched to eating all organic produce, which has upped our bill considerably. But I’m still cooking with the $35 a Week principles in mind, and going dairy-free has definitely opened the door to some things I had never considered using before (almond milk, nutritional yeast) but most likely will continue to use even after I can eat dairy again. In any case, stay tuned in the next couple of months for some tips on what I’ve learned about cooking for dietary restrictions on a budget, and thanks for all your words of encouragement!
