Food journey so far + happy weekend

So it's been about two weeks since my (Almost) Vegan Thanksgiving post and how I declared I was going to try and make changes to the way I eat. My main goal was to cut meat but then also switching out dairy products when we finished what we have in our fridge.

Some things I realized since two weeks ago.

I don't really go crazy for eggs and cheese and while I have been drinking milk the past year, I was drinking soy milk for much longer (until I found out that it could cause infertility, which was when I went back to milk). So drinking milk that's not from cows isn't a big deal for me.

I also realized that I don't really eat a lot of meat on the regular. I do have to say that I did have meat once since trying to go meatless and that was when I was just too tired to cook and was so hungry that Yangkyu and I just went to a Korean restaurant that we frequent to grab a bowl of seolleongtang. That was still just a couple of days after Thanksgiving and now the thought of meat (certain meat)  is kind of is gross. 

In terms of cutting out meat, the trickiest part has been the ease at which sandwiches came in handy during lunch time. A few times a month I would pick up cold cuts from the deli and enjoy ham and turkey sandwiches. It was convenient and, well, I like sandwiches (especially stuffing potato chips in them - does anyone do this??)! But do I miss it? I do, but not to the point where I think I'm missing out. And plus, while I enjoyed meat sandwiches, veggie sandwiches are just as good and I also enjoy a nice bowl of rice and my favorite Korean side dishes are all plant and root based. 

Yangkyu and I also used to enjoy Korean BBQ at home. Not often. Maybe every two months? (I realized we really don't eat a lot of meat to begin with - well Yangkyu probably more because he eats out at work but I really don't). And the few times we did have it, I enjoyed it. But my thought right now is, it won't kill me if I never have it. 

But with all this realization, I am not sure where I am going with this new food journey of mine. We had (or tried) to have a vegan Thanksgiving but I don't plan on giving up on fish or shellfish. And the broth I make for Korean stews are based on scallion roots, kelp, onions, radish and dried anchovies. And we use fish oil a lot for flavor.

And while I don't go crazy for dairy products, it's again this convenience issue. Eggs for breakfast is just something wired in me. I have had eggs once since going meatless at the end of November (for breakfast) and while I do plan on cutting it out of my baking, I am not too sure if it'll go away entirely for consumption. We'll see. 

Butter though, we have completely made the switch over to a vegan brand called Earth Balance and we have no issues with it whatsoever. 

Yangkyu and I have also tried tofu turkey (terrible), chickpea patties (vegetarian only - so good!) and recently got jackfruit pulled pork. I am slightly nervous about this one because jackfruit is durian fruit and while I have never had it, I have been told of its strong pungent smell (something I am most likely will not be a fan of). We still got it because Yangkyu wanted to try it. So one of these nights we'll be having it for dinner. 

We also tried a new vegan hummus brand which we absolutely love and right now I am trying out almond milk, although I don't think I am a fan of it. I already went through a bottle and picked up an almond and coconut milk mix, which I am also not too crazy about. 

Finally, I have also joined a couple of Vegan Facebook groups and have been reading people's recipes, journeys (why they became vegan - mainly health and animal rights reasons) and how they manage to budget. It's all been very eyeopening and inspiring.

Again, I shouldn't probably label this journey as vegan. And it's not really a peso-vegetarian since I am cutting out all dairy with eggs an exception (maybe?), or perhaps it is? Who knows.

Well, whatever it is, it's been going well. Mainly because I don't mind the changes and because I have realized that I don't need to make drastic changes.

Hopefully two weeks from now I can report back to say that it's going even better. 

So have a wonderful weekend, friends. We may get our first snow of the year. While I am not a big fan of the fluffy stuff, firsts are always exciting.