Now that we’re a little over two weeks into the year—routines have been established, intentions set—I can say somewhat confidently: 2022 feels like a good one. Famous last words, I know, but I can’t help but feel hopeful!

2021 ended pretty strongly. In November, I went home and stayed with my grandparents for three weeks, which was really wonderful. That time was filled with delicious Vietnamese food, Succession, and hangouts with friends and family. I love the Northeast, but there was something really special about being back in Texas.

Then, after a couple weeks in Boston with my boyfriend, I took the Amtrak to New York, where I stayed with my sister and brother-in-law until early January. I had a lot of fun introducing them to geocaching (which I don’t think I’ve mentioned on here yet, but I’m OBSESSED); my sister and I even dedicated an entire day to searching for caches in Manhattan!

I also caught up on a lot of reading during that stay. I didn’t work the week after Christmas, and those extra 8 hours per day were dedicated to (among other things) re-reading Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport—I’d found myself getting sucked back into the Instagram wormhole—and picking up Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer.

The latter book, which makes quite the strong case for vegetarianism, had me thoroughly rethinking my meat consumption. (Same for my brother-in-law, who also read the book!) We all know, on some level, the not-so-pleasant truths about eating animals. We either decide we’re okay with them or just put that knowledge aside during mealtime. I’ve done both. Yet, when confronted with these facts in vivid detail—through lengthy descriptions of waste lagoons, the horrifically cruel treatment of livestock, and the scant sanitary practices within the factory farming system—it just felt wrong to keep turning a blind eye. I was tempted to swear off meat forever.

After a few days though, the shock wore off and I was able to reflect on the reasons I eat meat besides taste. Many of my favorite Vietnamese dishes, for example, include meat, and it’s when I’m eating these —often accompanied by family—that I feel the most connected to my culture. The thought of turning down my grandma’s bún bò feels wrong, as does the prospect of never having a bowl of traditional phở again.

I also considered my love of trying new restaurants, which I do at least once a week. Most, if not all, of the best meals I’ve had included meat. How would things change if my options were limited to 20% of the menu?

Overall, I decided on the following as my “meat philosophy”: when I’m eating alone or in social situations where forgoing meat wouldn’t detract from the experience, I won’t eat it. Otherwise, I’ll partake—life’s all about balance, after all—and not feel bad about it. I’m comfortable with evaluating whether something is “worth it” and proceeding if the answer’s yes. The bar for that is pretty high, but it’s not unreachable.

So, I haven’t eaten meat since leaving New York, and life’s been fine! Below are a few of the yummy vegetarian foods I’ve made so far: bean soup, Brussels sprout and ricotta flatbreads, veggie fried rice with miso soup, and creamy zucchini soup!

The bean soup and flatbreads were actually HelloFresh recipes, which I was eager to try out after hearing countless ads. I ended up cancelling after the first week. Thank god I used a generous promo code, because paying full price did not seem worth it.

Here’s my honest review of the service: I liked the convenience, the easy-to-follow recipe cards, and (of course!) the delicious meals. However, I also expected them to be highly replicable, which they weren’t. A lot of the ingredients were abstracted away into vague spice/seasoning packets, and my hope was that there would be a somewhat educational element of HelloFresh. In other words, if you want to replicate certain meals (*cough cough* the bean soup—the flatbreads were easy enough), you need to use HelloFresh’s ingredients.

An example of this would be the mysterious “Southwest Spice” packet that came with my bean soup. Like, what does that even mean? I looked into this and found an article that conveniently compiled ingredient lists of several HelloFresh spice packets. Turns out “Southwest Spice” = 4 parts garlic powder + 2 parts cumin + 2 parts chili powder. Why not just say that?

An even better example is their “Tex Mex Paste” (also part of the bean soup). I’m pretty sure this was the main source of flavor for the dish. I found a Reddit thread that broke down the paste’s ingredients, and it just didn’t sound as ~fresh and simple~ as HelloFresh’s marketing would lead you to believe:

Fire roasted tomato purée, red chili pepper purée (chili pepper, salt), onion purée, salt, SOYBEAN oil, sugar, tomato powder, natural flavor, Chipotle chile, alkalized cocoa powder, garlic powder, spices, maltodextrin, xanthan gum, rice vinegar.

Maltodextrin, whaaaat? While the other ingredients don’t seem out-of-this-world, I wasn’t a fan of how processed it seemed. To me, the point of a meal kit is to make it easier to cook yummy, unprocessed foods at home. By that definition, HelloFresh just wasn’t cutting it. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Aside from food, another big change in my life has been the introduction of iceskating! In mid-December, I discovered that I’m just a short walk away from a public hockey/skating rink. I’d never been to a public rink before, so I was pleasantly surprised to discover that admission was free and skate rentals were only $5! Growing up, iceskating only happened at the Galleria, and that’s pretty much a $20 ordeal if you don’t have your own skates (which, of course, I didn’t).

Delighted by my apartment’s proximity to the rink, I decided after my first visit that I was going to pick up iceskating. The very next day, I got fitted for skates and signed up for lessons. I’ll admit, I experienced a bit of sticker-shock while purchasing my skates, but I’m so thrilled to own a pair now. I mean, aren’t they just gorgeous!? *swoons*

My group skating lessons are every Saturday, and they’ve been such a source of joy. Each class consists of 40 minutes dedicated to learning new skills, followed by 10 minutes of practice time. It flies by so quickly. I’m currently working on my forward crossovers and have made significant progress on skating backwards! Overall, I’m having a blast—it’s been really neat to pick up such a random hobby as an adult (and to see other adults doing the same)!

I’ll end the update here since this is getting pretty long, but in another post I’ll dive into my New Years resolutions (hint: one is skating-related!) and the routines that are helping me achieve them. I want to be more consistent about blogging this year, so hopefully it isn’t too long until the next one! 👋