The Theoretical DoctorMy Grocery List As A Junior Doctor – While I Was In My Vegetarian Phase
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Being a Junior Doctor or a House Officer, we are located the lowest in the hierarchy of medical personnels. That is because we have just started practicing which means there is still a lot for us to learn on top of learning how to be a safe doctor as well as the simple management of the patients’ condition down to their tailored management. Thus, this automatically translates into long hours at work, a mentally and physically tiring journey as well as a reduction in our total night’s sleep.
Are we married to our work? In a way yes and also no.
Not that we want to or that we are workaholics but being in this field, it is an unspoken expectation which seems to have befallen us.
Thus, our so-called “work-life balance” is almost always in disequilibrium and we try our best to destress in whatever way suits us best.
For me, it is cooking and recently, I have embarked on a vegetarian journey for the Lenten season (at the time of writing this article, it was during Lent), as well as a way of trying to be a pinch healthier to my already unhealthy lifestyle.
Since I enjoy making my own meals, I rarely eat outside. Thus, the idea that vegetarian food is a little bit difficult to be obtained or ordered online, does not really bother me.
A bright side to this is that, I’m lacto-ovo-vegetarian, meaning I consume egg amidst being vegetarian as well as dairy products and throughout my vegetarian season, I did not reduce my food portion (which may be bad). Rather, I simply changed my food choices from non-vegetarian to vegetarian and from ordering take-outs to consuming more home prepared meals.
Thus, what are the grocery items that I ensure I stock up on a regular basis?
1. Tofu
Photo by Polina Tankilevitch on Pexels.comI absolutely CANNOT live without tofu. It is extremely versatile as I could make any kind of dish with it. Most of the time, I would simply dice it and marinade with some spices and air fry it.
At times, when I’m feeling fancy, I would use it as a burger patty as well.
2. Mushrooms
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.comThis is another versatile ingredient. From enoki mushrooms to crab mushrooms, oyster mushrooms or button mushrooms, you name it. I’m a big fan.
I try my best to stock up on fresh mushrooms. However, since I go through it pretty fast, I would usually fall back to dried mushrooms since it is readily available in the mart of my residential area.
3. Eggs
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.comLuckily, I chose to be lacto-ovo-vegetarian, meaning if I ran out of ingredients, I could pretty much add egg, be it just cracking them into my broth or frying them.
4. Bird’s Eye Chilli
Photo by Anna Nekrashevich on Pexels.comBird’s eye chilli or “cili padi” as we call it in Malaysia.
I am a big fan of spicy food and since I go through chilli powder pretty fast, I started incorporating them into my dishes.
Be warned though, if you’re not a fan of spicy dishes, adding one too many may render the dish unconsumable.
5. Rolled Oats
Photo by Karyna Panchenko on Pexels.comThis usually takes some time before it finishes.
Since I am a “heavy eater”, I started substituting my rice with rolled oats instead, which is something I started doing 2 years ago.
I’m not a big fan of having my oats with milk as I find it rather sweet or sometimes just bland for my palate. Instead, I prefer savoury dishes and the oats complements most of the dishes well.
6. Curry Leaves
Photo by Rahul Sonawane on Pexels.comThis does not really serve any purpose except I merely enjoy the aroma emitting when I sizzle it with oil, adding a nice aroma to my dishes.
7. Random Vegetables – Cabbage, Leafy Vegetables, Potatoes, Cabbage
Photo by Mark Stebnicki on Pexels.comI started eating greens again.
I have always loved eating vegetables. However, it is not easily obtained since I do not have a car, I rarely go out and the nearby residential mart does not sell them.
Thus, I order online, I usually have a few fallback vegetables which I would add to my cart which are cabbages, any leafy vegetables, potatoes and aubergines.
Photo by Laker on Pexels.comCabbage is another versatile vegetable as I could add it to my curry dishes and it does not wilt immediately, as an extra ingredient in my stir fried noodles as well as when I cook “okonomiyaki”.
These are my food grocery list by default. I’m not exactly a health conscious person despite being a doctor myself nor do I reduce my food portion. It is merely a step for me to try and be a little bit healthier which is sustainable for me and hopefully in time, it deems fruitful.
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