Opposite tastes

[Sweet]

My guy and I appear to have COMPLETELY different tastes in food.

I am a health food junkie and he is not. He does not even like vegetables, except onions, while I do not like eating fried foods and processed meats.

Anyone have any ideas as to where we can reach a middle ground?

 

[Andy M.]

I recommend starting with a conversation where you try to reach some compromises. Cook stuff he likes and stuff you like and you both agree to eat all the meals.

Try to develop and find recipes that give him some of what he wants and some of what you want while being somewhat healthier.

I do not recommend trying to hide vegetables in his food and/or lying to him about what he is eating.

 

[Claire]

You don't mention who is doing the cooking here. If you are sharing it, then you should both be tolerant and accepting of the others' tastes.

 

[justplainbill]

Tolerance; alternate between his kind of food and yours. Half rations can be a wonderful dieting technique. If you're a woman of leisure, carrots might be an adequate mainstay. It's hard to imagine a woodchopper or fisherman who didn't deserve something besides vegetables.

 

[GotGarlic]

Sometimes people don't like something cooked one way, but they do like it another way. For example, my husband always thought he hated asparagus. One night, we had tapas with friends where we shared everything and they ordered pan-roasted asparagus with sesame seeds. It was great, and now he loves roasted and grilled asparagus.

Then, he thought that was the only way he liked asparagus, but I've made risotto with peas and asparagus and he liked that, too So maybe trying different cooking methods, and compromising sometimes, will make a difference. HTH.

 

[Yakuta]

I have two boys and I am in a similar situation in my house. My younger son is a junk food addict and eats really unhealthy. My older son is a health freak and eats only stuff that's good for him. We are talking about 8 year old and 10 year olds.

I cannot change my 8 year olds habit because he is very stubborn and will go to bed hungry. He also is a big eater compared to my older one. I don't want him to go to bed hungry so I have to compromise.

He does not touch veggies (diced in any form). The only vegetable he will eat is spinach cooked a particular way and so I make that. He also loves meat so I make a lot of his favorites but with heathier substitues - no red meat. He does like some beans so I make that to get him the protein he needs.

One thing though is that I almost cook every single day and even if I make some stuff that I would not consider absolutely healthy, it's home made and I can use olive oil and other fresh ingredients in it, that make it healthier than if he eat it outside. I also don't fry anything, even his favorites are either pan fried or go into the oven for a bake.

I don't buy soda at home and let him have a glass of orange juice (fortified) so he can load up some vitamins he does not get from the veggies. In addition, I give him a multi-vitamin so he does not completely miss out.

As someone else mentioned I don't like to sneak in anything. I educate him all the time on the benefits of eating a well rounded meal. He listens sometimes but most times will only eat unhealthy. I am hoping as he gets older he makes positive changes and if not unfortunately he will have to suffer the consequences.

 

[Constance]

The best you can do is offer healthy meals and hope that he'll eventually learn better eating habits.

 

[Maverick2272]

The only differences we have are spinach, 'American food', and Korean food. The first two are no problem. If she wants spinach she fixes just enough for herself (the kids don't like it either) and we fix a difference veggie for ourselves. The 'American food' she doesn't like are pizza and most fast food. Come to think of it she doesn't like lasagna or spaghetti either. On those nights she just makes herself a salad and soup from a can.
The Korean food is our only problem. None of the restaurants we have seen offer anything else for those that don't like it, and while she loves it I hate it. So far the best we can manage is take out from a Korean restaurant for her then take out from a Chinese restaurant for the rest of us. But I know she wants to be able to go to one of the nicer sit down restaurants, so one of these days I am going to just have to grin and bear it for her.

 

[justplainbill]

The Korean food is our only problem. None of the restaurants we have seen offer anything else for those that don't like it, and while she loves it I hate it. So far the best we can manage is take out from a Korean restaurant for her then take out from a Chinese restaurant for the rest of us. But I know she wants to be able to go to one of the nicer sit down restaurants, so one of these days I am going to just have to grin and bear it for her.

Have you tried Bulgogi?

 

[luvs]

me & my fiance don't like similar foods, either. he loves fastfood. i like fast food, occassionally, too. not like him, though! that's daily faire for him!!

so we finally recently spoke bout how that upsets me. he agreed to my meals interjected with fastfood, & when we dine on fast food, i order healthy options like fruit & salad.
unless we're dining at a fancy restaurant- then i'll indulge.

 

[GotGarlic]

My guy and I appear to have COMPLETELY different tastes in food.

I am a health food junkie and he is not. He does not even like vegetables, except onions, while I do not like eating fried foods and processed meats.

Anyone have any ideas as to where we can reach a middle ground?

Does he not like spaghetti with tomato sauce? That's pretty healthy, especially if you use whole-grain spaghetti. Also, and I wouldn't hide this, but you can use a food processor to mince veggies like bell peppers and zucchini very finely and include that in a tomato sauce with lots of onions and garlic and get some extra veggie servings that way.

If he does like pasta or stir-fries, you could make a basic recipe without meat (if that's how you like it), remove your portion from the pan, and then add the kind of meat he likes.

On the nights you make something he likes (as part of that compromising thing mentioned previously), you could make a big salad for yourself, so you're eating less of the part of the meal you're not so fond of.

HTH.

 

[Maverick2272]

Have you tried Bulgogi?

Uh.. what's that??

 

[justplainbill]

A Korean beef dish, widely discussed on the internet.

 

[JoeV]

Have you tried Bulgogi?

OMG, my son introduced me to Bulgogi at a little carryout Korean place. Excellent! Unfortunately, there are more people in our town with tastes like Maverick, and the place is now closed. Bummer.

JoeV

 

[PytnPlace]

Oh, I'm in the same boat. I like to eat healthy, my hubby has a limited palate, geared toward junk and high fat foods. He's in his mid forties and still can eat all of that crap w/out consequences (weight gain, cholesterol, etc.) I am glad that he likes onions and garlic, cuz that would've been the deal breaker, LOL. I have found some middle ground. He loves tacos so we have that a couple times a month. I use ground turkey instead of ground beef, add some black beans (cuz he likes black beans) and soy crumbles (he doesn't know that part) and use Penzey's taco seasoning, adding some more seasonings of my own. He thinks they are the best taco's he's ever had. First nite taco's, second nite taco salad. He loves burgers and fries. I have a great turkey burger - not at all dry. And I do oven baked "fries". He does like fatty steaks. I'm more of a fish, chicken girl. It's easy to grill out a steak for him and a chicken breast for me. He loves fried chicken. I do to but I'd choose to keep my weight and cholesterol in control. So I sometimes pick him up a few pieces for him and I'll have one of my healthy frozen meals and finagle one bite of that chicken, cuz I gotta at least have a taste!

It is a challange, sometimes you both have to compromise, but there is common ground to be found.

 

[GhettoRacingKid]

veggies are rocking they jsut got a bad rep.

what about making the veggies in a not so healthy way?

I sautee string beans and such in butter and some butter. its rocking

 

[Claire]

Yakuta, try baked sweet potatoes. Very nutritious, and a lot of kids like them. Good for both boys. Another thing when it comes to veggies. You mention the one only likes spinach as a veg. Look at how you prepare spinach and think of other vegs you can prepare in the same manner.

 

[Claire]

By the way, many Asians really can't process dairy products well, just as many Asian women cannot process booze. So her dislike of some of the dishes you mention may be connected to this. Lived in Hawaii for years and learned these simple basics. This is by no means all, so no one write and tell me how much you love these things. A Korean-American-Hawaiin friend who is a doctor told me it has to do with enzymes.

 

[TanyaK]

We're very compatible. There isn't a single food item that DH doesn't like (except bean sprouts but he'll still eat it). One thing where we differ is that I don't eat liver, kidneys etc and he loves it - he gets his chicken liver fix if it's on the menu when we eat out. Neither of us like junk food very much either - take out pizza once a month maybe.

 

[ChefJune]

Sometimes people don't like something cooked one way, but they do like it another way. For example, my husband always thought he hated asparagus. One night, we had tapas with friends where we shared everything and they ordered pan-roasted asparagus with sesame seeds. It was great, and now he loves roasted and grilled asparagus.

Then, he thought that was the only way he liked asparagus, but I've made risotto with peas and asparagus and he liked that, too So maybe trying different cooking methods, and compromising sometimes, will make a difference. HTH.

That's a really good idea, GG... I often roast Brussels Sprouts along with the more common potatoes, carrots and the like, and it's really amazing how many people who claim they absolutely HATE the little sprouts can't seem to get enough of them roasted.