Everyone knows the expression "the way to a man's heart is through his stomach," right? I've certainly found this to be true.
A few weeks ago, I cooked my guy a steak, and from the way he looked at me, you'd have thought I was the goddess Aphrodite.
Sure, if I had all the time and money in the world, I'd love to spoil him with delicious home-cooked meals every night. I'd have made a great 1950s housewife if only I had a greater tolerance for hairspray, high heels and submission.
The problem, however, is that I also like to eat, and our culinary preferences are oftentimes in direct conflict. The situation is, again, hindered by a lack of time and money.
He's a carnivore: As in, he can't stand vegetables. I love vegetables. And I haven't eaten a hamburger since 1992. He's happy to eat fast food. I prefer local and organically grown.
Needless to say, meal planning takes a strategic approach.
Sometimes, the strategy is to have none at all. This is also known as being incredibly lazy. He eats chicken patties, I eat mashed butternut squash or oatmeal. I do not recommend this strategy, but I won't deny it happens.
Other times, we make something for both of us, and then one of us will add as needed. We both like pasta. But it likes his hips less than mine, so I can't eat quite as much. On pasta nights, he'll cook up the penne or spaghetti while I prepare some vegetables to mix in with my (smaller) portion. It works fine.
And, yes, there's definitely compromising. That pasta I mentioned is almost always whole wheat. He'd prefer the white flour variety, but he eats the whole-wheat version because it's what I like. I make compromises, too. I might eat a piece of chicken every now and again, or buy 2-percent milk instead of skim.
Of course, sometimes we'll indulge both of our desires -- whole milk for him, soy or almond milk for me. It feels like a bit of an unnecessary luxury to have two kinds of milk in the house, but sometimes we're both feeling stubborn. Or one of us wants to spoil the other a bit.
I get a little worried about how I'm going to handle things when we have kids. I'm formulating elaborate stories about Daddy's deadly vegetable allergies that will turn his face 47 shades of green. But we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
Before I have to make my imaginary offspring eat their vegetables, we have a more immediate culinary challenge. I have decided to participate in a monthlong diet that is entirely focused on plant-based foods -- vegetables, fruits, nuts, whole grains -- and eschews any processed food or animal products, including eggs and dairy.
This limits our common food options even more than usual. It will require more willingness to compromise on his part and more creativity on both our parts, more so mine, since I'm the one who is making the choice that will bring on this challenge in the first place.
I'm looking forward to the opportunity to be innovative, as well as finding ways to work in tandem to please us both without having to make separate meals for a month.
If anyone has any good recipes, particularly ones that can be altered for consumers of both flora and fauna, please feel free to send them my way.