Picky partner

Hey guys, just wondering if anyone could share some advice/tips for cooking some yummy meals. It is a nightmare cooking for my partner. He will not eat potatoes, pasta or rice, which on the whole is not a huge problem but some nights I find myself at a loss at what to cook for him. I am a person who loves my starches and sometimes it would be nice for us to sit down and share the same meal. Root vegetables are also a big no-no. I am not a great cook but I am also not afraid to try new things. I cook chicken enchiladas sometimes which he really enjoys but there is only so many times you can cook a certain thing before you get bored of it. He is also no a huge fan of minced beef.
Many thanks

...tell him to cook for himself...

reply to post by Starcaller


Dear Starcaller,

I hate onions and mushrooms and do my own cooking unless someone will cook without it. It is not an issue for me because I won't eat what I don't like and am old enough to make that decision. Food is the one thing that we don't share, at least how the taste affects us is individual. As I got older I have tried new foods; but, I was as picky as they come. I didn't even like Chinese food until I was in my 30s because I didn't know if it had onions or mushrooms in it.

I am a person who loves my starches and sometimes it would be nice for us to sit down and share the same meal. Root vegetables are also a big no-no. I am not a great cook but I am also not afraid to try new things. I cook chicken enchiladas sometimes which he really enjoys but there is only so many times you can cook a certain thing before you get bored of it. He is also no a huge fan of minced beef.

Make your starches for you and skip that part of the meal for him. You don't have to go without what you like and he won't care if he goes without what he doesn't like. Best wishes and I don't even know what minced beef is, is that like hamburger in the states?

reply to post by Starcaller


Feed him the same soup, night after night after night, while you enjoy a hearty meal.

When he complains...tell him to cook the next meal, and the one after that, and the one after that.

I'm sure you get the picture.

Picky eaters are such killjoys.

Thanks for reply, It is ground beef I think. Sorry i'm so used to calling it minced

It is all well and good telling him to cook for himself, which sometimes I will. But as I love him I want to cook for him and see him get enjoyment out of something I made for him. Sometimes I will make a shepard's pie or something and he will say "That does look really nice and I would love to enjoy it but I just hate the texture of the potato".

I am somewhat surprised to hear you are able to cook chicken enchiladas, if those are anything like we would have here in Mexico, i.e., made with corn tortillas and chile sauce, etc. I hear Mexican-style food is catching-on in Europe but some of the ingredients are cost-prohibitive in many places. A kilo of fresh-made tortillas here sell for a bit under $1us and are a basic for many foods.

If he likes that starchy product OK I could help you explore some options, and if I knew what you get is basically the same product we have. A taco is basically a sandwich of anything you can wrap in a tortilla and the tortilla can be fried (tacos dorados) or soft. The common American version is fried shell with ground beef, lettuce, tomato, and onion (usually) but that version is not usually found here and shredded or cubed meats of any or all types with a sprinkling of chopped onion and a dash of chile salsa in a soft tortilla is the norm. A simple quesadilla is satisfying and is basically a tortilla fried and doubled over filled with cheese but often has meats or other filling in it as well. Beans and/or rice typically round-out the meal but you can skip the rice, though Mexican/Spanish rice preparations often appeal to non-rice eaters. If you can get the tortilla corn-flour then tamales are another area to be explored.

If you have tortillas that are getting dry you can make chilaquillas by cutting them into pieces and cooking them lightly in sauce, sprinkle with cheese and onions, or optionally top with a fried egg or shredded meat of any type.

These are all simple, easy, and inexpensive to prepare, here, and I can give you more ideas if you would like them and if I knew which of those ingredients are easily at hand in the UK. Mexican foods are among the spiciest and tastiest around the world, IMO. You opened that door by mentioning chicken enchiladas, to my surprise - in the UK of all places, and you can do many variations on those with other meats or just cheese and onion fillings. It's all good.

reply to post by Erongaricuaro


Yes, I picked up a packet in the supermarket once which comes with the sauce and corn tortillas and loved it. I would quite like to try some more mexican dishes preferably with chicken as I find them quite tastey and full of flavour and relatively easy to prepare. I would love to hear some of your ideas. Thanks for replying, great post

Make some chicken wraps! Easy to do.

get some big flour tortilla's, boneless chicken breasts, lettuce, some shredded cheese, tomato and maybe even some bacon, chop it all up into strips in the center of the flour tortilla, add some ranch dressing and fold it all up. It makes some awesome easy chicken wraps. Works good with turkey as well, especially with the bacon.

I dated someone for two years who was the pickiest eater I have ever met.

Many things he refused to eat, he ate because he didn't see me put them in there. I was making ranchero sauce and had the ingredients in a food processor and he freaked cause it had peppers and onions. I told him that is how it was made and he ate that way everytime I made it!

I found myself making dinner for two separately. I made most of his stuff on a Foreman Grill, which is how he wanted it. He wanted no seasoning or anything, just butter. Drove me nuts! Sometimes he would eat what I ate but he preferred his menu of food. It wasn't bad but it was too bland for me to have daily.

oops double post

reply to post by Starcaller


As for the things you really like, do what i did make them anyways on the side. You shouldn't go without something you enjoy just because they don't like it.

reply to post by mblahnikluver


Yes, It can be frustrating at times cooking two seperate meals at dinner time, sometimes it would just be nice to sit down and enjoy the same meal. I will often just make him something and then cook myself a pasta dish (I love pasta). I find a common problem I have is that, I will find something he likes and we can both eat together and then I will cook it to death and he goes off it then

Chicken wraps, love em, I actually often eat them, nice and light and easy to make.

reply to post by Starcaller


Yea I know how that can be, it is frustrating.

My fiancee (ex is long gone ) isn't picky at all. I love it because I love to cook and like to try new things and need someone willing to try them besides me.

What things does he like to eat that you do as well?

Does he eat any veggies? What is it about potatoes, rice and pasta he doesnt like? Maybe we can figure out why he is so picky. Did he ever eat these items? Maybe he had them and they were cooked badly so it left a bad taste in his mouth.

If you can let me know what he likes and doesn't maybe i can help you think of recipes to make for him and incorporate things you enjoy as well

reply to post by mblahnikluver


He said to me he hates the texture of potatoes and root vegetables in general. His auntie made him eat them when he was younger and he said it made him gag. With pasta he is strange as he will eat macaroni cheese and carbonara but then if I make anything with a tomato based sauce, he doesn't like it. We both like green beans, mushrooms, onion, garlic, and sweetcorn. He is also a great lover of pork. Rice, he will only eat if he goes to an indian resturant and he gets a mushroom rice. The rest of the time he won't eat it at all. Sometimes I feel like I am feeding a picky toddler! It's strange because he is a big man and he does love his food!