Food can literally be a love language to most. Through food is how we express our love, how we treat ourselves, how we celebrate our successes in life, and how we cope with negative aspects of life. So much so that you can probably relate to trying to date someone who liked food vastly different than your own choices.
- Do you search through Tinder or other online dating websites, only to swipe right on someone that shares the same interests as you when it comes to food? Like you will for sure swipe right if they are vegan because you are too?
- Or have you turned down a potential long term relationship because the other person didn’t wat the same way as you?
- Or what if your spouse right now eats totally different than you and you find it a total pain to prepare two different meals?
Meal planning for people who don’t eat alike does not have to be a daunting task.
Find Some Common Grounds
It can be hard when one person is a strict vegan while the other loves eating red meat daily. There isn’t anything wrong with the both of you wanting to eat differently, because you might actually be surprised as to which foods you both do love.
Have you and your partner create a list that shares your favorite foods. Be specific. Even list which foods you love but maybe they don’t crossover into different meals. For example, one person might love eggs any time of day while the other person only likes them at breakfast. Create these lists and then see which foods are on both of your lists.
From here you are going to create a master list that shares the foods you both love! This list is a great reference for those times you are feeling frustrated in creating meals for the both of you to enjoy.
Use Your Master List to Build From
Many of us are told that a healthy way to eat should be by building your plate starting with vegetables. This is a great way to build a meal, but with you and your partner, you might need to shift this mindset a bit and build from one of the food items you both love.
For example, you both love rice. Making a large batch of rice is easy and can be a great base for a meal. Then from there, you can each prep items you’d like on your rice if they are starkly different.
The important thing is to build from the common ground and not just look at the differences. You might be surprised at how alike both of you can actually eat when you are together.
Looking to fire up the grill to throw some meat on it? Here are some ideas for your meatless friend that can be thrown on the grill too!
