Every single day, when I think about cooking, I realize how blessed/lucky I am to have a husband who never .. well, almost never . . complains about what I cook, how often we eat it, whether it’s plain Jane leftovers or whether I’ve somehow changed them up a bit. Also, since we don’t eat three meals a day, he’ll go find something in the fridge and heat it up if he’s hungry and I’m not cooking.
Last night we had this conversation:
Me: Did you like the grits and corn for dinner?
Vince: Yes, I loved it.
Me: I thought that looked like something you would like.
Vince: I like everything you make.
Me: Everything?
Vince: I think there may have been two times you fixed something I didn’t like so much.
Me: Two times?
Vince: Yes, I don’t remember what it was but I remember not liking the flavor.
It was probably something that had cumin or cilantro on it. I’ve been cooking for Vince for about 27 years and I would guess we eat at least 95% of our meals at home so, if he only remembers twice he hasn’t liked something . . that’s great. It really says more about Vince being easy to please than it does about my cooking ability.
As much as I love trying new recipes, it would be hard for me to cook if he was a picky eater.
I think that Vince’s willingness to eat ALL the leftovers is more about saving money and not throwing out food than it is about loving what’s in the fridge. He wants to eat every crumb of everything. While I don’t like wasting food or letting food go bad, I figure if I roast a whole chicken, we eat half of it one night, I make chicken salad the next day and we eat that for a couple of days, then I throw out a tablespoon or two of leftover chicken salad, we’ve gotten our money out of it and it served us well. That doesn’t bother me. If I forget to make chicken salad and find the leftover chicken chopped up in a container in the fridge two weeks later and throw it out – that bothers me.
Any time I’m cooking something and know there are going to be leftovers, I try to plan ahead and know what I’m going to do with the leftovers. When I roast a whole chicken, I have to know what I’m going to do with the rest of it – chicken/spaghetti, chicken salad, King Ranch casserole. I wouldn’t like simply reheating leftover roasted chicken but fixing it in something else works better for me.
Elle says
My hubster doesn’t LOVE leftovers but he’ll eat them. Often his lunch for work is a leftover and if there are no leftovers, he’ll make a tuna salad, egg salad (I always have hardboiled eggs in the fridge), or he’ll go to the cafeteria. I try hard to make something he really likes for dinner so that lunch the next day is OK. Like Vince, he has perhaps voiced not liking something 2-3 times in our 41 years. I’ll take it! 🙂
judy.blog@gmail.com says
We are lucky! But, our husbands are lucky to have us too. 🙂
Kathy says
I am also fortunate to have a husband who will eat leftovers. He is not a picky eater and will eat just about anything, even if he doesn’t really care for it. He’s perfectly willing to scrounge for himself if necessary. Such a blessing!
judy.blog@gmail.com says
The more I hear about various husbands and their eating habits, the more I realize I’m lucky. Of course, there are men who cook. Once I asked Vince if he wanted me to show him how to work the washer and he said “If I knew how to work the appliances, why would I keep you around?” I guess I’d better not mention him cooking.
montanaclarks says
While Mike will willingly eat leftovers he is a picky eater. Meat/potatoes/salad, maybe some green beans, green peas or corn–that’s the extent of his vegetables. Don’t even try to get him to eat fish of any kind unless it’s deep fried. He’s not a fan of chicken unless I disguise it well. Will not eat a cold meat sandwich–if he’s going to eat a sandwich it is a peanut butter and jelly. But he will eat leftovers and that’s a good thing! My Mom’s husband would NOT eat leftovers and when you are cooking for two people there is always leftovers.
judy.blog@gmail.com says
That is so true. It’s hard to make anything for two and not end up with leftovers. I guess, after all these years, you’ve adapted to cooking for you two but that would be hard for me. I love making several meals at once.
Dorothy Matheson says
My husband is a very picky eater and I stoped fixing his food a long time ago. He eats what he wants and I eat what I want. He also will not go out to eat but at one place.
Rebecca says
My husband pleaded with me to double the recipe tonight, but I was sauteeing chicken and didn’t want to do pan loads. He really wanted leftovers. And we did end up with some anyway.
There are a lot of times he wants me to double recipes, but it doesn’t always work!
judy.blog@gmail.com says
Music to my ears! 🙂
Linda Garcia says
My hubby is fine with leftovers, but he doesn’t like eating the same thing too close together. Therefore, I freeze my leftovers unless I am going to make it into something else, like a chicken casserole or shredded pork into something Mexican. If I freeze something and then serve it to him 2 or 3 weeks later, he is fine with it. So about 2 or 3 times per week I take frozen leftovers out of the fridge and don’t have to cook a whole meal. I like that!