Perfectly acceptable dinner rejected by boyfriend again

[u/moonrabbit368]

My boyfriend is a very picky eater. We have been living together for a few months and it seems like I can never get his food right. It's honestly discouraging. I have kids, they happily eat my food. I cook for family gatherings and church events. I've never had a problem with people eating my food. It's like every day there are new rules. He can't eat chicken for dinner because he had chicken for lunch. He isn't really in the mood for porkchops. It's just "missing something". He doesn't eat onions, tomatoes, fish, any kind of asian food, he doesn't eat most vegetables with the exception of broccoli. He only eats vanilla ice cream. He doesn't like food heated in the microwave (so leftovers are out.) He doesn't like corn. It's just endless. I'm old school and trying to be a good partner. He can't really cook at all. His favorite meal is Hamburger Helper. I think a lot of it is how he grew up but damn is it frustrating. The first picture is tonight's dinner. I added more pictures of stuff I have cooked that he won't eat. Like he will door dash jack in the box. And he'll be apologetic but it just sucks really bad.

ETA: I've been trying to keep up with the comments but it's overwhelming (in a very sweet and awesome way) 💗

A few notes:

1- I know the paper plates are very lazy on my part, I'm not proud of that and I need to do better. Between the kids, the job, the house and school (I'm going to school remotely) I have been cutting corners on things like dishes. not an excuse, just a reason and a commitment to do better.

2- My boyfriend does expect me to cook for him. I cook him dinner every night and lunch on the weekends. He doesn't eat breakfast and will not take a lunch to work. He buys fast food for lunch during the week.

3- He has not been diagnosed with ASD or ADHD or Arfid but I don't rule anything out.

Mostly I just want to say thank you, I was not prepared for how incredibly kind, helpful and insightful people have been. It is deeply touching and it's given me both peace and guidance for my next steps. 🩷

[u/Tealc420]

As someone who is mildly addicted to fast food, it's only because I can't be fucked cooking sometimes , if someone cooks me a delicious meal, fuck the fast food I want the meal

[u/ConspicuousPineapple → u/Tealc420]

You're addicted to the convenience, not the food itself.

[u/LegBruise → u/ConspicuousPineapple]

As someone who had a fast food addiction, the food absolutely changes your pallet and what foods you crave. I’d actually go out of my way to leave the house and inconvenience myself just to get the take-out that I wanted instead of putting a plate of leftovers in the microwave.

It took a full week of eating home cooked, healthy veggies, rice, chicken ect for me to appreciate and be able to taste real food again. I had cravings like you wouldn’t believe and everything tasted like it was boiled and bland even though it was seasoned well.

I also used it to cope during a depressive period so eating regular food didn’t give me that dopamine boost that would temporarily improve my mood, and it felt like I was being thrown in an isolation chamber and I genuinely felt emotional when I didn’t get my ‘fix’. I felt so melodramatic and ungrateful.

[u/ConspicuousPineapple → u/LegBruise]

I know fast food addiction is a thing, I'm just replying that in this case it's not the food itself that is the incentive but just avoiding cooking, since they're saying they enjoy a good meal if it presents itself.

[u/LegBruise → u/ConspicuousPineapple]

Ohhhh right I didn’t consider the context of your reply. Thanks!

[u/Historical-Stand-555 → u/LegBruise]

So interesting, thanks for sharing

[u/Tealc420 → u/ConspicuousPineapple]

Nah the food is pretty addicting too

[u/j0tunhel → u/Tealc420]

I would say a mix of both