Update: 'I refuse to eat her "efficient food" ever again': Early-20s couple disagrees on GF's time-saving meal

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Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Jan 6, 2026 11:00 AM EST

They say the way to your loved one's heart is through their stomach, but apparently no one has told that to the creator of the "efficient meal." 

The longer you live, the more you'll discover how uniquely people live. People's meal habits are some of the biggest variations. You'll meet people who only eat Instagram-worthy meals that took hours to hand-make… and you'll also meet people who eat the same freezer meals every single day. Some folks put an immense amount of labor into their meal-prepping, and honestly, that is a great way to make yourself happy. Having delectable meals at the ready is a lovely way to live your life. But not everyone likes cooking. A lot of folks are happy to have oatmeal for breakfast, a PB&J for lunch, and chicken and rice for dinner, rinse and repeat every single day. Neither person is wrong here! They're both getting fed healthy(ish) meals. But if those 2 people chose to date and live together, well… there might be some incompatibilities, to put it lightly. 

This person's partner was inspired by social media to start meal prepping. I fear she may have taken this inspiration too far (or just felt that the instructions were unclear). For most meal preppers, one dish can turn into 5 or 6 portions of leftovers. But for this woman, separating things by ingredient was far too big a burden to bear. Why not just put everything into one container? 

Why not indeed! Taste aside, because it does sound like a truly awful dish, I can't help but wonder if this woman has any idea about food at all. Even if you live under a rock, you probably know that some foods spoil very quickly, while others last in the refrigerator for ages. Not only are all her "flavors" mixed together, but she's going to be picking around rotting foodstuffs by like, day 3. It's quite the read, and you can check out the now-deleted post that I saved from obscurity down below, if your stomach can handle the tale of the "efficient food." 

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  • 01

    "Am I the a*shole for telling my girlfriend I refuse to eat her 'efficient food' ever again?"

    Man in white shirt looks at woman sitting next to him who points at herself in front of a kitchen island covered in vegetables
    via Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 02
    Ok this is stupid but it's turning into a real argument so here we are. I live with my girlfriend. We're both early 20s. Normally no issues. She recently got super into productivity stuff, like watching TikToks about optimizing your life, cutting wasted time, etc. Last weekend she said she was gonna start meal prepping for the week to "save time." I said cool, thanks, sounds good.
    via u/ Electrical-Couple857
  • 03
    Monday morning I open the fridge and there's literally one giant container. Just one. With a sticky note on it that says "MEALS." I open it and I genuinely didn't know what I was looking at. It was chicken, rice, pasta, vegetables, eggs, cheese, some kind of oats maybe?? all mixed together. Like not soup, not solid. Just... mixed.
    via u/ Electrical-Couple857
  • 04
    I asked her what it was and she said (completely serious) that she combined all the meals so she doesn't have to think about what to eat. She said it has everything you need so it doesn't matter. I asked if this was for like one day or something and she said "no, the whole week." She eats it. Cold. Multiple times a day.
    via u/ Electrical-Couple857
  • 05
    She wanted me to eat it too. I tried a few bites to be polite and it tasted like nothing and everything at the same time. I don't even know how to explain it. Imagine leftovers but from five different people. I told her I really don't want to eat that and asked if she could at least keep my food separate next time. She got annoyed and said I'm being picky and that "your mouth mixes food anyway."
    via u/ Electrical-Couple857
  • 06
    That comment pushed me over the edge a little and I said I'm not eating blended chicken banana oat nonsense and that I don't want her cooking for me anymore if this is how it's gonna be.
    via u/ Electrical-Couple857
  • 07
    Now she's upset and says I'm disrespecting the effort she put in and that I'm acting like a child over food. I honestly feel like I'm going insane because I don't think it's crazy to want meals to be... meals? AITA?
    via u/ Electrical-Couple857
  • 08
    Unlucky_Battle_6... Instead of making your own meals, try and explain a different way to her. My partner and I are in the exact opposite as you are. I come from a military background and was forced to eat food at a very fast pace so my relationship with food is different. My partner loves
    via u/Unlucky_Battle_6947
  • 09
    to cook and loves to watch people enjoy what she makes. If you don't enjoy what she makes maybe you can explain to her that since you enjoy good food, maybe you cook for the both of you and she can take care of you in other ways.
    via u/Unlucky_Battle_6947
  • 10
    Snickerdoodle2021 NTA I get that she's trying, but this isn't the hill to die on. Sit down with her and figure out what is going on. Does she want to have a larger role in "taking care" of you? Does she feel left out because of a food sensitivity/obsession? Is there a health issue that she
    via u/Snickerdoodle2021
  • 11
    has been focusing on or a financial issue she is worried about? It seems odd to have chosen such a weird meal idea. I can't get past the hope that there is more going on in her head here. But no, you aren't wrong. Her idea is (in the very best light possible) weird.
    via u/Snickerdoodle2021
  • 12

    Here's the update!

    Quick context because people will ask: my original post got taken down yesterday and I was temporarily banned, so I couldn't respond or clarify anything. Things have continued to escalate since then, which is why I'm posting again. Posting a part 2 because this somehow escalated instead of dying down.
    via u/Electrical-Couple857
  • 13
    After the original argument, I told my girlfriend I don't expect her to cook for me at all anymore and that I'd rather just make my own food going forward. I thought that would solve it.
    via u/ Electrical-Couple857
  • 14
    It didn't. She said that defeats the whole point of her "system" and that cooking separately is inefficient and a waste of time and groceries. She also said it feels rude if we live together but eat completely different meals.
    via u/ Electrical-Couple857
  • 15
    I tried cooking for myself anyway one night. Nothing fancy, just normal food. She got visibly annoyed and asked why I was "making extra work" when there's already food in the fridge. She kept saying I'm being stubborn and refusing to adapt.
    via u/ Electrical-Couple857
  • 16
    I told her it's not about efficiency for me, I just want food I actually enjoy eating. She said relationships involve compromise and that I'm choosing food preferences over her effort.
    via u/ Electrical-Couple857
  • 17
    Now she's upset that I "won't let her take care of me," and I'm frustrated because I feel like I'm not even allowed to make my own meals without it turning into an argument.
    via u/ Electrical-Couple857
  • 18
    At this point I don't know if I'm being unreasonable or if this has just gone way further than it should have. AITA for insisting on cooking my own meals instead of eating what she makes?
    via u/ Electrical-Couple857
  • 19
    chocearthling whats her compromise in this situation? NTA obviously.
    via u/chocearthling
  • 20
    RealLuxTempo This is more than about food.
    via u/RealLuxTempo
  • 21
    Woman in plaid shirt and man in white shirt smile and hold hands in kitchen setting
    via Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

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