By Denise Rayala of Bebengisms.com
“A way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.”
Though some women have already considered this line passé, I still believe that this will never go out of style. Go and Google ways on how to keep the fire burning between you and your spouse and you’ll find that cooking for him, feeding him, going out on a date with him in a restaurant are some of them. See? It all involves food. So what’s with men and their appetite? I really have no scientific idea about it but my guts are telling me that it’s because they’re always hungry. It’s really that simple.
My mom told me once when my husband and I had a huge fight that I should stop over-analyzing things about him. She said that men in general (my father included, I suppose) only feel three things most of the time: sleepy, horny and hungry. If you let them have enough rest, you do bedwork 70% of the time and feed him anytime he wants ― for him, you’re a badass wife.
SERVE HIM, ACCORDING TO THE BIBLE
In my previous post, I said that anyone can be a domestic goddess! I will say it again and will never correct myself: YES, YOU CAN. You don’t need to memorize cook books or wear a toque to be one. I have a friend who actually didn’t get the boiling of eggs done right before but when she got married, she found her bliss in the kitchen.
Says Dianne Tupong, pregnant and barely a year married:
“My husband’s number one love language is service, so putting ‘my everything’ into anything I prepare for him is one of the most appreciated efforts I make since he knew prior to our marriage, I literally hate the kitchen. As we are both working fulltime, it is really a fulfilment for me to see him eat well after almost 12 hours of duty. Each meal I serve is full of love and thanksgiving for the man who works hard for our future and inspired me to love the kitchen ― it is through food that our love for each other is heightened, making our relationship sweeter.”
The Bible says, in Ephesians 5:22-24, “Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.”
Don’t get me wrong, ladies (and gentlemen if there are), it doesn’t mean that the wife will do all the work and the husband can just be a boss and slack around. They should both serve one another. The succeeding verse tells that the man should give himself to the woman he loves. I guess marriage and relationship experts will agree with me on this: Treat your man like a king and he’ll treat you like a queen.
HOME IS WHERE HIS STOMACH DOESN’T RUMBLE
As a military wife, my husband’s homecoming is always a big production number. If I can go Spiderman and clean the ceiling, I would, so he won’t see cobwebs.
Of course, I’m kidding. He’s not that meticulous in having a clean house because he knows I regularly do it. The cooking part though challenges me all the time as his palate can be a bit moody. In the command post where soldiers hold guns and not ladle, bland food is expected.
A fellow Army wife and erstwhile chemist, Chique Ramos, says:
“My hubby usually eats ‘tinubigang karne’ (meat in water) or ‘piniritong bato’ (fried rock) as he calls it, in the camp so whenever he comes home, I try my best to cook his favorites. Eventhough I’m not good in cooking, I see to it that when he eats what I served, he will feel that he’s home.”
It’s surely such a task to prepare our husband’s favorite dishes, especially if we are with them every single day, so you must be creative. There was a time when my man was home for a week and on the 5th day, I can’t think of what I can cook for him so I told him we can have dinner at his mom’s house. My excuse? MIL must be missing her only son. I felt like I was the best wife and daughter-in-law that night. Teehee.
JUST FEED HIM
I am familiar with the complaints we housewives have: I can’t cook! His favorite’s so complicated the ingredients are not available in the local market! He doesn’t eat vegetables!
Okay, okay. Relax. Just feed him.
Don’t stress yourself but hey, you can learn! There are thousands of tutorials on YouTube. Watch that instead of reality shows, really.
If you can’t cook his favorite because the ingredients can only be found in the farflung province in Europe then you might want to search for a Mediterranean restaurant nearby. Wear his favorite scent on you and invite him out on a date.
If he doesn’t want to eat veggies, tell him the many diseases he can get for not eating some. Scare him that if he dies, you will marry the first single guy you’ll see on his internment. LOL. That’s lame. I actually don’t know what I could advise you to do with that because I can’t even make my husband eat squash. (Perhaps, puree and slather it on my body like a lotion? Whatever. I’m kidding.)
When all’s been said and done, it’s very important that you do this only for two things: you love what you do and that you love him.
Do you struggle in the kitchen, or how to feed your man or kids? Let’s share our insights and ideas!