on her plate

Mikola is 30 years old and works as a photographer. She lives in Portland, Oregon with her fiance, and son Valentino. 

What is the last thing you ate?

Avocado toast and an Emerald smoothie from Dirty Habit. The smoothie has coconut water, kale, banana, spirulina, pepita seeds.

That sounds so green and healthy.

What’s the last thing that you cooked?

I made meatloaf and mashed potatoes last night. My son is a picky eater and this is something I’ve found that we all like and that’s very exciting. He typically only likes things like pasta with parmesan, quesadillas, fruit, and jerky. He’s eight, and last week he was like “I’m vegetarian now, Mom” and I told him that he was going to need to start eating more fruit and vegetables and he said, “well I don’t know about that” -laughs-

Where did he learn about being vegetarian?

He’s obsessed with The Beatles and Paul McCartney is vegetarian -laughs- he got into his head that he wants to be exactly like him.

You could use this to your advantage! You could be like, “Ooh, Paul McCartney’s favorite food is broccoli!” 

He is way too fucking smart for that -laughs- I’ve tried so many things. Paul McCartney had his favorite restaurants on Postmates and I was like, “look we can get Thai food!” and he declined. 

It’s a blessing and a curse that our children will be smarter than we are.

The other day we were on a road trip and I was like “we should go to McDonald’s!” and he said “No, Mom. That is junk food.” -laughs-

What is your favorite junk food?

Fruit gushers, fruit by the foot, chips, ice cream… I love junk food. At night, once he is asleep, that’s when I have my time to eat junk food, watch TV, and chill.

What is your favorite health food?

I love vegetables and hummus, avocado toast, smoothies. They always make me feel good.

Thank god for all of those things because they were way less accessible like ten years ago.

What celebrity would you like to have dinner with?

The Beatles with my son, Valentino. Seeing his face would be the best thing ever.

What is your favorite environment to eat in?

Outdoors with friends. Super casual and comfortable. Also, my fiance and I used to go out to eat together. That was our thing. So I love going to a fancy restaurant with him. My fiance was on Top Chef so sometimes when we go places, they send us lots of food and we get special service. That’s my favorite environment to eat in, actually.

How did you and your fiance meet?

We met on Bumble and I obviously Googled him before we met -laughs- On our first date, we went to this restaurant that was packed with a two-hour wait. We walked in and they were like “Hey, how’s it going? Here’s a table for you” and I was like I’m definitely going on a second date with him -laughs- He didn’t cook for me until we had been dating for three months. The first thing he made for me was a tortilla with American cheese, turkey, lettuce, and mustard. I was like “I thought I was dating a chef?!” -laughs-

What has your journey with food been like over the years? 

Growing up we always ate really healthy. When I got pregnant at 22, I had always been really thin, then I gained 100 pounds with him. Being pregnant was exciting and fun, and I was so lucky to have had such a healthy pregnancy. Then after he was born, you have this little baby, and your body does so many weird things. Seeing my body change so much when I was so young was a really strange thing to go through. 

In our culture and with the media, even if you’re not talking about body image, you’re seeing it. You see the bounce-back photos on Instagram or from celebrities that are new moms and it’s just not realistic. I will always have this extra skin around my stomach and stretch marks that, as I get older, I have learned to embrace. When I was 24, none of my other friends looked like that and that was an interesting body-image thing that I had to work through. 

Later, I realized how much of a baby I was when I had him, and how much we kind of grew up together. He is headstrong, confident and 100% himself. Recently, we’ve started to have dinner every night at 6 PM. In the pandemic, we both really needed that structure and schedule. Food has totally helped us with that. That dinner time holds us both accountable.

What was it like to learn how to feed another human? 

At first, I thought I was going to cook all of his food for him, and then he hated it all -laughs- When he was younger he was less picky, but the older he gets the pickier he is. Recently, I’ve put my foot down as the boss, the mom, and I’m telling him that he has to try things just like I had to when I was younger. He’s loading the dishwasher after dinner now, and it’s all coming together. I’m starting to bake with him, even though he hates cooking -laughs- It’s slowly but surely working.

What’s your wish for the women of the world when it comes to eating and cooking?

I want the gender roles to be switched. Mothers have so much on their plate as it is, and cooking for the whole family can be such a chore, even a burden. If you are cooking, make it as easy as possible for yourself. When it comes to eating, listen to your body and your cravings. Give yourself what you need and let yourself have fun with food.

This interview has been edited and condensed.