My usual Aaron headcanons are here! My Dr Minyard headcanons are here
But today I was thinking about how from med school onwards, Aaron probs gets really into meal prepping. He grew up in a food insecure household and he's desperate to create some distance between himself and that kid he used to be. His schedule is crazy during med school and residency (and frankly even as an attending), but he just hates the idea of living off takeout and snacks and processed food. Add to the fact that as a neurosurgeon, Aaron has to cut out caffiene because coffee/energy drinks would give his hands a slight tremble, which can be deadly for a patient in the middle of a surgery (I learnt this while on a r/neurosurgery deepdive for an aaron minyard fic lol)
Also because Aaron is a very scientific person, he knows just what a lifetime of erratic/non-nutritious food does to the body, so he spends his free day meal-prepping for the whole week. He'll make really good balanced meals, rice, veggies, lots of delicious meats. He's not the best cook at first, but he learns by following recipes and asking Nicky. He has boxes of food in the deep freezer. He ends up being the Fox with probably the most healed relationship with food because he's just so desperate to not be that hungry, angry kid always on the verge of relapse. Even after a bad day at work, he can come home, eat a good meal, and sleep, and it really centers him.
It's not lost on anyone either that since finally getting out of PSU and having the freedom to live his life, Aaron is thriving. He doesn't really advertise it, and at first glance his life seems miserable (med school is stressful after all!), but he's publishing a lot of papers, experimenting with chicken recipes, doing a LOT of volunteer work (I have more headcanons about THIS wait i'll tell you!!) and is quite literally living his best life.
Okay so the volunteer work. I've long believed that Aaron REALLY values life. He sees it as his job to save as many people as possible. For his patients, he is the last bastion between life and death. He fights VERY hard for them, and takes his responsibility as a carer very seriously. Whenever he's free, he volunteers to give care and services to the homeless and poor. He never leaves the house without a narcan kit, he's got it attached to his backpack.
I think in some AUS, he would even volunteer for Doctors Without Borders. because he's great in a crisis and isn't afraid of conflict, he does spend a few months (from the age of maybe 31-32) doing that kind of work in conflict zones. It absolutely terrifies Andrew and Andrew HATES it, and his fear for Aaron's life is so intense that it's the only reason Aaron scales back a bit, around his late thirties. Like it literally comes to a point where Andrew wants to make another deal to get Aaron to stop, and Aaron just sticks out his hand and is like, "no more fucking deals. Just ask me." And Andrew asks, and Aaron agrees, because his brother's mental health is a priority for him.
Also to add to this "Aaron values life" thing, Aaron's house is full of plants. Like it's almost like a garden, it's full of plants and they're beautiful and lush and green and he takes care of them like a botanist, reading reseach papers and maintaining notes and thinking about their nutrition and things. Aaron truly approaches the world like a scientist but he uses his big scientist brain to make his life very warm and safe and beautiful because he REFUSES to go back to that kid he used to be.
