Hey, Slack!

My husband is from new Mexico! We lived there for about 4 years after we first got married (Roswell, Farmington, Albuquerque, and Rio Rancho). Anyway, I used to say that the only thing green in their refrigerators besides green chilis was mold on the cheese! Of course, I grew up in the South. We never ate pinto beans (blackeyed peas, lima beans, butter beans, and zipper peas, of course, but never pinto beans). And I had never even heard of a green chili.

If your MIL is only in town once in a while, go ahead and cook her a special authentic meal and just make something else for yourself. The same goes for taking her to a restaurant. I think a good one was Beinvenidos. Great food! You could probably order high or low carb meals there.

As for the same ole, same ole...just try to broaden your horizons. Check out some cookbooks from your local library. Browse the recipe section of this forum.

For a change of pace, try throwing some pork loin chops in the crock pot. Add seasoned salt, garlic and chopped green chilis. Add just enough water to stew them until nice and tender. YUM!

Don't forget how good a pot roast is too. Throw one of those in your crockpot as well. Most people can eat pot roast once a week and never get tired of it. If you stay home all day, cook the roast in a cast iron skillet on low with a teenie weenie bit of water a-l-l d-a-y l-o-n-g. Just put the fat side up so the juices will run down and baste the roast as it cooks.

One of my husband's favorite meals is pork roast. Put it in a roasting pan with a lid or cover it with foil. Add just a little water in the bottom. Rub the roast all over with olive oil and then cover it with seasoned salt. (Don't buy a shoulder section that is covered all over with skin. It's too tough to eat, and you will have to go through the trouble of cutting the skin off. Plus you pay for that extra weight). Cut up a head of cabbage about 30-40 minutes before the roast is done. Throw it all around the roast and spoon the drippings all over it to grease it up real good . Cover it again and cook until the cabbage is as tender as you like. Sometimes I also throw in a few carrots and a chopped onion, but these are higher in carbs.

I make chicken soup by boiling a chicken, picking it off the bone, straining the broth through cheesecloth (to get the fat chunks and blood froth out),returning the chicken to the pot with finely chopped celery, and adding all the salt I want.

It didn't seem that you listed many vegetables in your post other than salads. If that's all you're eating for veggies, I can see how you would quickly grow weary of them. Lettuce is pretty tasteless.

Try cooking asparagus, zucchini, or squash in a frying pan with butter. Stir fry I guess you could call it. Make sure you choose small, tender ones. The large ones are often tough and bitter. Snap the woody bottoms off the asparagus.
If you cook green beans, buy them fresh and snap them yourself. Frozen ones are soggy, and canned ones are just plain nasty! Boil them in water and add a tablespoon or two of safflower or sunflower oil to improve the taste.

Have I gone on too long?

Amy Mc