My World

I was raised in the deep south with all that entails including lots of comfort foods. We ate our fill of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, fried pork chops with white flour gravy and biscuits. We southerners never thought twice about all that white flour and grease. As I grew older and less active it just made sense to convert those wonderful food memories into a healthier version. I honestly can’t remember the last time I had a piece of fried anything and think it probably would not sit well with my system now. Years ago I started cooking my mashed potatoes with skins on, the kids called them dirty mashed 😁….. because…. well they looked like dirty potatoes. The skins contain so many nutrients we were tossing in the trash that it made more sense to incorporate them into our meals same as we did when we ate baked potatoes. Then it became simpler and much cooler to quarter small red potatoes and grill them rather than boil on the stove and mash. I use a spray oil on the tinfoil to prevent sticking, add slices onions, a touch of basil and garlic and on to the grill they go.

We do love our pork and BBQ pork is a southern staple. While my brother is the smoked pork King, I don’t have a smoker and didn’t have all day to sit and nurse pork ribs on a low heat grill which is the best way to have tender juicy ribs that fall off the bone without a smoker. Tonight I chose large bone in pork loin chops to grill with the potatoes. I added the same touch of garlic and basil as I did the potatoes. Pork is a very healthy food choice when not slathered with white flour and drenched in frying oil. The bone gives it more tenderness as it cooks than the boneless variety. We still have plenty of that fresh sweet cantaloupe that we love so it was added to tonight’s meal.

It is still very warm outside so we opted to eat inside in the AC. Life in the south is good tonight.