... Maybe you could make up a mass quantity of one of your favorite meals and freeze individual servings for such occasions .... that might be the path of least resistance for you, your MIL, and your husband.
Mother in laws are fun, aren't they? I have two boys and I am ABSOLUTELY DETERMINED to not do to their future wives what's been done to me.
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Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson