| Comfort food. It even sounds warm and | | | | have also resulted in many of us feeling less |
| welcoming - like cuddling up by the fire on a | | | | safe in the world. We want to feel warm and |
| cold winter day. Comfort food trends have | | | | safe again, the way we did when we were young |
| seen a real resurgence in recent years and | | | | and the world seemed simpler.Comfort food |
| our desire for comfort food seems to be | | | | trend watchers say that we are craving the |
| holding strong. So what is comfort food? | | | | foods we grew up with. People want to enjoy |
| Generally it's the food we have good memories | | | | their homes and entertain at home. We're |
| about, the food we think of when we hear the | | | | expressing an interest in cooking everything |
| word homemade, and that reminds us of simpler | | | | from easy party food recipes to BBQ to slow |
| times.The list of favorite comfort foods can | | | | cooked roasts with all the trimmings.We also |
| be different for each of us. While homemade | | | | want to experience different tastes, |
| macaroni and cheese and meatloaf with mashed | | | | sometimes tastes from around the world, |
| potatoes have been staples for many of us, | | | | sometimes the familiar foods we love, with |
| for some of us comfort food may include a | | | | twist or an extra bit of pizzazz. So we have |
| delicious cheesy lasagna, or yummy sweet | | | | things like garlic mashed potatoes, 4 cheese |
| potato pie. We all tend to love the food that | | | | macaroni and cheese and thin crust gourmet |
| takes us back to our roots - the foods we | | | | pizzas.We're also a population that is |
| grew up with.Some Of Our Top Comfort Food | | | | becoming more aware of health and making |
| Choices Were Found To Be:- Soup | | | | healthy food choices. With aging baby boomers |
| | | | creating a bulge in our populations, healthy |
| - Meatloaf | | | | lifestyle trends are front and center. We |
| | | | want fewer calories but all the taste, |
| - Pasta sauces | | | | healthier eating with the comforts of our |
| | | | favorite foods. So where does this leave us? |
| - Pot pies | | | | How do we combine comfort food trends with |
| | | | healthier lifestyle trends?As much as we love |
| - Mashed potatoes | | | | our comfort foods many of us now look for |
| | | | ways to turn them into healthier choices, |
| - Pizza | | | | with a lower fat content and fewer calories. |
| | | | We tweak those great recipes from the past so |
| - Potato salad | | | | we maintain (or sometimes even improve) the |
| | | | taste but forgo some of the fat, unhealthy |
| - Macaroni and cheese | | | | carbs and sugar content. And while most of us |
| | | | are still eating our favorite comfort foods, |
| - Biscuits and scones | | | | maybe it's just a little less often. We might |
| | | | decide to share that piece of amazing |
| - Chili | | | | cheesecake so we get the taste but not the |
| | | | pounds.We're going back to our roots - but |
| - Beef stew | | | | with a nod to healthy food choices and a few |
| | | | wonderful, tasty twists along the way.Karen |
| - Fruit pies | | | | Ciancio is a cook and lover of all things |
| | | | food and cooking related. Her website |
| - Chocolate chip cookiesWhy the increased | | | | contains recipes for comfort foods, plus lots |
| desire for comfort foods? It seems to be a | | | | of other recipes, cooking tips, measurement |
| combination of things. People are busier and | | | | conversions and kitchen ideas. |
| more stressed than ever. The last few years | | | | |