Popular Comfort Foods

Comfort food is a dish that reminds us of comforting childhood memories. When eating these foods you are overcome with feelings of safety and security. They bring back nostalgic memories of Mom in the kitchen making your favorite food. These foods can be as simple as a grilled cheese sandwich, they are not gourmet foods.

Each persons comfort food is different from the next depending upon place of birth and upbringing. However there are many foods that appear over and over on various people's comfort food list.

I am going to share the top 20 most popular foods on that list and give 3 healthy recipes for my favorites.

For me, my favorite comfort foods are fried chicken, meatloaf, and chili. Every time I make them the aroma takes me back to a simpler time when I was a child and my grandmother would cook these family favorites. I still love my fried chicken, but in the interest of lowering my fat intake I included an Oven Fried Chicken Recipe. Hope you enjoy them.

 *Apple Pie

*Baked Beans

*Beef Stew

*Chicken and Dumplings

*Chicken Pot Pie

*Chicken Soup

*Chili

*Chocolate Chip Cookies

*Corn on the Cob

*Fried Chicken

*Green Bean Casserole

*Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

*Hot Dogs

*Ice Cream

*Macaroni and Cheese

*Mashed Potatoes

*Meatloaf

*Pot Roast

*Pumpkin Pie

*Spaghetti

 Ingredients: 

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts halves

1/2 cup low fat buttermilk

2 tbsp fat free mayonnaise

1 clove garlic, minced

salt substitute, to taste

black pepper, to taste

dash of Worcestershire sauce

1/2 cup wheat flour

2 tbsp parmesan/romano grated cheese 

4 tbsp Italian bread crumbs

Instructions:

Make marinade the morning before cooking chicken.

Combine buttermilk, mayonnaise, garlic, salt substitute, black pepper, and Worcestershire sauce in large pan.  Place uncooked chicken in pan and coat with mixture.  Cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Mix wheat flour , parmasen cheese and Italian bread crumbs in flat dish.  Remove chicken from marinade and roll in coating mixture, be sure to coat thoroughly.

Place chicken on a wire rack placed on top of a cookie sheet.  Spray chicken with spray cooking oil.  Bake uncovered for 40 to 45 minutes. 

 Ingredients:

2 lbs ground turkey meat

1/4 cup egg substitute

1/2 cup italian bread crumbs

1 medium onion, chopped

1 medium green pepper, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 medium tomatoes, chopped

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Combine all ingredients, shape into a loaf shape and place in a loaf pan.  Bake covered for 30 minutes.  Uncover and bake for 20 minutes more.

 Ingredients:

16 oz bag dried pinto beans

2 lbs extra lean ground beef

1 large onion, chopped

1 large green pepper, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, minced

2 large tomatoes, chopped

1 16 oz can diced tomatoes

1 pkg chili seasoning of your choice

Instructions:

 The day before: 

Soak beans according to directions on pkg.  Cook beans according to directions on package.

The next day:

Spray large fry pan with cooking oil spray.  Saute ground meat, onions, peppers and garlic until meat is browned.

In large Dutch Oven combine beans, meat mixture and all of the remaining ingredients.  Cover and simmer on low for 2 to 3 hours.

• December 5th is National Comfort Food Day.
• Chips were created as a response to a complaint about french fries
• One study divided college-students’ comfort-food identifications into four categories (nostalgic foods, indulgence foods, convenience foods, and physical comfort foods) with a special emphasis on the deliberate selection of particular foods to modify mood or effect, and indications that the medical-therapeutic use of particular foods may ultimately be a matter of mood-alteration.
• German chocolate cake was created in the U.S.
• Waffles were first created in the Middle Ages.
• Pie was banned in the 17th century because it was a pagan pleasure.