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