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