Comfort Food Alternatives?

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  • RobertHButler
    RobertHButler Posts: 50
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    I will substitute a meal for some peanut butter and ritz crackers, and cave into Mallomars on occasion.
  • kbradford26
    kbradford26 Posts: 13
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    I've found that I can control most of my cravings, except my cravings for those things that are so, so delicious and comforting, but are completely bad for you. I'm talkin' potato chips, perogies, chocolate cake, creamy pasta, apple crumble, COOKIES... Basically anything packed with cream, sugar, carbs and FAT!

    I'm a big baker, and I love to cook, so I'm wondering if anyone has any health-i-fied comfort food recipes, or ingredient alternatives, that I could add to my arsenal?
    Nothing is "completely bad for you"...it's all about moderation. However, I do understand that some foods can just be triggers for us and it's easier to avoid them for the most part so we don't overindulge. There are some easy ways you can make small substitutes that will help lower some of these amounts of cream, sugar, and fat in what you eat.

    A pretty simple one is swapping out the oil in brownies with (this will sound completely ridiculous but it actually works well) black beans. You take them out of the can, put in a sieve and completely rinse all the "sauce" from the canning off (helps get rid of the excess sodium), then puree it with approximately a cup of water. Add the puree to the brownie mix and bake as normal. That will save you most of the fat calories and you get the bonus of adding a bunch of fiber to them. The "special" brownies have been eaten undetected by kids so I take that as a good sign of nothing "tasting weird" if you can get picky kids to eat 'em.

    I don't have personal experience but I'm told anywhere that sour cream is used, plain Greek yogurt can be substituted. I would imagine you may also be able to substitute it for plain cream if you added some sort of sweetener..either natural but lower calorie (stevia/agave) or artificial (aspartame, sucralose, etc.)

    So many people have suggested the black bean brownies to me, I'm VERY excited to give that a try :) Thanks for the tip!
  • votkuhr
    votkuhr Posts: 276 Member
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    Chunky peanut butter is my comfort food; but instead of completely avoiding it, I just have a teeny tiny bit (1/4 teaspoon) and savour it. The craving usually goes away after 5 minutes. :)
  • BeckZombie
    BeckZombie Posts: 138 Member
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    For pasta dishes, I like to replace the pasta with spaghetti squash or barley. The barley is really quite satisfying and I happen to like it already, which helps.

    I agree with the person who said the spaghetti squash mac and cheese from skinnytaste is delicious. Even my family loved it, and they're not big on eating healthy.
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,741 Member
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    I love sugar/chocolate but honestly my biggest comfort food has always been scrambled/fried eggs and toast. I used to enjoy it with chocolate milk or Ovaltine, from my teens all the way up to the recent past. I still enjoy an egg and toast but usually with a nice cup of coffee instead of the milk.

    FTR I do still like and enjoy milk, but I can fit one egg and one piece of 100% wheat Ozark Hearth toast into almost any day (under 200 cal for the snack).
  • kbradford26
    kbradford26 Posts: 13
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    I love sugar/chocolate but honestly my biggest comfort food has always been scrambled/fried eggs and toast. I used to enjoy it with chocolate milk or Ovaltine, from my teens all the way up to the recent past. I still enjoy an egg and toast but usually with a nice cup of coffee instead of the milk.

    FTR I do still like and enjoy milk, but I can fit one egg and one piece of 100% wheat Ozark Hearth toast into almost any day (under 200 cal for the snack).

    Egg on Toast is my absolute FAVOURITE. I started making Egg in a Nest (where you cut a hole in the middle of the bread and fry the egg inside it). It cuts down on the amount of carbs and calories, but I still get the awesome taste that I love. Plus, it's super easy :)
  • mortuseon
    mortuseon Posts: 579 Member
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    http://honeyandfigskitchen.com/2014/01/50-comfort-food-healthy-makeovers.html
  • MyChocolateDiet
    MyChocolateDiet Posts: 22,281 Member
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    so..UNcomfortable foods? Okay too much walnuts, mouth goes pucker. Lemons straight makes my jaw twinge. Piping hot pizza burns the roof of my mouth. Jalapeno's make my nose run. Wasabe gives my sinus a wake up call. Too much bread makes my belly painfully bloated. Raw almonds make my temples swell and tight. I think that's it.
  • cicisiam
    cicisiam Posts: 491 Member
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    Great info. ty

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