Cooking the comforts of home
Welcome to winter. Yes, it’s cold, windy and, some days, fairly dark. As a January baby, I am somewhat fond of the winter season, although venturing out in the cold every day is getting harder–especially on the weekends. When sitting in my comfortable bed, in my heated apartment with a movie on, I don’t even want to leave for lunch. Fortunately, winter is the perfect season for comfort foods. Traditionally, comfort foods are the ones that remind us of home and of being kids. However, they are not always exceptionally healthy. Here are some ways to make some of my favorites just a little healthier.
Macaroni and Cheese is good all the time. It’s great in the winter or summer, lunch or dinner, whenever. Also, it’s pretty foolproof: boil the macaroni, top with a cheese sauce. Done. To make it a little healthier, try replacing the white flour pasta with whole grain macaroni. For your cheese component, skip the butter. Instead, combine a cup of low-fat milk, a cup and a half of low fat shredded cheese and a third of a cup of low-fat cottage cheese. Pour it over the macaroni and bake at 350 degrees for an hour.
When it is cold and rainy (as it often is in Newport News), soup is a great go-to food. It is easy to make, it is warm and, for the most part, pretty good for you. Everyone has their favorite kinds, but as a general rule, soups with a broth base are healthier than those with a cream base. To add protein, you can include chicken or beef, or stay vegetarian and add beans. Regardless, add lots of vegetables.
A comfort food list would hardly be complete without a dessert, and my favorite is the chocolate chip cookie. Since there are so many variations of this recipe and many people have a favorite, consider these suggestions. Replace the oil with applesauce—I know it sounds weird, but you cannot taste the difference, it reduces some of the fat and the cookies tend to come out a little bit softer. Replace some or all of the flour with whole-wheat flour—personally, I like to use half white flour and half whole wheat. Finally, dark chocolate has some benefits that milk chocolate doesn’t have, so replacing the chips in your cookies with dark chocolate chips will provide that boost without you even realizing it.
If there is one staple of any childhood, it is the peanut butter and jelly sandwich. It’s great because it has protein to keep you going, it is really easy to make and it is so good! To make this recipe a little healthier is very easy: use a wheat bread instead of white. White bread has significantly less nutritional value than wheat bread, so that single replacement is an easy fix. When it comes to peanut butter, most of the brands are the same. Look for the jar with the fewest ingredients because that will give you the most organic peanut flavor. For your jelly component, look for your favorite flavor with the least amount of sugar and try preserves or jam for the most fruit flavor.
Grilled cheese is one of my favorite “reminds me of home” foods because it can be so versatile—you can basically make this sandwich with whatever bread and cheese you have in your refrigerator. As mentioned before, whole grain breads are the best options. For cheese, American is lower in fat and high in calcium and protein. There are various ways to actually cook the sandwich, but grilling it in butter is a surefire way to add unnecessary calories. Instead, add a teaspoon of olive oil to the pan and then add the sandwich.
Posted by Natalie Shapiro
on Jan 25 2012. Filed under Featured, Lifestyle.
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