Healthy Comfort Food Options

Are you looking to soothe your loneliness or stress during isolation with some comfort
food? If so, you aren’t alone! During this time, people are indulging in their favorite
classics, but remember comfort food means something different for everyone. Some
people want the recipes they enjoyed as children, others look for specific ingredients in
their comfort food.

Either way, it’s not always the healthiest food, so we put together some ways to make it
a bit healthier for you and your family.

What Does Healthy Mean to You?

The first thing you should do is consider what “healthy” means to you during this time. It
is an important detail, because they will determine what kind of swaps or comfort foods
you want to choose from. Maybe healthy means adding in more fruits and veggies,
enjoying whole grains instead or processed grains, cooking more from scratch, or more
specific options like low-carb or low-fat. Once you know this, you can work on finding
the best healthy comfort foods for your family.

Find Healthy Swaps for Your Favorites

Before finding healthy swaps, make a list of all your favorite comfort foods. What
sounds good right now? Maybe it’s meatloaf, grilled cheese and tomato soup, brownies,
or biscuits and gravy. It doesn’t matter what it is, as long as it brings you joy and
comfort. Once you have your list, you can start looking for simple swaps to make it a
little healthier.

For example, you might add veggies inside your grilled cheese to increase the
nutritional content, or maybe you make your favorite brownies with shredded zucchini
and walnuts inside instead of just plain chocolate. You might try a healthier pizza crust
by using almond flour, or use ground turkey for your meatloaf. There are tons of swaps
you can make that are super easy to do.

Add Healthy Elements to Your Comfort Dishes

Instead of trying to take things away from your comfort dishes, focus instead on what
you add in. You don’t have to take the shredded cheese and sour cream from your
tacos, but what if you added shredded lettuce to them, and then have a side salad or
other vegetable side dish? You are still enjoying your favorite tacos, but also having a
lot more nutrition in your meal.

Make Your Food from Scratch

A super easy way to increase the health of your meals and snacks is to cook more from
scratch. It is so easy to make mashed potatoes from actual potatoes – you don’t need
the frozen or boxed variety! They will be healthier, whole food, and taste so much
better.