Anna Gracey - How To Prepare Comfort Food Your Family Will Love: 75 Delectable Comfort Food Recipes

HowTo Prepare Comfort Food Your Family Will Love 75Delectable Comfort Food Recipes By:Anna Gracey

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This book isdedicated to my grandma, who helped me to create this book with her greatrecipes.
People consume comfort food to gaina sense of self-satisfaction, also referred to as nostalgia. The food itself isnot necessarily healthy; however, it does provide the consumer with a welcomedrespite against many stresses.

Some people refer to comfort food as Southerncooking, but in all actuality, comfort food can be any type of food item. Fooditems that tend to fall in the category of being comfort foods are those thatare high in fats, sugars and carbs all at the same time. Many times, the foodsare deep fried. When compared to other food items,comfort foods tend to be more satisfying; this is because they are full of fatsand carbs. A comfort food will "stick to the ribs" of the personeating it, causing them to feel full and satisfied for an extended period oftime. Because of the sense of fullness that is gained, many people have their owncomfort food that they consume on a regular basis; therefore, resulting in avery emotionally satisfying experience every time the food is consumed.

Sights, sounds and smells oftentimesbring back memories to a person. Because of this, comfort foods tend to triggerspecific childhood/past memories. Any time a person wants to recall suchmemories, a particular comfort food will be consumed. Oftentimes, such memorieswant to be recalled because it helps a person to cope with an unfamiliarenvironment or stress. A person will view all types of challenges assurmountable as long as comfort foods are available. Scientifically, when eating comfortfoods, the human brain will release "feel good" hormones; thus,causing a "feel good" sensation to take place in a person's mind.

Ifnegative feelings are being confronted, comfort foods help to compensate forthem. It is important to note that choosing comfort foods tends to be more of abehavioral choice than that of a chemical reaction or chemical choice. Manytimes, a person's favorite food will be greatly influenced by the culture inwhich he or she lives. The overall goal of consuming comfort foods is to gain: Security Happiness Comfort Safety Benefits Gained From ConsumingComfort Foods To fully understand what comfortfoods are, it is very important to take a close look at the benefits gainedwhen eating them. For the most part, however, comfort foods make a person feelbetter. Makes a Person Feel Better When a person is sick, he or she mayconsume comfort foods as a way to lift his or her spirits. Makes a Person Feel Better When a person is sick, he or she mayconsume comfort foods as a way to lift his or her spirits.

A certain food item,such as a chicken noodle soup, may bring back memories of the person's mothernursing him or her back to health. Many people believe that by consuming theirfavorite comfort food while sick, they will recover quicker from the flu or acold. Emotional Enhancement There are people who sometimes getstuck in an emotional "rut." To dig their way out, they will consumecomfort foods. The foods themselves will remind a person of happier times,helping him or her to find solace in the happy memories. Such events that maybe recalled when eating comfort foods include any of the following: Aparticular meaningful birthday Decoratingthe Christmas tree with Dad Makingcookies with Mom Goingcamping with the family Winning achampionship baseball game Playingthe piano And manymore significant memories Makes a Person Feel Loved When a person has someone whoprepared him or her comfort foods, it makes the person feel loved. Makes a Person Feel Grounded In hectic times of one's life, he orshe may consume comfort foods as a way to gain a sense of being grounded.Common times that in a person's life in which he or she may feel the need to begrounded include: When goingoff to college Rightafter getting married Rightafter having a baby Takes a Person Back to His or HerRoots When a person wants to rememberwhere he or she came from, eating certain comfort foods can take the personback to his or her roots.

For those who have bad childhood memories, eatingcertain foods will have the opposite effect than that of comfort foods, meaninga person will want to avoid consuming them. For others, however, eating comfortfoods is a great way to repeat and relive certain happy memories. Passing along Traditions Many people prepare and consumecomfort foods as a way to continue tradition. By passing along recipes tochildren, parents in a sense are able to pass along many of their happymemories. As the children gain the memories, after getting older, they alsopass along the recipes. Consuming Comfort Foods There are many characteristics aboutcomfort foods that make them enjoyable to the person consuming them.

Three ofthe more important characteristics include: Taste Smell Texture When a person finds a food in whichhe or she especially enjoys each of these characteristics, it is very commonthat the food will become a comfort food. It is important to note that inaddition to consuming comfort foods, some people also prefer certain types ofcomfort beverages.

Dieting all the time can bestressful on both the mind and the body. Not giving into your cravings canleave you feeling stressed out and deprived, but still we keep on going in thename of good health and sustained weight loss. While this is a great thing andstrong willpower is an admirable quality, sometimes it is best to indulge, butonly on occasion. Why? There are many reasons which we will get into in just aminute.

Have you ever been on a diet so longthat you don't remember what your favorite foods taste like? Ever opt out ofgoing out with friends just so you wouldn't be tempted by the food they wereeating or the calorie laden alcoholic beverages they were drinking? Weshouldn't have to give up our social life or happiness just to diet. There is atime and a place to indulge, and at home is best. Surprisingly, there is such thing ashealthy comfort foods. Often these foods are just healthier replicas of lesshealthy alternatives, like mini burritos or healthy chocolate chip cookies.These often have recipes that call for substitute ingredients, like egg whitesinstead of whole eggs. Making these comfort food substitutes at home is justfine on occasion, and doing so actually poses a number of benefits to thedieter.

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