It’s hard to focus on writing about food this morning after looking at the photos from Florida. Out here in the West we know forest fires and heat waves and relentless rain, but Hurricanes are on a whole other level. The devastation is hard to take in.
If any of my readers have been affected by the storm, I hope you and your loved ones are safe.
Chef José Andrés’ World Kitchen is already staged across Florida, ready to serve meals as soon as the storm passes. World Kitchen is a great place to donate if you’re able. They provide meals in response to humanitarian, climate, and community crises. In their words, “Food relief is not just a meal that keeps hunger away. It’s a plate of hope. It tells you in your darkest hour that someone, somewhere, cares about you. This is the real meaning of comfort food.”
World Kitchen is talking about feeding people who are in crisis. But we can all relate to the idea of comfort food. Many of us regularly feel a need for comfort food on a less dire and more personal level. We aren’t in crisis, but a bowl of ice cream sure can make us feel better at the end of our day.
Ever since listening to this podcast episode about emotional eating (Comfort Food podcast #64) I’ve thought differently about comfort eating. We are all emotional eaters because we’re humans with emotions. To deny ourselves that pleasure or label it as “bad” is a little bit ridiculous.
Also because we’re human, it can be a challenge to recognize when comfort eating stops feeling good and we need to change our habits. But let’s save that conversation for another day.
Right now, all of us, for different reasons, could probably use some comfort.
When I think of comfort food that makes me happy, here’s what immediately comes to mind:
Morning cup of coffee
Warm bread with butter
My mom’s chicken soup
My Dad’s evening popcorn
Pasta
Ice cream, preferably eaten while reading a magazine
How about you? What types of food bring you comfort? You can leave a comment here or email me at jenny@kitchenskip.com
Comfort Food Recipes
Chicken Soup with Rice
Low effort, high comfort. Everything goes in the Instant Pot at once, including chicken breast and white rice, and cooks in just 5 minutes. The white rice is on the softer side, which is actually what I love about this soup. The longer the soup sits after it's cooked, the more liquid the rice absorbs, giving the broth a creamy porridge-like consistency.
Pork and Ricotta Meatballs
These pork and ricotta meatballs turn out perfectly every time. Tender and flavorful and absolutely perfect for spaghetti and meatball night.
No-Bake Almond Butter Granola Bars
Chia almond butter bars are made from almond butter, oats, coconut, dark chocolate and pecans. They’re a perfect no-bake, rich and chewy granola bar. You can change up the ingredients a bit and even leave out the chia seeds.
Dinner Last Week
I’m always curious about what other families are eating. Aren’t you? Here’s what my crew ate last week.
Monday: Fish tacos made from frozen battered fish (easy short-cut!)
Tuesday: Chicken soup. The kids were hit with a second round of back-to-school head colds, so soup was on the menu even though the weather was hot.
Wednesday: Instant Pot chicken and rice, from Kitchen Skip. I usually don’t make chicken two nights in a row, but I needed to update this recipe on my blog.
Thursday: Broiled tofu with rice, which was eaten cold in to-go bowls that I made for the kids. We went straight from school to karate. After karate, the kids had a 2nd dinner at 7:30pm (Trader Joes frozen mac n’ cheese) and I ate the leftover rice and tofu.
Friday: Sorin was still out of town, so the kids and I had a “whatever” night, which is what my daughter calls the nights when I don’t make dinner. I honestly don’t remember what the kids ate. I had cheese and crackers with a glass of wine & it was an absolutely perfect dinner for the end of a busy week.
Cookbooks
Please note that book titles in this section are Bookshop.org affiliate links. Your cost for purchasing the book is the same, but a small portion of your purchase will come back to me and help support my work. When ordering from Bookshop.org you’ll also be supporting independent bookstores.
Snacking Cakes by Yossy Arefi is full of recipes for easy, everyday cakes. Who couldn’t use more cake in their life? The problem with this cookbook is that you’ll want to make every cake in the book. Like swirled jam cake, salty caramel peanut butter cake and spiced chocolate pumpkin cake. Yum!
Hope everyone has a good weekend! Can you believe October is already here?
xo
Jenny