How to Make Comfort Food Healthy Food?

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All kinds of stress, from everyday life, to financial problems, to family crisis can make us crave the good old fashioned comfort foods our Mothers and Grandmothers used to make. Yet these days, we are all well too aware of the need to eat healthy. What can we do?

The reason why “comfort food” is called so, is because it fills both out physiological and psychological needs. There are little tricks that you can use to make your comfort food healthier for you without sacrificing the delicious dishes.

Step 1: Eat healthy versions of the foods you crave. Everyone has a different favorite food to fall back on in times of stress, but find the healthiest version of that food when you crave it. For example, if you crave popcorn, eat it unsalted and unbuttered or with healthy butter alternatives. If you want ice cream, eat frozen yogurt or sorbet instead.
Step 2: Creamy foods are comfort foods, so look for something like yogurt or skimmed milk this can make a significant difference in calorie count. You won't be able to tell the difference once you have it added to the other ingredients. It will make the sauce just as creamy and the soup just as tasty as they always were. Removing the fat off of meats and removing the skin from poultry will considerably decrease the fat and cholesterol content of your favorite comfort food dish.
Step 3: If you are enjoying a dinner of your favorite comfort food, add a side salad and take a smaller portion of the main dish. The salad will help fill you up and add valuable nutrients to your diet at the same time. Always try to eat smaller portions. Use smaller plates so you get the appearance of a full plate. Try to leave 3 or 4 bites from each meal on the plate.
Step 4: Caffeine gives you a mental lift. Caffeine affects some people’s moods more than it affects others, which might explain why certain people become regular coffee drinkers while others don’t. Flavored coffees are many people's comfort food item. If you enjoy flavored coffee try adding cinnamon and nutmeg to your coffee instead of flavored syrup which is filled with fat, sugar and calories. Cup of tea does soothe. A survey of 2,000 Finns found that those who drank a cup of tea every day were less likely to be depressed than those who didn’t. And no one who drank more than five cups a day was found to be depressed. Studies have shown that the thiamine in tea helps in calming you down.