Comfort Food

A recent stressful event left me searching the pantry for ... comfort.

My newly adopted Vegan life gave me pause at a moment when I normally would have eaten my way mindlessly through this and that. There was a time when I would have done so without even a second thought. I would have made a blue box of mac & cheese (you know the one) and would have polished off well more than a single serving. Once upon a time I would have found solace at the bottom of a pint container of ice cream or in an ooey gooey cheesy pizza. Gluttony? Sure. But more than that the "comfort" should always outweigh the guilt. Right? Sometimes it is more simple as with Ramen Noodle Soup when I am feeling a bit under the weather or mashed potatoes when I have an upset stomach.

All of this leads me to these questions -- 1. When do we learn to turn to food for comfort? 2. Why do some people eat with their emotions and others not? 3. If it's not acceptable to eat emotionally then why does our culture have the phrase "comfort food" ?

There are certain food associations that are quite clear in etiology for me as with the soup. I have memories from childhood of my Grandmother making me Ramen Noodle Soup with crushed saltine crackers when I was sick. Of course it was cheap and had whatever animal extractive was cheapest but the nostalgia is there ... so now I make it with the Asian noodles and my Better Than Bouillon paste (Vegetable Base) and VIOLA! it's Vegan Noodle Soup. :) Mashed potatoes are an easy one with the addition of Earth Balance Natural Buttery Spread and Silk Unsweetened Soymilk.

I am using my transition from Vegetarian to Vegan not only to change what I eat but how and when I eat it. Rather than searching for the Vegan Mac & Cheez that comes closest to the blue box version in order to facilitate my "comfort food fix" I took the opportunity to examine why it has given me "comfort" in the past. Was it the flavor, the texture, the process of making it, or was it tied to something else ? ? ? I don't have all the answers yet but it's a work in progress.