Comfort food. It is literally named for what it does for us. Are there other things to turn to for comfort? Of course! In fact, there are many! But today, we will only be talking about this one. Isn’t it funny how the words “comfort food” are deciphered differently, depending on who is thinking about it? For some, it’s Mom’s spaghetti. For others it’s Grandma’s chicken soup, or maybe your own apple pie. For me, it’s a long list of items! Some of my favorite comfort foods are homemade macaroni and cheese, baked goods, sourdough bread, tiramisu, chocolate, a few casserole recipes that are full of creamy goodness, and my mom’s tuna sandwiches. Are you sensing a trend? Sugar and carbohydrates, lol…with a partial exception for the tuna…it’s just really good.
But what happens when the comfort food you have always known no longer makes your body feel good? (Or perhaps it never did, but you didn’t realize it before.) For instance, my yummy favorite mac and cheese hurts my family’s stomachs, since it is made with regular pasta and regular flour. But they LOVE mac and cheese! That one is an easy fix. I just use gluten free pasta and gluten free flour when making the cheese sauce, and voila! It’s fixed! But there are other recipes and foods that aren’t quite as easily adjusted. What then? Never fear! I have some ideas for you!
Let’s talk about baked goodies for a moment. Oh how I love each delicious bite. Muffins, cakes, cookies, breads, bars, etc…I could eat them everyday. (Don’t worry, I don’t actually eat them everyday, I merely said I could, haha.) But what about the ingredients in them that are common allergies or irritants for some people? Does that mean there is no hope? Certainly not! There are many ingredient substitutions that can be made to help you navigate around certain foods you can no longer eat, while keeping the flavor and integrity of the goodies! Here are some examples:
Food to replace [Alternative(s)]
- eggs [ground flax seeds or chia seeds combined with water]
- grain flours [almond flour, coconut flour, oat flour]
- oils/butter [applesauce, pumpkin purée, baby food pears]
- milk [almond, rice, soy, or oat milk]
- refined sugars [pure maple syrup, coconut sugar, stevia, leave it out all together and add fruit instead]
- peanut butter [sun butter, cashew butter, almond butter]
You can experiment with your favorite recipes, taking out what you cannot have, and subbing in what you can have. You will be amazed that they will mostly taste the same…or at least similar enough to still hold the coveted title of “comfort food.” Occasionally, the texture will change slightly, or the goodies with be more dense that the original, but those are elements I am willing to deal with if it means my family will be safe in eating them!
For example, I just made adjustments to my favorite pumpkin-cranberry muffin recipe (see link below), so that it is now much lower on the glycemic index, and also has much less fat and cholesterol than it used to! I think they taste really great, and the kids are big fans of the new recipe, too! I am excited for you all to try it out and let me know what you think! You can substitute at a 1:1 ratio from the list above if you’d like to add anything back in, too.
I know that sometimes it can feel like a really intimidating task to alter a favorite “tried and true” recipe, but I want to encourage you to give it a go, and see how it comes out! Some of your attempts may be flops. That’s ok! I teach my kids that when a recipe flops, we just figure out what went wrong and move on. We also try to come up with ideas of how to use what we made, even if for a different dish altogether. In fact, a recent cookie recipe fail turned out to be a great crumbled ice cream topping at our house! See what I mean? And sometimes (many times, actually), your recipe alterations will be a success, like my pumpkin-cranberry muffins.
Whatever you do, keep on trying! You can have comfort food that is delicious and healthy for your body, too! Find joy in the process of cooking and nourishing yourself and your family. Like in other things, it’s there if you look for it. Have a beautiful day, mamas!
Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 C Almond Flour
- 2 Tbsp Ground Flax Seed
- 1 1/2 C Canned or Fresh Pumpkin Puree
- 1/4 C Unsweetened Applesauce
- 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 3/4 Tbsp Baking Powder
- 1/2 Tbsp Baking Soda
- 1/4 C Almond Milk
- 1/4 C Pure Maple Syrup
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1/2 C Dried Cranberries
- 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
- 1 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 4 tsp Water
- 1 tsp Coconut or Olive oil to grease your muffin tin or Paper Muffin Liners
Instructions
- Preheat Oven to 325 Degrees
- Line or grease your muffin tin
- Soak Ground Flax Seeds in 4 tsp Water for 5 minutes
- Add all wet ingredients to Flax Seed Mixture, and mix well
- In a separate bowl combine all dry ingredients and mix well
- Gradually add dry mixture to wet mixture
- Spoon Batter into lined or greased muffin tins, until each cup is approx 3/4 full
- Bake at 325 for 30 minutes, and then check for the internal temperature to be 205 degrees, or for a fork to come out clean.