Nov 26, 2015
By Stacey Stein
Few things can match a rich and hearty meal in offering relief from the biting cold of winter. Comfort foods like piping hot stews, gooey grilled cheese sandwiches and thick, creamy pasta dishes not only keep us warm and satisfied, they trigger a feel-good response, too. “A lot of comfort foods tend to have a bit of nostalgia attached to them,” says registered dietitian Shannon Crocker. “Maybe they’re things we ate during our childhood or meals that our grandmother or parents made, so there’s that emotional connection in terms of comfort food.”
Traditional winter comfort foods tend to be high in carbohydrates and fats. While this may help make them filling and palatable, they can also wreak havoc on our waistlines.
But there’s some good news: by making small changes, you can still enjoy all your favourite winter comfort foods as part of a healthy, well-balanced diet. Here’s a look at some comforting dishes to warm you up at each meal of the day:
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
There are many comfort foods to help get you through the long, cold winter months, and there are countless ways to lighten up heavier dishes. With that in mind, if there’s a meal you truly look forward to, that’s rich in calories and fat, Crocker suggests leaving the ingredients intact but instead watching the portion size.
“Don’t change it if you love it the way it is and can’t imagine tweaking it,” she says. “Just make sure you’re not overeating.”
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