The Love of Fall & Comfort Foods

There’s something about the nip of fall in the air that makes me crave comfort food- pasta with creamy sauce, cheese topped casseroles, and the biggest offender of all, “Southern style” vegetables (note to self: a vegetable loses most of its redeeming characteristics if you cook it in cream and bacon grease). Kids go back to school, it gets darker earlier, and doesn’t it seem like life is SO busy right now?

I don’t think ALL of that comfort food has to go away, but I do know that I am committed to not gaining any comfort weight this fall. And I think that there are ways to do it, even with a busy schedule and lots of make-ahead meals.

1. I always have quinoa cooked and ready to go in my fridge. On mornings when I have forgotten to make something ahead of time for work, I add in black beans, corn, chopped green pepper, and red wine vinegar and olive oil. It makes a hearty salad that takes approximately 3 minutes to make.

2. I make a double batch of chili early in the season and then freeze it into individual servings. I actually do it in my slow cooker so I don’t have to be there while it’s cooking! For me, having individual servings of things frozen and ready to go means I won’t get tired of eating leftovers (if they’re frozen, you can just go back to them a few weeks later).

3. Casseroles aren’t bad, and there are lots of ways to make them healthier. I focus on making sure that I am making more colourful casseroles (less colourful usually means more cream!) and I try to add in extra vegetables wherever I can.

4. Squash and sweet potatoes make a delicious desert- seriously! Now, Southern-style sweet potatoes involves cream, butter, and marshmallows (and it’s delicious), but I bake them with the tiniest bit of butter and some cinnamon instead. Still delicious! 5. I will admit though, I do have a recipe for a pumpkin spice latte cheesecake lying around that I am DYING to make soon! It will be the perfect fall treat!

Now if I could just figure out how to make those holiday meals a bit healthier!