High Brow Comfort Food

I’m all for comfort food—slow cooked, roasted or baked. I’m not afraid of a good old fashioned casserole, chili or mashed potatoes and a slow cooked roast. Not me (there is a reason its called comfort food, after all).
But please, please do not confuse my bone-marrow warming, family classic entrees with what is dubbed low-brow food. There is a difference and it’s all in the process, the food process that is. You see, processed food is making a comeback because it is cheap and we’re in a recession (newsflash). Apparently, factory workers in the US are working over-time to produce enough Spam to keep up with the demand and foods like Velveeta cheese and Campbell’s Soup are enjoying record numbers in sales. Besides the fact that many of these foods are very high in saturated fats and loaded with sodium (and include other other words I can neither spell nor pronounce), they are the ‘low brow’ items and often confused with comfort food.

Here’s the thing—you don’t need to sell out to the over-processed packaged foods if you are trying to trim back on your grocery bill. Mac and cheese does not always have to come out of a box and veggies can still be good for you if you buy them fresh frozen. Just look out for too many additives and try to cook as much of the meal yourself. Home cooked comfort foods are still cheap and can be much healthier for your family. We have solutions for you on EatSavvy and there are other options available like Supperworks if you don’t have time to do the cooking yourself. We have some other great family cost cutting solutions that our readers have sent in that can be helpful too. Check them out here.

I say pull out some of those old family classics that were made in your mom’s kitchen before the day when a bottle of Coke was cheaper than milk. There is only so much we are willing to forfeit to this recession, after all.