Comfort food lightened the hell up

When it's so cold out you're freezing your ass off you want something warm and comforting! Stick to your ribs and warm your ass up food is what hits the spot this time of year. Comfort food doesn't necessarily have to add pounds to your middle but it does have to fill that spot like grandma's mashed potatoes or moms Texas hash. 

There are many ways to lighten up your favorite comfort foods and still experience the nostalgia of long gone days when someone else did the damned cooking and cleaning. The days when you could eat whatever you wanted without putting on the pounds. We all have our favorites that tend to evoke those happy feelings. Back in the day when grandma had more time to cook up those good ol family favorites and things were likely less stressful. Today time and nutritional content seem to be lacking. Some easy and healthy substitutions can easily make cooking some of your old favorites way more doable. 

I love bread, pasta, and potatoes. None of this is considered very healthy, but I love this shit anyway! Using olive oil instead of butter is one way I lighten up some of my favorite foods. Low fat milks rather than cream or regular milk is another way I have been reducing calories in my favorite dishes. Pasta is pasta so if you can get your family to buy into the whole wheat fad you are actually providing a healthier meal to them. Mac and cheese may be one of the best comfort foods ever made but the calories add up fast. I don't like fake or fat free cheeses so mixing it up a bit where you use a low fat milk and some of the cheese is skim mozzarella with whatever full fat delicious cheese you love can really lighten it up a lot. Do chicken enchiladas with the same mix of cheeses, mmmm good!

I never really liked fried chicken as a kid cuz my family made slimy chicken (yes that's what my siblings and I called it). My grandma and mother both coated it in flour and cooked it at too low temp for it to get that crispy brown coating most people grew up with. The chicken was whitish grey and slimy, ewwww. However, as the cook in my house I've found chicken can be crispy and healthy. With my airfryer I make delicious crispy fried chicken with minimal oil. I have come to love fried chicken as an adult! 

So what are some of your favorite comfort foods? How have you been able to lighten them up? Let's start a conversation and see if we can keep those favorites on our tables!