I noticed since I've started to eat raw foods for a good portion of my diet that I actually crave the crispy salads and juicey fruits.  Being vegan people often exclaim to me that they could never give up cheese or eggs or whatever it is they feel they need to have. But your story about the coffee drink shows that we can develop new tastes and in a very short time. People should try to keep that in mind when they set out to develop a healthier lifestyle. The new foods can become comfort foods.  I have found often times they are more comforting because I can feel good about their health benefits too!

I recently spent 5 weeks in Russia, living with different Russian families, and ate healthier than I have ever eaten at home. There were many new foods, and -except for kvass, a national drink- I loved all of it, and miss many of the foods now that I am home. I have found I crave the breads and cheeses from Russia- because they were so tasty, but also because I ate them every day, and I miss the people who served them to me. Now at home, a slice of brown bread with cheese, tomato and cucumber will transport me momentarily back to where I was extremely happy. It is comforting to have this link with people I love- and I guess that is why certain foods are called 'comfort' foods, and why each person's comfort foods are different. We each have times in our lives when we were happy, and the foods we ate then is one of the only ways to have those moments in time back.

I get a craving for a ''baloney'' sandwich, that we use to eat when we were kids. (It was an affordable food to feed us. I have 10 brothers and sisters.). I indulge about three times a year.

It is amazing the impact our childhood has on us. I feel rich when the fridge and the cupboard is full, because the food was stretched when I was growing up. I remember at Christmas, one bag of oranges was empty once we each had one.

So when I indulge, I savor it.

Original Post by: greentchr

I recently spent 5 weeks in Russia, living with different Russian families, and ate healthier than I have ever eaten at home. There were many new foods, and -except for kvass, a national drink- I loved all of it, and miss many of the foods now that I am home. I have found I crave the breads and cheeses from Russia- because they were so tasty, but also because I ate them every day, and I miss the people who served them to me. Now at home, a slice of brown bread with cheese, tomato and cucumber will transport me momentarily back to where I was extremely happy. It is comforting to have this link with people I love- and I guess that is why certain foods are called 'comfort' foods, and why each person's comfort foods are different. We each have times in our lives when we were happy, and the foods we ate then is one of the only ways to have those moments in time back.

 

How TRUE!  And so eloquently expressed!  Maybe that's why bacon is my biggest comfort food.  It reminds me of Sunday afternoon "breakfasts" with my depression-era grandparents.  Thanks for putting me in touch with that!

Original Post by: pgoda

I get a craving for a ''baloney'' sandwich, that we use to eat when we were kids. (It was an affordable food to feed us. I have 10 brothers and sisters.). I indulge about three times a year.

It is amazing the impact our childhood has on us. I feel rich when the fridge and the cupboard is full, because the food was stretched when I was growing up. I remember at Christmas, one bag of oranges was empty once we each had one.

So when I indulge, I savor it.

Mine is "fried" baloney sandwich!  LOL!

I grew up poor in the Midwest and 90% of the time sandwiches were our meals..  One of my favorites was scrambled eggs with potted meat stirred through it.  I made it years later for my kids and they laughed and refused to eat it.  They still comment on how gross it was but we loved it as kids.  We also mixed karo syrup and peanut butter together for a tasty sandwich.

I have found just that - a craving turned into a not so pleasant experience. I was craving your typical southern meal - fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, corn bread, green beans...when I actually decided to have it, I found it greasy and too heavy to eat. It was a relief that I didn't like that type of food anymore!

My favorite comfort food...still...is one in which I have very little ability to not indulge in...hold on to your hat...spaghetti and milk, with butter (and lots of salt and pepper!)  From what I understand it came from the Pennsylvania Dutch community.  They typically use elbow macaroni, but I love the texture of spaghetti much more.

We grew up eating it...my mom came from a very 'Dutch' background. She can still speak some PA Dutch (which is closer to German than Dutch). 

I blame my extra 60 lbs on my love of this staple...even though, I do not make it often...when my temper/anxiety starts to rise...I put a pot of water on to boil.  You can tell what kind of shape I am in by how large the pot is!

Peanut Butter & Banana sandwich! 

What an amazing trip you must be having.  Sounds like so much fun....let alone the overall challenge of it. 

Luckily you don't have to go around the world to taste different foods in different settings....granted, the US is filled with fast food & restaurant chains from east to west, north to south...but as we drove from midwest to the west coast....(thanks to my hubby who is the adventurist one) we have a tendency to stop at the 'off the road' places to eat.  He will stop and ask someone where the 'locals' eat...you can find some really fabulous food that you can't get anywhere else.  Except for a McDonald's coffee in the morning, ...we try to avoid the all-American restaurants when we travel.

I lived for over 2 years in Buenos Aires, and although I stuck to mostly Argentine food, I did go for a McDonalds burger every once in a while.  So nice to have "home" food!

My favorite comfort food is roast chicken, which is not so bad in itself, it's the other things I make to go with it. Like mashed potatoes and my chicken gravy, which I make from the pan drippings. However, since I use real butter to baste my chicken, the gravy is very rich and very fattening. And when the skin gets really crispy, my family fights over who gets to it first. But I tend to indulge only about once a month in the winter. During the summer, the chicken goes on the rotisserie and the gravy isn't near as rich.

I loved this article.  Living in the Netherlands for 6 months, I found that food could be very similar to food back home and sometimes the diet we ate was even heavier than in the states-- lots of gravies, mayo with our fries, waffles, etc.  But the one thing I found myself missing was Mexican food and a good ol' steak w/ baked potato. The first night I got back home, we stopped at an O'Charley's and I got THE steak w/ baked potato and a salad w/ Ranch dressing (American'ed OUT!), and I could barely eat two bites of the food. For a whole month after getting home, I found it hard to adjust back to my old diet-- it wasn't any heavier than how I had ate there, so I'm wondering if there was a difference in perhaps amount of additives, preservatives or just a general difference in agriculture that caused my lack of appetite.

Oh man, what I remember most from my childhood weekends was waking up and running downstairs for breakfast because my mom would always make this breakfast bread.

It really shouldn't have been called bread though. It was this home-made dough with all this stuff in it, all stretched out, fried in oil and then lathered with butter. and i WOULD JUST DEVOUR IT.

it sounds absolutely disgusting, but it was heavenly. thank god my mom never taught me how to make it because i'm sure one slice had maybe 20590295 calories and off-the-chart nutrition values lol. i havent eaten it in years because my mom went on this health-craze and never looked back. i think its the only comfort food i have, yet i never eat it, so i must admit i miss it from time to time!

Original Post by: mdwstwmn

I have found just that - a craving turned into a not so pleasant experience. I was craving your typical southern meal - fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, corn bread, green beans...when I actually decided to have it, I found it greasy and too heavy to eat. It was a relief that I didn't like that type of food anymore!

lol....that's funny! I grew up poor in the Texas hill country and as a kid Karo syrup mixed with peanut butter was a real treat.  But I can't say I have had a craving for that in my adult years.  My craving that follows me from my childhood though is homemade biscuits and sausage gravy.  I still ask my 83 year old Mama to make it for breakfast when I go for a visit.

Original Post by: bestephens

My favorite comfort food...still...is one in which I have very little ability to not indulge in...hold on to your hat...spaghetti and milk, with butter (and lots of salt and pepper!)  From what I understand it came from the Pennsylvania Dutch community.  They typically use elbow macaroni, but I love the texture of spaghetti much more.

We grew up eating it...my mom came from a very 'Dutch' background. She can still speak some PA Dutch (which is closer to German than Dutch). 

I blame my extra 60 lbs on my love of this staple...even though, I do not make it often...when my temper/anxiety starts to rise...I put a pot of water on to boil.  You can tell what kind of shape I am in by how large the pot is!

bestephens- Pennsylvania Dutch  is actually 'low' German rather than Dutch. The word comes from the German word Deutsch, and got 'Americanized.' They are  descendants of Germanic people who emigrated to the US , from Germany, Switzerland and the low countries prior to 1800. I just found that out this summer when doing genealogy research on my ancestors. My mother also speaks a little as she grew up speaking  nothing but at home.

One food I really like from 'back there' are stuffed cabbage rolls... not too unhealthy)). In fact, my mom is coming to visit and she is going to help me make some. Good thing some of our comfort foods are not bad for us!

even the chains are different overseas. After living 4 years in Berlin Germany I returned home and ate a McDonald's cheeseburger - its was disgusting. The bun was sweet. The ketchup was sweet. Who wants to eat a sweet cheeseburger? And yet, now after being back for 4 years, I no longer notice the sweetness...how quickly we adjust

For the first time I ate hamburger I was 16 or 17 (one of the most famous american fast food comp.) at my school trip to Italy - Milano. I grew up in ex communistic europe ("Eastern" as you say but I think we are middle Europe geografically - Slovakia)...but back to the point - it was so not satisfying experience...I had thougt I could eat 3 and still need more to get satisfied... Why you put sugar and salt everywhere? Sweet bakery and salty buttter or meat... our food taste naturally...and then you are really satisfied after you eat it...and you don´t need more then "enaugh"....