My DD loves to enjoy a home made platter of Fettucini Alfredo - with chicken & veggies! I often make our alfredo with either peas & carrots, broccoli, zuccini, tomatoes or spinach mixed into it. She loves it! It's a nice warming comfort food that become well rounded as I add in the extra protein and veggies!

Our Alfredo sauce is as follows - mixed with our favorite seasonal veggies & chicken!

1 Kraft cream cheese pack (8 oz)

1 cup of parmesean cheese, grated

1/2 stick butter

1 teaspoon olive oil

2 tblsp garlic, minced

3 cups of milk or cream (your choice, we use 2%)

 Heat on medium - add grilled/baked chicken and veggies after sauce has blended and thickened! Enjoy tossed with your favorite pasta - use spinach pasta, whole wheat or sundried tomato for more flavor.

When I was a small child my grandmother would make mashed potatoes with shredded cheddar cheese in them.   She would peel and boil about 5 large white potatoes then she would mash them with a stick of butter, a 1/2 cup of sour cream and 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese with a bit of fresh ground pepper and a pinch of chopped parsley.  That is to this day my comfort food. 

When I was pregnant over 26 years ago I would sit down with a 4 qt bowl of these potatoes and eat them until the bowl was empty and scrapped clean.

My sweet little granddaughter will do the same thing and she's two. 

My daughter's favorite comfort food is a peanut butter and honey sandwich. In fact, it's pretty much the only thing she'll eat!

the Johnson family tales

My kids and I love to make grilled cheese and chicken noodle soup when we need some added comfort to our day. Being were originally from Louisiana were always looking to spice things up, so we add a slice of pepper jack cheese to our regular grilled cheese and its a party in our tummies!! The kids love to dip their sandwiches in their soup bowls and see who can get the most noodles in their mouths. I remember doing the same things when I was a kid!! I love watching my 3 children enjoy these simple little things....

My kids favorite meals are quick ones.  Things like grilled cheese, chicken nuggets and alpha tots and pasta and sauce are their faves.  I usually pull those out when the brain cells won't work.

My family's favorite "feel good" meal is ziti.  But I don't bake it.  Instead, I add the shredded mozarella and ricotta cheeses after I drain the pasta, while it's still hot.  It makes the cheese creamier than if you baked it, and doesn't get dried out.  I just serve it topped with sauce and grated parmesean cheese, with hot rolls or slices of italian bread and salad.  Definitely the top meal in my family.

a big gooey Grilled cheese sandwich,  a steeping hot bowl of Tomato soup and a big crisp dill pickle is the way we get back to comfort and a classic feel good meal in our home.

There's nothing better than a lazy Sunday morning and a big batch of pancakes with syrup and bacon.  My boys love to dip the bacon in the syrup.  We make tiny pancakes for them and they gobble them up.

http://3boysundermyroof.blogspot.com 

Heather Stork

My son loves to eat fish sticks with tomato soup.  He dips the fish sticks in tarter sauce and eats them.  Then he eats the tomoto soup by taking turns dipping Kraft cheese singles that were broken down into squares and saltine crackers.  He ends up drinking the remainder of the soup.  He has such fun eating this meal and he always comes running with a smile on his face.

I'm sure everybody would call this a comfort food, but my mom makes a delicious macaroni and cheese. You just use pasta noodles, milk, cheese, and a little butter. The best part is after it's  baked in the oven, the top is crunchy. Delish!

http://browneyedbasics.wordpress.com

My familiy's feel good meal is mexican cornbread.  It is a cornbread made with cream style corn and layered with lots of grated cheese and hamburger meat, jalapenos on one side for the adults then topped with more cornbread.  My boys really enjoy this.

This might not be sophisticated enough for some people but I love to take Kraft singles and lay them over tortilla chips and microwave them. It's my own version of cheap nachos.

But probably our favorite meal as of late is carnitas. I spend all day slow cooking a pork shoulder and then shred it up and sizzle it in a pan on high heat with a little oil. Throw it in a corn tortilla with black olives, onions, and shredded cheddar and I'm one happy girl.

I love to make homemade Macaroni and Cheese from my old orange Betty Crocker cookbook - it is one of the family favorites, with it's gooey-liciousness! And it's even better the next day!

My kids favorite comfort food is homemade mac and cheese that I make using my mom's recipe.  It's even yummy reheated for lunch the next day.

My family is in love with this easy meal. Crock pot a pork butt all day with only a little cavendars seasoning. Drain off fat and add 2 small cans of black beans. Let simmer while a side of white rice is getting ready. Top with a dollup of real sour cream, diced tomatoes, diced onions with a little garlic, olive oil and red wine vinegar to taste. It is yummy. My kids like it all in one dish and sometimes as separates, it depends on the mood.

12 Grilled or baked chicken thighs,

2 cans chicken & rice soup,

2 cans green beans,

3 tablespoons sour cream, 

1 can sliced mushrooms, 

10 crackers

Combine all the ingredients except the crackers in a large casserole dish.  Crumble the crackers on top.  Bake at 365 degrees for 15-20 minutes.  YUM.  Always a winner in our house!

April

www.AprilsLittleFamily.blogspot.com

My kids have two favorite comfort meals.  They are homemade chicken and dumplings and potato soup.  The chicken and dumplings are worth the effort and the potato soup just tastes like it took hours.  Both are staples, especially during the winter.

Take 2 large cans of diced tomatoes and puree them in the  blender.  Mix in 1/2 cup of coffee creamer, salt and pepper and one tablespoon of italian seasoning.  Heat and serve with grilled cheese, made with cheddar cheese.

A family tradition around here: Homemade Macaroni and Cheese served with ham. This was a "Feel Good Meal" for me when I was a kid, and now it is for my kids, too! 

A family favorite!!!  Grew up with this recipe.

1 lb of ground hamburger

1 packet of taco seasoning

1 box Kraft Shells and Cheese (I like to use the 2% kind)

Brown ground beef and add taco seasoning and a little water.

Mix with prepared Kraft Shells and Cheese!

Enjoy this dish with tortilla chips and Mexican corn!

Jennifer

www.jenleforce.blogspot.com

Apparently some people make these with crescent rolls and little sausages (which I admit sounds wonderful), but here's a recipe for homemade pigs-n-a-blanket. Enjoy!

Jane @ What About Mom

My favorite comfort food is Kraft Macaroni and Cheese...just cooked...still hot...it feels sooo good going down.

My go to comfort food as a kid was hamburger soup.  This was always a fall/winter favourite. 

My mother used to give this to me after a day of sliding. It warmed me up instantly and created such comfort. I now make it for my daughters.

Cheddar Soup

3 Tbsp butter

1 small onion diced

1/2 c diced plamentos

2 Tbsp flour

4 C Chicken Stock

4 C Cream

2 C Sharp Cheddar cubed or shredded

pinch cayenne pepper

In your soup pot saute with your butter onion and plamentos on low heat. When carmelized add 2 Tbsp flour. Add your chicken stock and cream. cook on low for 15 minutes. Add the cheddar cheese and caynne pepper and simmer.

Dish up with french bread to dip in it.

Ooooh, we love grilled cheese and tomato soup.

 The grilled cheese is made with homemade bread, a little bit of butter, salt and pepper--and Kraft Singles.  (Two per sandwich.)  And the tomato soup is canned, and made with milk (not water, eewww)--so there's a good amount of dairy.

 Then--(here's the kicker)--dip the grilled cheese into the soup.  Perfect!

My 2-year-old has a healthy appetites and rarely shows a strong preference for one food over another (unless it's ice cream) with two exceptions:  grilled ham & cheese sandwiches and mac 'n cheese.  We had the Velveeta version this summer on vacation, and now she won't touch any other kind.

As a child, my favorite was the blue box mixed with one can of tuna and a can of LeSeur peas.  It's still my go-to comfort food.

My daughter is only 1, so her favorite foods are somewhat limited so far.  But what seems to be her favorite is some pasta with a little sauce and some sliced up cheese and peaches.  Loves it, she does! 

MinnesotaMom
www.minnesotamom.wordpress.com

My girls are just crazy for breakfast pizza... it is fast and very easy, so I really don't mind obliging them. 
Press a roll of refrigerated crescent rolls out flat onto a small baking sheet to cover the pan for the crust.   Mix 4 or 5 eggs and a pinch of seasonings (as if for scrambled eggs) and pour over the crescent rolls.  Then layer on half to three quarters of a pound of your favorite cooked ground sausage... spicy, mild, turkey, etc.  Then cover the top with cheddar, colby/ jack, or any other kind of cheese just as you would a pizza.  Bake it in the oven for 11 to 15 minutes at 375 degrees.   

This meal is a definite old stand-by for my children.

 1. prepare a can of tomato soup according to the directions.  i usually use milk instead of water to make the soup more creamy.

2. you can use any type of cheese for your grilled cheese sandwich.  favorites for us include cheddar and swiss.

3. my son especially enjoys his sandwich dipped in the tomato soup.  so after cheese is melted and the bread is browned on both sides, i cut the sandwich into 4 small triangular pieces to make dipping easier. delicious!

On a whim, one day I opened a small jar of pimientos, drained them, and added them to my mac-n-cheese dish. My teenagers loved it! And the red and gold look beautiful together.

My kids favorite is homemade spaghetti with a piece of buttered toast.

My family cannot wait for fall to roll around so we can have potato soup.  But with 9 children and usually some friends, I just don't have the time to peel and cut the 15 pounds or so of potatoes it would take to feed them all.  So we use frozen hash browns!  Here's my recipe, although it's a bit hard to know exactly what amounts I use since I usually throw it all together!  So tweak until your family loves it!

1 pound of good sausage - Any kind, but make sure it is good and flavorful!

2 onions, chopped

4 stalks celery, chopped

1/2 a soup pot full of chicken broth or water

4-6 bags shredded hash browns

2 - 4 cans of cream of mushroom soup.

Add it all together, stir, and simmer all day.  Yum!

Our favorite comfort food is a chicken noodle casserole with a creamy sauce and lots of veggies with a buttery crumb crust.

My daughter is a great eater and not too picky... but she LOVES pasta both the Mac-n-cheese and the tomato sauce variety!  My favorite comfort food growing up was yummy bakery bread and mashed potatoes!  

We love cheese at my house! So, a quick, comfort snack is a string cheese stick (ahh... nothing more relaxing then peeling all those layers) or, for fun, we use a cookie cutter to make our own shapes out of Kraft cheese slices. We'll stick these on a cracker or even roll them up with lunchmeat for another yummy variation!

Whenever someone in our family was home sick, my mom always made a wacky version of creamy chicken noodle soup that calmed whatever ailed us.  The bonus was that she only made it for the person who was under the weather, making the fact that she was caring for us a little more special.

She heated a can of cream of chicken soup and a can of milk together, slowly simmering until it was steaming hot.  Just prior to serving, she added a handful of thin, short noodles (thinner than angel hair and about 1/2 inch long) to the soup, softening the pasta to a tender texture and giving the soup an unexpected thickness that filled not only our stomachs with warmth, but also our hearts.

It was like a hug on the inside and our health returned so much faster with that kind of love.

About 3 years ago, one of my kids stayed home from school with an illness.  Suddenly this inspiration struck again and so began my tradition of loving my kids from the inside-out.  Now when they start to feel the need for that extra care, they ask for the same comfort food that I had as a girl. I serve it with a smile and a memory of goodness in a bowl.

My kids are easy!  We heat up a pot of tomato soup and make some grilled cheese sandwiches.  (Wheat bread, no mayo, 2% Kraft Singles because that's the only low-fat cheese that melts!)  Sometimes we add sliced tomatoes to the sandwiches, but mostly we stcik to the basics.

My kids love chicken fajitas!

This couldn't be any easier! 

And don't forget the cheese dip and salsa!!

My daughters have always craved my homemade chicken noodle soup - the orginial receipe came from my Betty Crocker Cookbook (published 1978 - but I did not get it till I got married in 1981).  It has chicken breast meat, strong chicken broth, carrots, celery, seasoning and noodles.  It is still a favorite request when my older daughters are home or even from the youngest when the weather turns cool (she asked for it this week).  Great with bread from the bread machine and a spinach salad.

There is nothing like the smell of cookies baking in the office.  And my easy go-to cookie recipe is:

One box of a cake mix
Add 1 stick of butter and an egg.
Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.
 
You can choose any flavor of cake mix.  And you can also add in a cup of chocolate chips, or a cup of nuts (or probably a cup of anything else you  might want to add -- coconut? cherries?).  Some of my favorite flavor combinations:  lemon or carrot cake mix cookies with cream cheese frosting on top; cherry cake mix with chocolate chips.  And the fun-fetti cake mix makes fun looking cookies too!

http://Refreshmoments.com--Turning the Daily into Devotion

 I was the epitome of a picky eater, so one of my favorites was "homemade" pizza--there was nothing more comforting to me than being able to make it the way I liked it! My parents could have onions or mushrooms or other icky things on their side and my sister and I could stick with just meat on ours (until she turned vegetarian in high school).

For a long time, homemade pizza in our house came from the Chef Boyardee box, but then we discovered an easy recipe for a homemade yeast dough, so we switched to that. And we never had ANYthing but American cheese in the house, so that;s what always finished it off.

 These days, I have a simple dough I make with flour and yogurt and I use it to make mini pizzas so everyone can put what they like on theirs--ham, mushrooms and bell peppers for me, ham and pineapple for DH, and mostly cheese for the boys. The sauce might be the squeezy pizza sauce from the grocery store (easy for kids to manage), or my simple homemade sauce.

Homemade Pizza Sauce

1 can (6 oz) tomato paste

1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce

crushed garlic (fresh or jarred, to taste)

1 tablespoon Italian seasoning

Combine all ingredients. You can choose to simmer the sauce for 5 to 10 minutes to really combine the flavors, or take the quick and easy route and just spread it straight on the dough and top with your favorite pizza toppings and cheese. Bake pizzas at 375 until crust is golden and cheese is bubbly.

One of our favorites is a grilled cheese sandwhich stuffed with Lay's potato chips. Mmmm  Another is Bull's Eye; a piece of bread with a hole cut out then add an egg and pan fry it in butter. Of course don't forget to add bacon and hashbrowns to the mix.

Don't be turned off by the name of this dish, believe me it is the epitome of comfort food: quick, easy, and delicious! I am from Utah where this dish is frequently served at funeral luncheons and large gatherings, alongside the green jello with carrots no less! Personally, I like to serve mine with baked ham and green beans. Here is the recipie:

2 lbs. southern style frozen hash browns

1 can condensed cream of chicken soup

1/2 soup can milk

1 cup sour cream

1 cup grated chedder cheese

1/4 cup grated onion (optional)

Salt and pepper to taste

3 tablespoons butter, melted

3/4 cup corn flake crumbs

Sautee the grated onion in butter until transparant, allow to cool. Place the frozen potatoes in a 2-3 quart baking dish or a 9x13 cake pan, set aside. In a seperate bowl, combine the soup, milk, sour cream, cheese, and cooled onion. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mix well and spread over potatoes. Melt the butter and combine with the corn flake crumbs, sprinkle evenly over the casserole.

Bake uncovered at 350 for 30-40 minutes or until bubbly and hot throughout.

ok...I've had this for lunch for the last week and it tastes good every time:

 whole wheat tortillas - lightly toasted over the gas flame

good sharp grated cheddar cheese

a trip to the garden for some tomatoes...chop 'em up

Pop them under the broiler til the cheese is melted and it all looks sort of rustic

some store bought fresh guacamole.

YUMMY

I remember growing up, dad making grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. When I had a rough day at school, or something was bothering me, dad would make this and we would sit down and just talk. Although dad passed away 4 years ago, when something is bothering me, or I just need a pick me up, I fix the grilled cheese with tomato soup and still sit and just talk "to" dad. That usually makes me feel a little better.

It's a very simple dish but my kids absolutely love it and request it often.  A plus is it's very easy and quick to make so I can make it even on nights when we're rushing from one activity to the next:

Chicken Rotini

Boil about 2-3 cups (I never measure, just fill my pot 2/3 full) rotini noodles until tender & drain

Mix in one  can of cream of chicken soup and stir until well mixed together

Serve with a side of veggies (we usually do green beans on the side)

Simple, easy, delicious and my kids love it and request it often! 

My families comfort food is stuffed french toast.

12 slices sourdough bread

1 8oz package cream cheese, softened

3 eggs

1/2 cup milk

2 tablespoons sugar

I cut the cream cheese into 6 cubes, and spread 1 cube on each of 6 slices of bread.  Close the sandwich. 

In a bowl, stir the eggs, add the milk and sugar.  Stir well.

Heat your griddle to medium/high.

Dip each sandwich in the egg mixture, covering both sides.

Fry 2-3 minutes on each side, or until golden brown.

Top with butter and syrup.  For a different taste, try with flavored syrup.

My favorite feel good meal as a child was pinto beans with cornbread, mashed potatoes, and macaroni with cheese. When my girls were old enough for table food this same meal quickly became their favorite and now Lil Man has made it his favorite meal also.

Linda

http://lindabelle.wordpress.com/

My kids LOVE grilled cheese and tomato basil soup.  That is their favorite dinner (mine too, since it is fast)!