Comfort Food–Are You Planning for Special Foods?

Comfort food–are you planning for those special foods now that the weather is getting cooler and the season is changing? I am. Planning for days when the weather is bad, or cold, or the workload or school load or day is simply overwhelming, with a good meal in the freezer prepared, is one of my favorite gifts to myself and others.

Do you have foods that evoke memories that you would like to recreate? Are there special comfort foods that even if you have the recipe, just simply don’t taste the same? Like my mother’s dressing. or my grandmother’s pies; and so many of my mother in law’s favorites.

My mother’s meatloaf is one of those comfort foods.

My mother never wrote down recipes. I don’t remember her using a cookbook, or a recipe box, or a recipe card. We had no garden or much of pantry and how she fed a family of 7 with one chicken still amazes me.

I just simply watched her and learned. Her food was simply comfort food. Her pot roast. Homemade biscuits. Vegetable soup or her spaghetti. And her meatloaf. Nothing fancy. Just simple food that provided comfort for us all and I still crave.

Do you have those memories?

Food you would love to have at a moment’s notice for dinner?

Or take to someone who needs extra comfort?

Well, let me share my favorite tip with you today to make those days when you need comfort food easier.

We’ve been empty nesters for several years now and I still make recipes in larger portions than we will eat in one meal. Like in the post I shared with you about meal planning. And Mama’s meatloaf is one of those that is truly a comfort food. It floods me with memories and makes me feel everything is right with the world. Does comfort food do that for you?

I just make a large batch of my version of my Mama’s meatloaf and bake in my favorite stoneware mini loaf pans and then tuck them in the freezer for those days when a little more comfort is needed. Doesn’t that sound like the BEST plan???

I have 3 sisters and 1 brother and if you asked all of us how to make Mama’s meatloaf, we would all have different ingredients. One of my sisters doesn’t remember eating her meatloaf. One says that Mama always added Worcestershire sauce and a dip in the top of the glaze. Dip? I don’t remember a dip…or the sauce. I remember a cast iron skillet that added a little crust around the edges that had caramelized glaze.

so….do yourself a favor and plan ahead.

Make extra meatloaf or your favorite comfort foods to tuck into the freezer. You will thank me. Your family will thank you. And those who you share the extra with, will know that you, my friend are wonderful.

Enjoy those comfort foods. But, most importantly, enjoy time sharing those comfort foods with others. I’ll be over here being truly thankful for planning ahead. AND, for those foods that bring great memories and conversations to mind!

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