Do you ever crave the comfort foods of your childhood?
Although, to be analytical about it, did we really know they were comfort foods until we were no longer children?
Because I’m pretty sure when Mama Smart was making (nothing Hungarian about it) “goulash” she wasn’t thinking, “Gee, this meal will really comfort Sister, Brother, and Miss Smart after a long day at elementary school.”
You’d have to ask her, but I’m pretty sure all Mama Smart was thinking was, “How can I get dinner on the table as quickly…”
“…as inexpensively…”
“…and with as little fuss as possible?”
[I think the cheddar cheese was a concession to the fact that we'd probably eat anything if she put cheese on it.]
It might not be glamorous–and I’m sure she didn’t plan on its lasting effects–but, to this day, there’s nothing quite so satisfying as cheap pasta and whatever’s-on-sale sauce.*
*To be fair, Mama Smart DID often used to make her own.
And peas. You can’t have pasta without peas.
If only life were as simple as this. 
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What are some of YOUR childhood comfort foods?
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
Egg-In-A-Cup! It was a soft boiled egg over torn up toast with lots of black pepper (even back then!) I do not know how to make a soft boiled egg but I should probably learn. Both Mom and Gram would make them for my sister, Ele and me. Especially when we weren’t feeling well. I might have pretended to be sick sometimes just to get one…
My mom used to make fantastic mashed potato patties with leftover mashed potatoes. She would add onion and a dusting of flour. Yum.
She also made pot roast and meatloaf, both of which were always over-cooked and dried out. Mom was a terrific baker and could make jellies and jams like no other, but her savory cooking was not the greatest in the whole world – must be where I get it!
Mac n’ cheese all the way! And there were/are some Indian dishes my mom makes that will always scream comfort to me!
grilled cheese and tomato soup…there was a period of time when my dad stayed home with me as a preschooler and i think that was all he knew how to make!
Oh yes! Our Mama’s have rather thought: “What would be quick to serve tonight?” Rather than “This will comfort them.”
Love this comfort food.
My childhood comfort food was pap (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pap_(food) ) along with beef sausage and egg.
I got a really random craving for hotdogs, mac & cheese, and ketchup one night – thank heavens for Smart Dogs!
I used to love chicken on stick! Sounds so gross now, but it was BBQ chicken wings on the grill. It’s the only way my parents got me to eat chicken and now everytime someone has BBQ chicken, its all I can think about.
Mmm…this DOES look comforting!! Tuna noodle casserole is a comfort food for me– even though it simultaneously kind of grosses me out
Yes. I feel you on that one. The components seems to bizarre, and yet, together they make something so nostalgically GREAT.
mac and cheese for sure. and tuna noodle casserole.
Mac and cheese was, is, and always will be one of my favorite foods. I like to make adult mac and cheese now by douching it with veggies. I lovee your name of “vegan with benefits” btw..I am so stealing that at times. I was wondering what I would call myself if I ever cut out direct dairy, but still cooked with the stuff or ate products. I decided on vegetarian still, one that just doesn’t directly eat dairy..but vegan with benefits has a nice ring.
it sounds weird, but my favorite meal as a kid consisted of foods i hated then and hate to this day. my single-mother, working mom would sometimes have “weird dinners” where we’d eat ritz crackers, salami, cheese, and fruit (i’d end up only eating the fruit). but she and i would get to sit in the living room and watch tv while eating on those nights. the special-ness of that made it my favorite!
I could make this exact meal every single day of the week and my boys would be happy as can be. Pasta. Sauce. Cheese. Peas. More, please? As for my own childhood favorites–German apple pancakes with cinnamon on top. Sometimes simple meals are just what we need.
Grits, but only because my mom’s comfort food is grits
She was raised in the south mostly (Army brat) and I’m pretty sure I was the only kid in Washington who ate them on a regular basis 
Hmm… So many! I grew up in cali with tons of fresh produce in fields we drove past daily- raw veggies with ranch, blackberry cobbler, pumpkin pie from scratch that grandma made, buttery cinnamon sugar toast, those brown sugar quaker oat packets, and peanut butter on graham crackers and sometimes see’s candy (!)