Comfort food has its place. I do not mean to suggest that eating fried chicken because you miss Fluffy Joe who was your next door neighbor years ago is the best possible remedy for your pangs of missed swingset chats. There are many people in this world for whom the expression of emotion through food becomes a completely unhealthy expression.
On the other hand, meals matter. I've written before about how Food Effects Mood. I've also written about how my conceptions of food change as my associations with food change. There was a time when my world could only be bettered by macaroni and cheese. My appreciation for mac-n-cheese continues to this day, but the idea of more than a half a cup of it at a time makes me nauseated. I have finally learned the lesson: good things should be measured as carefully as bad, and valued for their own merit, not as a bandaid to avoid what's wrong.
Last night I made grilled ginger and white pepper chicken, with rice and sugar snap peas in a teriyaki sauce. I thinned down the teriyaki sauce from traditional to more of a lightened salad dressing consistency. Tasty, fresh, refreshing and rejuvenating. I was comforted that I had found tastes I enjoy, that did not make me feel worse after eating.
I made food I am proud of, and that was far more satisfying than macaroni and cheese had ever been.
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