Why Comfort Foods
Help in Stressful Times

What are comfort foods?

And why have them? Comfort foods are basically "treats" that you usually give to your children after school to hold them over until the next meal, to keep them occupied when you're busy or . . . just because you love them.

During stressful times, these types of foods can psychologically "comfort" children — and adults too sometimes. They are not necessarily "life sustaining" foods, but I would consider them to be "sanity-sustaining" foods from a parent's perspective.

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Store items that you know your family likes. Comfort foods can be sweets, but they can also be something healthy — like freeze-dried fruits right out of the can.

Try something new each week or month or try to make a treat from scratch out of your food storage supplies.

Comfort Food Ideas

Homemade popcorn cooked in a pan (not the microwave kind)
Hard candy, Gummy Bears, Skittles, chocolate (M&Ms might be less messy.)
Pudding (made using dry milk)
Granola bars made with oats, honey, dried fruit and nuts.
Freeze-dried raspberries, strawberries or bananas make delicious snacks.
Fruit snacks for children (Ever made your own fruit roll ups, aka fruit leather? (Recipe here.)
Chicken noodle soup in a can or box.
Mac N Cheese (or a homemade recipe)
Juice containers with straws
Rice Krispy treats
Dried apples, apricots, craisins, raisins
Potato Chips or Corn Chips
No-bake cookies — perfect for crisis times as no cooking is required.

Here's the recipe I use:

No-Bake Cookies

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup butter
3 T cocoa
3 cups Quick Oats
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup nuts and/or coconut (optional)

Mix sugar, butter, milk, and cocoa and boil for 1 minute. After it starts to boil, mix in remaining ingredients stirring quickly. Spoon onto greased cookie sheet or wax paper or aluminum foil.

Use Condiments for Making Comfort Foods

Condiments like ketchup, mustard, BBQ sauce, salsa, pickles, etc. can make a bland menu item taste "normal".
Spices - inventory what spices you use and keep some extras on hand for those goodies you bake.

These are just some of the ideas I could come up with, and obviously they aren’t all healthy, necessary to sustain life, or totally “food storage” types of foods - but hey, everyone needs a little comfort food sometimes!

For long term storage of comfort foods, collect recipes to make your own treats using your long term food storage ingredients so you won’t have to worry about expiration dates on store-bought products. Or just grab some freeze dried fruits and snacks here.