Who doesn’t indulge in comfort foods from time to time? During the pandemic, comfort foods have been a “go to” for many people, me included! In this “Comfort Food Lesson & Lab,” students explore what comfort foods are and why we crave them. Additionally, they share their own “go to” comfort foods before preparing a common comfort food in the lab.
Set
- The lesson is set up as interactive slides. So, the first thing students will do is view the restaurant critic scene from Ratatouille and answer and discuss the prompt.
- Students will also brainstorm and share foods they would eat if they were ill, feeling nostalgic, wanted to indulge and reminded them of loved ones such as grandparents.
Activities
- Students define what comfort foods are based on a web-resource.
- To learn more about comfort foods, I have students listen to the podcast from “As We Eat”, titled, “Comfort Foods: From Consumer Psychology to Naughty Foods and fill out the response form within the slide deck.
- Why do we crave comfort foods? Students learn why using the Psychology Today article titled, “5 Reasons We Crave Comfort Foods.”
- Students then share 3 of their favorite comfort foods, sharing what the food reminds them of and/or the feelings it evokes.
- Common comfort foods shared among my students are macaroni & cheese, chili, chicken pot pie and chicken noodle soup!
- The lab I chose to connect to this topic was the homemade macaroni and cheese…Struggle Meal Style!
- Using the Struggle Meal episode “Mac N’ Cheese,” students review adjusting recipes, identifying mix-in ingredients by food group and answer some prompts associated with the preparation of the dish.
- If possible to complete a lab, students prepare the macaroni & cheese comfort food, using mix-in ingredients agreed upon by their lab group.
- If you wanted to extend this lesson, students could look for healthier versions of comfort foods since many are high in fat, calories and sodium. They could choose one of the comfort foods from their assignment or use the macaroni & cheese lab recipe and complete a makeover of it, substituting healthier ingredients.
Attachments
- Comfort Foods–Interactive Slides (please make a copy)
- Struggle Meals One Pot Macaroni & Cheese (please make a copy)
Photo by Ronmar Lacamiento from Pexels
