Your garlic noodles sounds like a better version of the very first thing I ever made to feed myself as a kid. I introduced my husband to it, and I still make it sometimes: Cooked spaghetti mixed with margarine, powdered garlic salt and from the green can parmesan cheese.
I also still make beenies and weenies, but to me the ultimate comfort food is mashed potatoes with brown gravy (although it sounds like the antithesis of comfort, I need to make them from scratch, instant just won’t cut it). No meat needed, just a whole plateful of buttery, carb-y goodness.
For me, the comfort is as much about laziness as about the food itself. So things like a can of Clam Chowder or the aforementioned ravioli or pizza rolls are my comfort food.
Hmmm, probably a grilled cheese sandwich, cut into four triangles per sandwich. Or tuna salad on crackers. Or just some cocoa.
For my husband, it’s grilled cheese sandwiches with Campbell’s chicken noodle soup. Or spaghetti with meat sauce, or lasagna. Or meatloaf.
I like ravioli, but I’ve switched from Chef Boyardee to that fresh ravioli that is sold in the dairy case. My dad also likes that kind of ravioli. He says it isn’t quite as good as his Aunt Mary’s, but it’s very, very good.
My husband had sort of a bad day yesterday, so I made him Mexican cornbread (made with cream corn, chili peppers, grated sharp cheddar cheese, and buttermilk), fried pork chops and beans. Fixed 'im right up.
I couldn’t help myself though; I made a fresh fruit salad to go with it. It was healthy, but I tell myself it was comforting, too. Nothing like fresh pineapple to make anyone feel better.
Try the Swanson’s brand. It’s good. I always had it over mashed potatoes or toast strips. 'Cause, you know, carbs = comfort
I’d say grilled cheese sandwich as my comfort food. Cheap, easy and oh-so-good. A side of Campbell’s tomato soup (for dipping) is a great addition, but only during winter. Grilled cheese and 'mater soup is the perfect meal after being outside in the cold, like after shoveling or sledding.
Of course the soup should be made with milk. What sort of cretin would use water?!?
The tuna casserole that **Athena **mentioned, with full-fat cream of mushroom soup and crushed potato chips on top, is a very close second. That was a childhood staple.
Fried dace with black beans. That’s exactly what it looks like when you open the can, and yes, it tastes just as horrific as it looks, but I grew up eating it and absolutely love it.
If you ever find a can of this and are curious, I would advise you open and consume it outside, as the smell will permeate every surface of your kitchen and linger for days. I’m not even kidding.
Jewish food like gefilte fish, matzo with butter, matzo ball soup, chopped liver and challah. Also Jewish desserts like ring jells and halavah. The matzo ball soup is an all day production that requires lots of ingredients and personal involvement but the other items are from cans and boxes. It reminds me of my childhood in a good way.
After a tough day, I don’t feel like cooking anything elaborate. I’ll bake some corn bread muffins using Martha White Sweet Cornbread mix. It takes 16 minutes to bake.
Meanwhile, I Heat up a can of Chicken noodle soup or vegetable beef. Crumble a cornbread muffin into the bowl of soup. It’s a lot better than crackers. I’ll also eat a buttered cornbread muffin on the side too.
If I’m not tired. I like cooking a pot roast with vegetables. That takes a few hours. Serve with French bread from the store.
Oh, how I TREASURE my copy of Square Meals by the Sterns! Just reading through it is a comfort!
I will offer up: mashed potatoes mixed with a bit of onion-sour cream dip, some (heated up) frozen peas and/or corn, and lots of butter, salt and pepper. Any random leftover meat product can be chopped up and added. Plan B: a ‘broken egg’, a hard fried egg with a broken yolk, made into a sammich on toast, with ketchup and maybe a slice of American cheese. Important go with is yet another slice of toast heavily spread with grape jelly. Plan C: a toasted English muffin, one half spread with peanut butter, other with honey (for ‘dessert’). When I’m stressed out I tend to stop eating altogether; I can sometimes get one of these three things down.
The closest thing I can think of that has any “hearkens back to childhood” elements to it is something my grandmother used to call flour bread. It’s basically biscuit dough pressed out to about 10" in diameter and 3/4 to 1" thick and fried in some butter on a griddle.
Buy a garlic roast chicken and loaf of Italian bread (bonus points if the bread is still warm). Pull meat straight from the carcass, slice open bread, insert meat, top with colby jack (broiling at this point is optional), slather with honey mustard. Serve with Munchos.
Y’know, it’s one of the cheapest things on the menu at a Greek Joint* but cheap white bread and American cheese fried in some “edible oil,” as a customer described it, or Goly Oly, as my wife calls it, is hard to beat.
You know, those places that serve breakfast all day and sometimes all night and where you can get olive burgers and mushroom burgers? The decor is usually red, the menus are heavy, multi-page, and laminated, and your waitress makes your sundae? There can be some mediocre eating at one, but they know their way around a grilled cheese.
Something else that’s really good is a fried egg and bacon sandwich on raisin toast. They have them at the Waffle House. Actually any coffee shop that has the ingredients will likely make one for you.
I’ll also eat a buttered cornbread muffin on the side too.