Edge Edibles: Comfort foods
Sarah Zeeck
Issue date: 10/7/09 Section: The Edge
Midterms are just on the horizon, which means an exorbitant amount of stress for college students across campus. There are many methods for dealing with the stress the onslaught of homework, projects and tests bring to us - massage therapy, ranting to friends, etc. - but the most utilized practice of college students is healing through food.
Comfort foods are not a new concept to college students. There is a reason for the freshman 15; binge drinking can only account for part of the weight gain. When faced with anxiety, we look to food to retain sanity.
What's more interesting is the fact that we do a sort of age regression when we resort to comfort foods. Think about the snacks you indulged in as a child and the foods you go to now in times of trouble: ice cream, cheese, chocolate and peanut butter top the list of the most consumed comfort foods. We seek a more simplistic time as a reprieve from our now complicated lives. Back in kindergarten, you could eat a PB and J sandwich, watch some "Barney" and kick back. Now, naptime is a luxury. You wish you could watch cartoons at all hours again, but responsibilities burden you from engaging in more pleasurable activities.
Comfort foods catch a bad rap, but they really aren't that bad of a concept. It's much healthier to let yourself regress and imagine for a few moments rather than bottle up your angst only to explode later and need serious therapy.
Like any indulgence, though, comfort food should be used sparingly. It does your body no good to add problems that can occur from eating too much of one food. Some people who choose alcoholic beverages as their reprieve could become an alcoholic, which creates immediate and long-term problems. Overindulgence in sweets and salts can affect health badly in terms of hypertension and diabetes.
This one's for you, stressed and weary students of Western. Whip up some of these chocolate chip cookies, remember nap and story time in kindergarten, watch some Adult Swim and wash it all down with a nice cold glass of milk. Repeat as needed - this does the body good.
Mega Awesome Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 cup butter or margarine
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Combine all dry ingredients but chocolate chips. Mix in vanilla, eggs and butter; then add chocolate chips.
Drop spoonfuls on a baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes or until crispy.
Comfort foods are not a new concept to college students. There is a reason for the freshman 15; binge drinking can only account for part of the weight gain. When faced with anxiety, we look to food to retain sanity.
What's more interesting is the fact that we do a sort of age regression when we resort to comfort foods. Think about the snacks you indulged in as a child and the foods you go to now in times of trouble: ice cream, cheese, chocolate and peanut butter top the list of the most consumed comfort foods. We seek a more simplistic time as a reprieve from our now complicated lives. Back in kindergarten, you could eat a PB and J sandwich, watch some "Barney" and kick back. Now, naptime is a luxury. You wish you could watch cartoons at all hours again, but responsibilities burden you from engaging in more pleasurable activities.
Comfort foods catch a bad rap, but they really aren't that bad of a concept. It's much healthier to let yourself regress and imagine for a few moments rather than bottle up your angst only to explode later and need serious therapy.
Like any indulgence, though, comfort food should be used sparingly. It does your body no good to add problems that can occur from eating too much of one food. Some people who choose alcoholic beverages as their reprieve could become an alcoholic, which creates immediate and long-term problems. Overindulgence in sweets and salts can affect health badly in terms of hypertension and diabetes.
This one's for you, stressed and weary students of Western. Whip up some of these chocolate chip cookies, remember nap and story time in kindergarten, watch some Adult Swim and wash it all down with a nice cold glass of milk. Repeat as needed - this does the body good.
Mega Awesome Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 cup butter or margarine
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Combine all dry ingredients but chocolate chips. Mix in vanilla, eggs and butter; then add chocolate chips.
Drop spoonfuls on a baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes or until crispy.
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