In the summertime I found it pretty easy to lose weight because I craved cool, refreshing foods. I based my eating around things like watermelon, berries, iced green tea, cool salads, icy yogurt smoothies.

Now that it is COLD outside I have an aversion to those chilly foods!! Now I crave warm, comforting foods like heavy warm breads, potatoes, noodles, coffee, and warm cobblers. I need some ideas for warm comforting foods that I can base my healthy eating around!

So far I have:
hot teas
soups that are not cream based (darn it though, I love the creaminess of those types)... mostly veg or chicken or turkey soups now which get boring.
Baked sweet potatoes.

What else??

Soups are great! Have you tried making pureed veggie or bean soups? They mimic the creaminess of a good cream soup. Try sauteeing up some chopped leek, adding chicken broth and cubed butternut squash plus salt and pepper, and cook until the squash is tender - puree. It is super creamy with no cream!

I JUST bought a great big organic leek today! Thats a great idea, thank you!

baked sweet potatoes are my new favorite winter food!

I hear you!! Over the summer I could eat berries, fresh fruit, but now the weather has me wishing for warm food.. Bean soups... black bean, white bean with pasta and spinach, Veggie chilli. I wish I could help more.. Today I had such a desire for Mac and cheese( home made), almost went out and bought some, bought a veggie eggplant dish instead ( 230 calories). cheryl

How about chili? Or cabbage rolls? Or even stir frys instead of salads?

I love the South Beach Taco Bake recipe, it's substantial comfort food for me. I make a lot of soups and recently made a cheesy roasted red pepper soup that was creamy and yummy. If that sounds good to you, I'll post the recipe - or I may have already put it in the veggies 101 thread. I still make creamy soups using canned evaporated skim milk. Bean soups and chili are hearty. I've got a killer Chicken Divan Recipe that's good winter food, also a South Beach Recipe. I think I posted that one in the chicken 101 thread. Eggplant parmigiana?

One of my favorite, warm comforting winter treats is rice.

You can use brown rice or whatever rice you want but I would get about 1/2 cup rice covered with some unsweetened almond milk. Heat it up in the microwave. Sprinkle with cinnamon, add a couple walnuts and raisins if you like and then eat. If you want sweetness, you can add a sweetener as well.

Or what about an apple, cut in half and cored, baked with a topping of oats, a little brown sugar, and cinnamon? Baked apples are SO warm and comforting.

I so agree with you on the summer being easy to drop weight!! In the summer I can drink tons of water, but not now ~ it's too cold so I don't crave the cold water like in summer. It is harder. Isn't that funny!! I never thought about that till you posted this post.
Now I am into drinking my warm coffee!! As far as other foods, um, good one. I agree with the chili being something that i crave and can eat lots of in the winter. Stay away from those fresh warm breads though!! They are addicting and you can't just eat a small piece!! LOL
Good luck to you on staying on track these cold winter months. We can do this!!
Take care,
God Bless,
Tari

I would LOVE these recipes!! Thanks so much!!

Look at you!!! So close to ONE-derland AND your Christmas Gift Goal!! You rock!!!

Thanks, Ritzy! Here's the link to the Taco Bake:
http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=38592
It's a very adaptable recipe, so it should be able to work for any program. I also add an extra layer of veggies in between the beans and meat layer, sauteed zucchini or spinach usually. Great for leftovers and freezes well.

Now I have to remember how I made the soup. I made it up as I went along, and it turned out great, now I can't believe I didn't write anything down! I think I can recreate it though. There are lots of recipes for roasted red pepper soup if you google it, but most have potatoes, which I didn't use, and I used evap skim milk for a creamy base and then stirred in some reduced fat cheese. I'll try and come up with it again.

Thanks a million! I cannot wait to try this. Mexican food is my family's fav! I definitely need to find that soup you are talking about. It sounds really good!

Thanks again!

The soups sound really good. Does anyone have a link to a site with good low cal or low fat soup recipes? Any good soup recipes, post em here!!

I am going to do some experimenting. I do need a GOOD vegetarian chili recipe, and maybe a healthy taco soup recipe. My kids like taco soup and chili.

My white bean and sausage soup is quite yummy and filling - if you search for "magic white bean" it'll appear in one of the threads. Mmm, magic white bean soup.