Days are getting shorter and darker. Assignments are piling up. Finals are on the way. All of the elements are united for us to feel a bit down. While you can use any healthy way to deal with it – practicing a sport, taking vitamins, doing meditation, or keeping a well-balanced sleep schedule –, you also deserve some treats.
We all know that eating our emotions is not the healthiest behavior, but, honestly, who really cares?
We all have different comfort foods. Yours can be anything going from paprika chips to chickpea curry. What you perceive as comforting depends on your personal background. It usually is something that brings you back to childhood or to good and warm memories. You can also have multiple comfort foods, depending on which memories your palate wants to recall or on the environment surrounding you – you might not want to eat a butternut soup during a midsummer mental breakdown. Your comfort foods can also change over the course of your lifetime. The only thing to keep in mind is that you are allowed to eat what makes you feel good.
Now that this is said, I’d like to share with you my current comfort afternoon snack recipe – or, as we say in French, mon goûter préféré. This comforting meal is composed of two main elements: a hot chocolate bringing me back to my home country, Switzerland; and apple compote bringing me back to that cold day my girlfriend improvised breakfast with leftovers lying around my kitchen.
Let’s start with the hot chocolate!
To prepare it, you will need 50g of dark chocolate and around 250ml of milk of your choice – I personally use almond or oat milk. You can also add some vanilla extract, sugar, and/or cinnamon depending on your tastes and desires. To make it, mix the milk and the previously cut chocolate together in a cooking pot. Turn your stove on low heat and let the chocolate melt. Once the mix is homogenous, you can add vanilla extract, cinnamon, and/or sugar. Find a way to pour it into a cup (without making a mess) and enjoy your hot drink.
To go with this delicious beverage, what better than a creamy homemade compote?
To prepare this sweet, you will need two to three apples (depending on their size), some water, three tablespoons of sugar, a squeeze of lemon juice, and, optionally, a teaspoon of (vegan) butter.
Start by peeling and cutting your apples in little cubes – keep the core and the skin to make apple cider vinegar! Put your fruits in a cooking pot and cover them with water. Add the sugar and lemon juice to the mix. Let them cook on low heat until all the water has evaporated. Once this is done, turn off the stove and add the (vegan) butter. Serve it in a bowl and eat it warm.
You can now enjoy a delicious hot homemade goûter. And to make it even better, this will cost you less than a euro and takes you only around 15 to 20 minutes!
by Lu
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