PODCAST · arts
Comfort Food
by Amy Palanjian & Virginia Sole-Smith
The podcast about the joys (and meltdowns!) of feeding our families and ourselves. Every week we examine how diet culture, body image issues and our own hectic lives get in the way of putting a dinner on the table that we can all feel good about. And we offer practical, road-tested tips to help you make peace with your own eating (or your kid's picky eating!) and find more joy in your family's food life. Hosted by best friends and writers Amy Palanjian (creator of the popular blog Yummy Toddler Food) and Virginia Sole-Smith (author of The Eating Instinct).
Episodes
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87. In Which We Take A Hiatus (And Talk Back To School Mental Load)
We're starting this episode with a sad announcement: We're taking another hiatus. (Thanks to COVID, remote schooling, 2020 in general...) But before we go, we're downloading all of our thoughts about the mental load of back to school season — especially this year, when many kids (like Amy's!) are...
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86. Violet and Beatrix: An Ode to Pesto Pasta
We've decided to embrace the lack of childcare and bring the kids on the podcast! This week, almost-7-year-old Violet and 2-year-old Beatrix join Virginia to talk about their favorite foods, least favorite foods, and then a lot about butterflies and poop. You're welcome. Find us @v_solesmith and...
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85. What To Do When Kids Talk About Dieting
This week, we're talking about some recent food/parenting fails in our own homes — as well as getting into what to do when kids talk about "needing to diet." (Gah!) Resources for this episode: Jennifer Berry's Thrive By Spectrum Pediatrics Love Me, Feed Me by Katja Rowell, MD Virginia's NYT story...
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84. Linden and Cantaloupe Heaven
We've decided to embrace the lack of childcare and bring the kids on the podcast! This week, 8 year yold Linden joins Amy to talk about her favorite foods, least favorite foods, and all her best tips for parents trying to encourage kids to try new foods. Find us @v_solesmith and @yummytoddlerfood...
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83. All the Anxiety, Sad Eating and Food Overwhelm
We are just OVER food right now. So this week, join us to commiserate about how often children need to be fed, but why they don't like the snacks you bought, how boring it is to keep making dinner and what to do about feeding yourself right now, because we're betting it's been a minute since you...
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82. Amy and Virginia, Reunited! (And it feels so good)
Our quarantine schedules and the stars have finally aligned and we're back to (mostly) recording together! This week we're just catching up on all things in our #pandemicparenting and food lives. (Yes, we're agonizing over school.) Plus an update on episode 80, with some thoughts on the role…
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81. What Amy Ate For Dinner Last Week (Because Kitchen Burnout Is So Real Right Now)
Amy shares a week's worth of real life dinners to (hopefully!) share a little cooking inspiration during these days when meal prepping and making can feel somewhat endless. She talks about meals from a recent week that included Homemade Pizza, Shrimp and Broccoli Pasta, Bean and Cheese…
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80. What If Doctors Stopped Weighing You (and Your Kids)?
For this week's mini, Virginia is chatting about the process of reporting her new feature for Scientific American: What If Doctors Stopped Prescribing Weight Loss? We're getting into what the science really tells us about weight and health, the harm caused by weighing patients as a default…
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79. Why Amy Doesn't Ban Goldfish Crackers Anymore
This week, Amy shares her evolution on how she feeds her own kids —from waging war on Goldfish crackers and packing "better" food for her first kiddo to bring to daycare (where lunch was provided) to her current kitchen where Goldfish and applesauce pouches live happily next to bananas and…
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78. Diversifying the Stories We Tell About Food (Mini Episode with Virginia)
For this week's mini episode, Virginia shares some of our favorite Black voices in the food world, especially in the "feeding kids" space, which is not nearly diverse enough. Here's the list if you'd like to explore, follow and support their work: Jessica Jones and Wendy Lopez of the Food Heaven...
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77. A Life (And Weaning) Update From Amy
NOTE: We recorded this episode before the murder of George Floyd and subsequent protests, so you won't hear that discussed here. We are committed to doing the work of anti-racism and you will hear more about that in upcoming episodes. Thank you to everyone protesting right now. Stay safe. Life...
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76. On Loving The Body You Have (Rebroadcast)
We're on pandemic hiatus, but rebroadcasting some of our favorite episodes — that seem super useful right now! We know that motherhood (and just... life) can dramatically change how you feel about your body, whether you're newly postpartum or several years in. Today we're talking through some...
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75. Dinner Is In Your Pantry, with Nicki Sizemore of From Scratch Fast (Rebroadcast)
We're on pandemic hiatus, but rebroadcasting some of our favorite episodes — that seem super useful right now! Dinner. It has to happen every night, no matter whether you meal planned, or are now staring down some hard 5pm truths about the state of your fridge. We asked Nicki Sizemore, of From...
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74. The Mental Load of Staying Home (Rebroadcast)
We're on pandemic hiatus, but rebroadcasting some of our favorite episodes — that seem super useful right now! Why do most men do so little at home — and especially in the kitchen? Why are women (still!) doing so much? Darcy Lockman, author of All the Rage: Mothers, Fathers and the Myth of Equal...
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73. When the Kids Just Don't Eat (Rebroadcast)
We're on pandemic hiatus, but rebroadcasting some of our favorite episodes — that seem super useful right now! There are lots of meals (especially dinner!) that kids just don't eat. And this can be frustrating and even alarming for parents—but most often, it's completely normal. We're chatting…
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72. Surviving. No Pressure To Be Thriving.
This week, we've got another report on how we're working, parenting and feeding our families and ourselves while in the isolation trenches. We're talking about ideas for making the same old kid meals a little more fun right now, Virginia's new Meal Prep for Lazy People strategy and the rising...
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71. Grocery Tips and Easy Meals for Isolation Life
We're talking through the logistics of stretching between grocery store trips, cooking from your pantry, and figuring out how to feel good about what you're eating when family meals look a lot different than usual. Plus Virginia's biggest pantry dinner successes and fails. Send questions and...
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70. Why You Can't Eff Up Your Kids (Even Now!) with Lindsay Powers
We recorded this one pre-pandemic, but it couldn't be more timely. Lindsay Powers, founder of the #NoShameParenting movement, mom of two, and author of You Can't F*ck Up Your Kids, joins us to talk about why performative parenting and pressure are the enemy, not your kid's tablet. We also cover…
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69. The Mental Load of Staying Home
Managing home school schedules, balancing work from home with a total lack of childcare, grocery store stress — parents are navigating a million new mental load challenges right now, and moms, not surprisingly, are carrying the bigger burden. This week we're talking about the schedules we've come...
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68. Pandemic Food Fears: Picky Eating, Food Safety, Food Access and More
Greetings from our bunkers! We put together this very special episode to talk through all of your anxieties about feeding your family—and feeding yourself—during these long weeks of isolation life. Amy and Virginia chat about grocery shopping strategies, why it's okay for the kids to eat all the...
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67. How To Make Veggies Kids Will Actually Like
NOTE: This episode was recorded before the United States coronavirus outbreak, so you won't hear any discussion of our current state of affairs. We hope it provides some much-needed distraction! Sending love and hope you're staying well and staying home. Helping the kids eat their veggies can…
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66. Mom Body Love At Every Size, With Jen McClellan of Plus Mommy
Mom body image is, for better or worse, a fairly universal struggle. But if you're a mom in a larger body, there can be a lot of added layers to navigate. Today we're chatting with Jen McLellan, author, speaker and creator of Plus Size Birth and the Plus Mommy Blog and Plus Mommy Podcast about…
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65. When Food Restriction Sneaks In
Even if you think you're not "dieting," much less trying to restrict your kids' eating habits, we've found that a restriction mindset (especially around certain foods) can sneak in all too easily. We'll talk about how to spot the underlying restriction in food rules, portion sizes and the...
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64. The Truth About Emotional Eating
As you might guess from our podcast name, we're firm believers in the comforting power of food. But diet culture gives "emotional eating" a bad rap, and convinces us that anytime we eat because we're sad, happy, tired, etc that we must be doing something "wrong." Today we're sorting through some...
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63. Balancing the Mental Load and Me Time with Rachel Bertsche
Losing yourself in parenthood is such a common struggle, especially for moms, because the sheer logistics of caring, feeding, and scheduling our kids lives can be completely time consuming. But staying in touch with ourselves and the things we love (including watching trashy TV, connecting with…
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62. How Do You Balance Social Responsibility and Intuitive Eating?
We often hear from listeners who are vegans, vegetarians, or just want to eat more sustainably — but aren't sure how to balance those goals with wanting to practice intuitive eating and avoid diets. Today we're exploring some of the challenges of combining morality and food — and offering our…
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61. Body Peace For Moms with Crystal Karges, RDN
This week we're chatting with Crystal Karges, a registered dietitian nutritionist, maternal health specialist, certified intuitive eating counselor, international board certified lactation consultant and mom of five. Crystal specializes in helping moms nurture a peaceful relationship with food…
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60. Can You Do Intuitive Eating and Lose Weight? (With Jessica Jones, RDN of Food Heaven)
Is it possible to practice intuitive eating and have a healthier relationship with food, while also wanting to lose or maintain your weight? We're getting into this super common — and super complicated — question with Jessica Jones, RDN, co-host of the Food Heaven podcast, who recently wrote…
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59. How To Anti-Diet with Christy Harrison, RDN
This week, we're welcoming back fan favorite Christy Harrison, RDN, host of the wildly popular Food Psych Podcast, to talk about her new book ANTI-DIET: Reclaim Your Time, Money, Well-Being With Intuitive Eating. We'll cover how writing the book changed her own relationship with food, and go over...
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58. The Trouble With Food Rewards (with Leslie Schilling, RDN)
M&Ms for going potty; a lollipop at the end of soccer practice; dessert for eating dinner; a pizza party prize from the PTA — these are just a few of the ways that parents and teachers use treat foods to reward kids for good behavior. Some parents bemoan the extra sugar that these treats…
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57. Meal Prep for Busy Parents with Talia Koren of Workweek Lunch
Even if you're a somewhat reluctant meal prepper, there is one meal of the week that you probably often wish you had planned ahead for: Weekday lunches! Most of us don't have time to cook 'em, but we also don't love eating a sad desk salad—or the leftover crust from our kid's grilled cheese. We...
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56. Family Meals with Ashley Smith of Veggies & Virtue
This week we're talking to Ashley Smith, RDN, of Veggies and Virtue, where she provides parents with age-appropriate food ideas, meal time organization strategies, evidence-based insight on feeding questions and concerns, and fun ways to get the kids into healthy eating. Ashley is also a mom to...
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55. Family Meals and Food Traditions with Leah Koenig, author of The Jewish Cookbook
This week, we're chatting with Leah Koenig, author of The Jewish Cookbook and several other books and articles about Jewish cuisine around the world about why one country's comfort food is another's haute cuisine. She's also a mama of two with great tips for getting dinner on the table fast and...
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54. Listener Qs on Sharing The Mealtime Load and Fixing Kiddo Sleep
If you're like most households, there is one person (and we're guessing it's you!) who notices when we run out of milk, thinks ahead to restock the kids' favorite cereal, and remembers to pull chicken out of the freezer in time to defrost for dinner. We know this mental load work can really pile…
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53. Why Nutrition Doesn't Matter As Much As We Think (with Jennifer Berry of Thrive By Spectrum Pediatrics)
Eggs, sugar, red meat — we know nutrition is important, but what we're supposed to know about nutrition seems to change, a lot. And it can be hard to keep your knowledge around food and health from interfering with how you approach family meals and feeding yourself. Today we're talking with…
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52. Family Meals with Mary Ellen Phipps (Milk and Honey Nutrition)
This week we're chatting with Mary Ellen Phipps of Milk & Honey Nutrition about how growing up with Type 1 Diabetes has informed her approach to food and family life. Plus Virginia has a family meal planning breakthrough. TAKE OUR LISTENER SURVEY! We want to know more about you, and what you…
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51. 10 Ways To Love Your Mom Body Right Now
We know that motherhood (and just... life) can dramatically change how you feel about your body, whether you're newly postpartum or several years in. Today we're talking through some strategies to help you feel more body-positive and comfortable in your skin — no weight loss required (or even...
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50. Beyond Body Positivity with Lexie Kite of Beauty Redefined
You know that thing where you find yourself thinking about how your body looks, when you'd rather just be living in your body? This week, on a very special 50th EPISODE, we're chatting with Lexie Kite, PhD, a body image resilience expert and co-founder of Beauty Redefined, about why so many women...
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49. How To Stop Freaking Out About Halloween Candy (Rebroadcast)
We're downloading a day early because it's almost Halloween! And all too often, parents biggest fear about Halloween is... what to do with all the candy. But Halloween is also a fantastic opportunity to let your kids explore new foods, learn to handle themselves around treats and (yes, really)...
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48. FAQs about Intuitive Eating With Kids Part 2 (With Elizabeth Davenport, RDN)
We talk a lot about intuitive eating and the Division of Responsibility or "responsive feeding" approach we like to take with family meals — but we know these big ideas can be tricky to put into practice. We've asked registered dietitian nutritionist Elizabeth Davenport of Sunny Side Up Nutrition...
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47. FAQs about Intuitive Eating for Kids, Part 1 (With Emily Fonnesback)
We talk a lot about intuitive eating and the Division of Responsibility or "responsive feeding" approach we like to take with family meals — but we know these big ideas can be tricky to put into practice. We've asked nutrition therapist Emily Fonnesback, RD, to tackle your questions. (And stay...
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46. Is it OK for Kids to Drink Chocolate Milk?
Several major health organizations have just released new recommendations that kids drink only water and plain milk until age 5. But is it realistic to expect your child to turn down every juicebox and chocolate milk carton that comes their way? We get into the pros and cons of this kind of all…
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45. A Week of 20-Minute Family Dinners
Virginia has hit a wall with family dinner - so much prep! so much crying! so little eating! - and we're betting she's not alone. If you're struggling to get a meal onto the table at the end of a long work day, Amy is here to save your sanity (at least for a few nights!) with her go-to fast...
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44. Why Kids Don't Need to Diet (With Anna Lutz, RD of Sunnyside Nutrition)
We all want our kids to love their bodies. But we're also given plenty of reasons to worry about our kids' body weight, size and shape, especially if they fall on the higher end of the growth chart. This week we're talking to Anna Lutz, MPH, RD, of Sunny Side Up Nutrition about why diets are…
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43. Mealtime Mental Load Struggles (with Darcy Lockman, author of All The Rage)
Why do most men do so little at home — and especially in the kitchen? Why are women (still!) doing so much? Darcy Lockman, author of All the Rage: Mothers, Fathers and the Myth of Equal Partnership is on the podcast this week to talk about why mental load tasks like grocery list making and meal...
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42. What We're All Really Spending on Groceries
Do you worry whether you're spending the "right" amount of money on the food you buy for your family? We sure do... so we got some hard numbers on how much Americans spend on groceries and they may make you feel way better. We also talk about the cultural pressures that contribute to our anxiety...
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41. Fitting in Fitness as a Mom (and Raising Body Positive Kids with Rebecca Scritchfield)
We realized we had A LOT more to say about moms and fitness (and why you don't need to get your "pre-baby body" back!). So we're talking in more detail about how we find our exercise motivation and fit stress-free, fun workouts into our lives, while avoiding common diet culture fitspo traps.…
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40. Intuitive Eating Secrets from a Mom of 5 (with Melissa Griffiths of Bless This Mess)
It can be daunting to raise one or two healthy, happy eaters... so how about five?! This week, we chat with Melissa Griffiths of Bless This Mess about how she's raising her kids to honor their hunger and fullness cues, trust their bodies and love family meals... even when they don't love what's...
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39: What Growth Chart Percentiles Mean for Your Kid's Health
Whether you have a kiddo in a high weight percentile, or barely on the growth chart, chances are you've had at least one pediatrician visit where you left stressed out about growth curves. Today we're discussing the limitations of the Body Mass Index, how to keep growth chart percentiles in...
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38: What To Do About Snacking (And Why Your Kid Doesn't Want to Eat Meals)
Why do so many of our kids only want to eat "snacks?" Why can't you leave your house without a purse full of them? We're untangling some of the confusion about snacks: Why kids need them, how they can interfere with hunger and fullness cues, and how to neutralize their power — especially when it...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
The podcast about the joys (and meltdowns!) of feeding our families and ourselves. Every week we examine how diet culture, body image issues and our own hectic lives get in the way of putting a dinner on the table that we can all feel good about. And we offer practical, road-tested tips to help you make peace with your own eating (or your kid's picky eating!) and find more joy in your family's food life. Hosted by best friends and writers Amy Palanjian (creator of the popular blog Yummy Toddler Food) and Virginia Sole-Smith (author of The Eating Instinct).
HOSTED BY
Amy Palanjian & Virginia Sole-Smith
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Comfort Food have?
Comfort Food currently has 87 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Comfort Food about?
The podcast about the joys (and meltdowns!) of feeding our families and ourselves. Every week we examine how diet culture, body image issues and our own hectic lives get in the way of putting a dinner on the table that we can all feel good about. And we offer practical, road-tested tips to help you...
How often does Comfort Food release new episodes?
Comfort Food has 87 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Comfort Food?
You can listen to Comfort Food on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Comfort Food?
Comfort Food is created and hosted by Amy Palanjian & Virginia Sole-Smith.
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