30 Cold Weather Meals

In order to stay in budget with our grocery bill, I’ve found it essential to shop with a list.  In order for my list to have everything I need on it, I’ve found it necessary to have a menu planned for the week.  The thing is, I had a big problem with writers block whenever I sat down to plan the menu.  It felt like we were repeating the same meals over and over and I’d draw a blank whenever I tried to think of something different.

So, a few months ago, I solved this problem and created two lists of meals that our family actually eats.  I made a list of Spring/Summer meals and a list of Fall/Winter Meals.  At first I just got my nerdball on and listed these in a spreadsheet, but now I’ve created a Pinterest board so I can have a visual reminder of the Fall/Winter meals we like (click the see the meals).  You’ll also find my list below with links to the various sites.  While the recipes are all close to how I make them, they all belong to someone else.  I’m your researcher/curator friend, not your Pioneer Woman friend (but at least she and I both love Lucille Ball and basset hounds!) so I hope me gathering recipes in one place is as helpful to you as it is to me.  (Note: many of these recipes will work for those on special diets like gluten free and dairy free)

Here are the 30 Budget-Friendly Cold Weather Meals that our family REALLY eats:

1. Chicken Pozole (My shortcuts are that I use frozen chicken bone broth which cuts down cooking time.  For garnishes, we just use radish, cabbage, onion, cilantro, lime and oregano.  We serve this with corn tostadas or tortilla chips.)
2. Split Pea Soup with Crusty Bread (Whenever we have ham on the bone, I freeze the bone and use in Split Pea Soup.  If you don’t have the time or desire to make your bread, one from the store will be just fine.) 
3. Beef and Barley Soup (If mushrooms go over as badly in your home as they do in mine, just throw in a cup or two of crushed tomatoes from your pantry or freezer.)
4. Pot Roast and Veggies (I haven’t landed on one way to make pot roast yet, so I really am going to try this Pioneer Woman recipe!)
5. Ropa Vieja (shredded beef) with Rice (Instead of the seasonings, I use a packet of Dry Onion Soup Mix.  I also add 1 c. red wine.)
6. Slow-cooker Baked Potatoes (I love to rub butter into the potato skin and then salt before cooking. We serve ours loaded with whatever toppings we have on hand….  cheese, sour cream, bacon, salsa, jalapenos, lime, salt and pepper, etc)
7. Black Bean Tostadas (There are endless combinations to the toppings you can put on tostadas.  Work with what you have on hand and what’s on sale.)
8. French Toast (We love breakfast for dinner.  Check the day old bread section of your store – then freeze it until you’re making french toast!  Serve with fresh fruit.)
9. Breakfast Casserole (My family won’t eat the heels of the bread, so I collect them in a bag in the freezer and use it for this casserole – and for other recipes that call for bread crumbs, etc.)
10. Chicken Noodle Soup (In my world, I use frozen bone broth which removes a lot of the cooking time in the linked recipe.  I like to use drumsticks for the meat – and after I’ve removed the meat from the bones, I throw them in a freezer bag to save for my next bone broth brewing session.  I also add one bag of frozen peas to my chicken noodle soup because the extra green makes me happy.)
11. Ham with Au Gratin Potatoes (I actually follow this recipe for Au Gratin potatoes, are you impressed?  Haha.  This is one of our “celebration” meals, but I’ll sometimes make it on a regular weeknight with leftover ham or with a package of spiral ham ends and pieces.)
12. Grilled Cheese and Soup (This is a sanity meal.  Perfect for nights when I don’t have the time or energy to cook.)
13. Chilaquiles (Here is another breakfast-for-dinner idea that we use.  My husband is usually the one to whip this up.  We don’t mix avocado into the eggs, but add as a side if we have it.  This is a great way to use up corn tortillas that are getting a bit dry.)
14. Spaghetti and Garlic Bread (No link to a recipe, we all have our own way of making it.  In our family, we make a meat sauce using ground beef which I stretch by adding Textured Vegetable Protein which makes it even more budget friendly and lower in fat.)
15. Breakfast Sandwiches (I have never attempted to make my own english muffins, but buy those instead.  Try adding sauteed onions or jalepenos for extra flavor.)
16. Homemade Pizza (If you don’t want to make your own dough, many pizza places will sell it to you for a few dollars.)  When we buy a simple one-topping take-and-bake pizza, we load it up with extra toppings at home depending on what we have on hand – onions, olives, red pepper, jalepenos, garlic, sundried tomatoes, basil, capers, whatever!
17. Chorizo Breakfast Burritos (Extra credit if you buy your tortillas fresh from a tortilleria!  The tortilla can make or break your burrito. Yes, I’m a tortilla snob.)
18. Meatballs in Chipotle Sauce with Rice (Instead of breadcrumbs, I add Masa Harina to the meat mixture, which makes this recipe gluten-free!  I freeze leftover chipotle peppers in a small container since this will not use the entire can.)
19. All American Taco (Although I usually buy our shells, I do season the meat mixture with my own blend of spices instead of using a taco seasoning packet.)
20. Boiled Dinner (I think we can all agree that someone really phoned it in when they were naming this one, but this is yummy!  I use chicken bone broth and water instead of bullion and I add cabbage or green beans to this as well.)
21.  Classic French Onion Soup (for parents) and Mac and Cheese (for kids)  (I skip the expensive cheese on the French Onion and use swiss and Parmesan instead.  I also skip the wine.)
22. Salmon and Couscous (I buy couscous in bulk at the natural foods store and use whatever I have on hand for the seasonings.  The kids usually eat mac and cheese or sandwiches or anything but fish when we have this.)
23. Turkey Pot Pie (Buying extra turkeys around the holidays makes meals like these super frugal!  I make my own crust in order to control the ingredients.  If you don’t have all the ingredients for the filling on hand, just substitute with what you have.)
24. Ham and Spinach Quiche (I just use shredded Swiss cheese and regular milk instead of the half-and-half.)
25. Chicken and Dumplings (You can use turkey instead if you stocked up around the holidays!  I also throw in a bag of frozen peas and carrots.)
26. Lasagna (This isn’t necessarily a thrifty meal, but it is a yummy treat from time to time.   My mom always uses small curd cottage cheese as an alternative to ricotta.  This blogger used whipped cream cheese instead. )
27. Manicotti  (Prices on shells vary widely – also watch for sales on cheese or this one can get pricey very fast!)
28. Roast Chicken Dinner (Or roast one of the extra turkeys you bought around the holidays!  We make some of our favorite sides to go with it based on what we have on hand – mashed potatoes, corn, stuffing, sweet potatoes, glazed carrots, rice, whatever!)
29. Chili and Cornbread (Everyone has their favorite version of chili – make it the way you like it best!)
30. Shepherds Pie (If I had to choose a meal to eat every single day, this would be it.  I love shepherds pie.  I like to make it using leftover mashed potatoes and I use a bag of frozen vegetables to make it even more simple.  Lentils can be substituted entirely for the ground beef to make this meatless or use lentils or Textured Vegetable Protein to stretch the meat and make it lower in fat.)

What are your go-to Cold Weather recipes?