January is such a tough month for me to plan meals. Is it like that for you, too? I typically plan meals out two weeks ahead of time. This gives me plenty of time to make my grocery shopping list based on needed ingredients and make any necessary tweaks to our family meal plan. Planning ahead helps my family tremendously. We have hectic schedules, and our dinner routine needs to be as 'by the book according to us' as possible.

Don't get me wrong, I throw in lots of easy meals. They're enjoyable, predictable, and quite frankly boring. I don't really get jazzed about Taco Tuesdays anymore. I try to rotate between fajitas, tacos, crock pot shredded cheesy chicken, and quesadillas, but it's become so 'mid,' as my teenager would say. Pasta is in our weekly rotation, too. It's cheap, fast, everyone likes it... but I am so tired of spaghetti or fettucini alfredo.

It wasn't until I glanced at our weekly menu plan recently, that I realized I am not including any meals that I really like. I'm just focused on fast, inflation-friendly meals that everyone will eat. Financially, that makes sense. We're being fed, but my foodie soul is wanting. 

For our next menu, I'm adding things that are perfect for chilly winter nights back to the menu. I miss foods like chili, hamburger stroganoff, broccoli cheddar or French onion soup, and freshly baked bread. I might even get fancy and make stuffed chicken breasts sometime soon. Yum!

What are some of your favorite cold-weather recipes?