As temperatures drop and families eat in to avoid the cold weather, it’s time to mix up your dinner menu with some new cold weather meals. While there are a variety of ways to make warm, home-cooked meals, it can be easy to repeat meals when you’re cooking dinner at home more often each week. Below are a few methods and recipes to help you try something new and hopefully find something the whole family will enjoy!

• Crock-Pot meals are a great way to try something new without too much hassle. Get your ingredients ready the night before, load up the pot in the morning, and enjoy a fully cooked meal when you get home from work! Not to mention walking into a house that already smells like what’s cooking. Crock-pot meals aren’t just for soups either – consider making chicken (or other favorite meat) and slow roasted veggies, spaghetti and meatballs, 
• Slow Cooker soups are perhaps the most popular option when it comes to cold weather meal options. Many recipes allow you to put all ingredients into the slow cooker or crock-pot in the morning, cook on low all day, and the soup is ready to eat for dinner. classics recipes like chicken noodle or loaded potato all have their own variation when using a slow cooker, but some other soups to try include butternut squash chilli or french onion soup.
• Instant pots are a newer trend but are most useful for those of us who fail to plan ahead but still want something hot for dinner in those winter months. Instant pots are unique in that you can have a hot, flavorful meal cooked in under an hour for most recipes! These pots use pressure to cook means quicker without drying out or losing flavor. Some of the favorite recipes in an instant pot include: stews, ribs and hams, and even lasagna!

• Air fryers are also a new and growing trend seen in the kitchen. This kitchen contraption allows you to fry just about anything with little to no oil and in a fraction of the time! Air frying also cuts down on calories and fats, while also being a safer alternative to frying on a stovetop. Some of the recent favorites to emerge from this trend include: classic chicken tenders, pizza, breaded pork chops, and most vegetables!
• Oven Baked favorites are last on our list but certainly not least favorable when it comes to cooking in the winter months. If you have the time and the energy, and maybe some help from the whole family, cooking some favorites from the back of the cookbook can be the most rewarding! Although the traditional oven baked method may take the longest, it also allows you to bring the family together before the mealtime even begins. Chicken pot pie, cast iron skillet pizza, and chicken or beef enchiladas are just a few dishes that require multiple steps that allow each family member to customize to their preference! 

Sometimes revisiting an old family recipe can be the most heartwarming way to cook, but there are new methods too that can make meal prep even easier so you can spend more time on other activities this winter. Whichever method works best for you, be sure to try a new recipe now and then. You never know when a unique twist on an old favorite will make a recipe feel brand new to your family! A great way to make yourself mix it up instead of falling into your tried and true recipes is to pick two new recipes a week and add the ingredients for those two recipes to your grocery list. Once you have the ingredients, it’ll be easier and cost effective for you to give them a try! Cold weather meals are a great chance to try something new or break out a classic, either option is sure to warm up the kitchen on a winter night. Good luck trying something new or revisiting an old favorite!