5 Easy Dinner Ideas for Winter Nights

Winter days in our parts can be bright and sunny at times, blustery and gray at others. Regardless of how nice or terrible the day, when the sun sets, it's icy cold, and time for warm comfort fare. There are many ways to approach dinner planning in these times, and for the household cook who plans ahead well, it's not tough to put the crockpot to work first thing in the morning, and leave the dinner to tend itself. Come supper time, the house is permeated with a great aroma, and appetites are good and ready for mealtime.

However, when things are extremely busy, the crockpot may not come to mind first thing, and the cook may have to improvise late in the day. Whether you are accomodating a busy extra curricular schedule for the kids, or whether you simply didn't think about your meal early enough, there are plenty of simple, one-dish dinners you can create in minimal time. The following are 5 of my favorite easy dinner ideas for winter nights, with the quick fix presented, and in some cases, the crockpot alternatives.

Goulash, when I was growing up, simply meant spaghetti sauce, ground beef, and elbow macaroni. I used to make mine with rotini, for a fun twist, but hadn't made it in several years. However, as I've re-instituted this dish into our household meal plan, I've gone back to the elbow macaroni approach because of it's low cost. Further, I've made some popular adjustments, depending on ingredients available, and the kids have responded quite well.

My household will consume a 3 lb. box of macaroni when it's incorporated into this dish, so I'm working with that quantity in mind. Divide in half, or thirds, if you don't need to feed a family of 10. Or, prepare, as I do, and freeze half for an easy meal later in the month. My philosophy is that planned leftovers are great budget stretchers.

For a family of 10, or for a double serving for a family of 5:

Prepare 3 lb. Elbow Macaroni, boiling until just tender. Drain.

Meanwhile, cook 2-4 lb. Ground Beef, with 1-2 diced onions. Drain grease from the beef.

Add 2 cans of the Spaghetti Sauce of your choice, incorporate into the beef, and heat. Add to drained pasta.

Add 2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese to the pasta mixture, and stir to thoroughly mix the cheese into the pasta. Allow the cheese to melt. Serve in bowls, with garlic bread or rolls on the side.

***For variations, try different types of pasta, or include mushrooms and celery when cooking the meat. For a budget friendly meat, try ground turkey. Try different types of cheese, either shredded, or ricotta. There is really no end to what you can do, but the result is a steaming hot meal that your household will love!

Another warm and comforting food, a rice casserole is fantastic for filling your family up, and for providing a means of using up leftovers.  If you have leftover cooked rice, toss it in. 

To make enough for a family of 10, or 2 meals for a family of 5 (one for now, one to freeze):

Prepare 6 cups of white rice (using a 1 to 2 ratio of rice to water, 12 cups of water are needed...I use my stock pot, but a rice cooker would also work well).

Meanwhile, prepare 2 bags of mixed vegetables (broccoli/cauliflower mix is great) by cooking until tender in water, and draining (reserve the water). 

Add 2 cans of cream of broccoli soup mix to the vegetables, and 2 cans of the reserved vegetable liquid.  Stir over low to medium heat, until the fluid is well incorporated into the soup.  If desired, drain, and add a couple of cans of corn or mixed vegetables. 

Add 2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese to the soup mixture, and continue to stir until cheese is melted.

For flavor, I like to incorporate 1-2 TBSP chicken bouillon powder, dissolved in 1/4 cup warm water. 

Serve the vegetable mixture over rice, or stir the vegetable mixture into the rice and serve. 

You can read about my Simple Navy Bean Soup here, and my Simple Pinto Bean Soup here. Both are very easy crockpot recipes, and if you are on the ball in the morning, easy to get started, and forget...at least until the aroma permeates the house.

For a simpler fix, select your canned beans of choice, and pour into your soup pot, along with the liquid. There's no set quantity; use what will feed your family. Kidney beans, pintos, black beans, mix and match what you have on hand. In my house, I plan for approximately 2 small cans of beans per 3 individuals, possibly more. When I purchase pre-cooked pintos, it's usually 2 large cans, minimum, to make a bean soup or chile for my family. In terms of cost effectiveness, starting with dried beans is cheaper. In terms of time saving ease, the canned beans save on time, though the cost is a bit more.

I add a couple of pounds of ground beef, cooked and drained, to the bean mixture, and a couple of tablespoons of chicken bouillon powder. I also add water, approximately 1 can water for every 2 cans of beans. Heat, and serve. Use garlic powder, or chile powder, if you want more of a chile, or a different flavor. For a chile, I will add stewed tomatoes, or tomato sauce, to taste. However, for a simple and quick bean soup, those aren't needed. Likewise, chopped onion can be incorporated while frying the ground beef.

Top Ramen is a famed, cheap meal, and has been incorporated into other dishes.  However, it is generally a filler, not very nutritious.  The kids love it, but I only pull it into my mealtime routine on rare occasions.  In basic preparation, I only use half the flavoring packets, because of the salt content.  For our family, I will easily prepare and serve at least 8 packages of Ramen.  In order to add some nutrition, I will add mixed vegetables, or even canned mushrooms to the mix, which makes the soup more of a vegetable soup. 

I also add eggs most of the time when I prepare Top Ramen.  Sometimes, I will make the soup an egg drop soup, whisking the eggs, and then slowly pouring into the boiling liquid, after the noodles have been added and cooked.  The other approach is to gently add eggs, one at a time, and poach them in the soup.  I usually use a full dozen eggs for our household, and rarely keep all intact.  Just as well, being that some of the kids love the poached eggs, and some do not.  Everyone who wants a poached egg in their soup gets one.  I actually learned this approach from an Asian friend, who served this style of soup, with exotic mushrooms, and chunky vegetables.  The eggs are popular with most of my children. 

One more easy winter dinner, my upside down Pot Pie usually involves leftover soup, either turkey, or chicken, heated and thickened by incorporating approximately a half to a full cup of Bisquick mix into the liquid.  I mix equal parts Bisquick and soup, stir well to break up lumps, and add to the full pot of soup.  This is then placed in my roasting pan, and topped with dollops of Bisquick mix, usually mixed just a little thinner than would be needed for actual biscuits.  The pan is placed in a 350 oven, for approximately 20 minutes, or until the Bisquick topping begins to brown lightly.  Yum!