Recipes! Chili Black Bean and Cornbread Skillet Pie, Lemongrass Tofu and more

What to cook during the week ahead, from Post Food editors.

As I write this from my dining room table, my son is out of school because of snow for the second time this week. He's thrilled, of course. I'm happy … for him. Snow days are a rite of passage for kids, as inconvenient as they often are for parents.

I fondly recall hours sledding and building snowmen, coming in and shaking a pack of hot chocolate mix into a mug of steaming water. Today I'm much more inclined to whip up a cup of cocoa — especially my Triple Hot Chocolate — from scratch, but the sentiment remains the same. What else to eat when you're hunkered down? Already I've baked a batch of Butter Swim Biscuits and have planned to do grilled cheese and our Fast Blender Tomato Soup for dinner.

If you need more ideas for snow day eats, check out the roundup I pulled together during the first storm that hit the D.C. area this week. Do brownies appeal? Well, we just released our rankings of boxed mixes from 10 top brands, as well as a list of some of our best brownie recipes. I'd love to hear what you like to cook when it looks like a winter wonderland outside. Send me an email, and I'll share some of your favorites next week.

Ellie Krieger's Chili Black Bean and Cornbread Skillet Pie would be a cozy meal on a snowy day. It features a vegetable-forward riff on black bean chili topped with a whole-grain cornbread. Tweak the filling as needed to use what you have and make it pantry-friendly.

Life slows down a little bit when you're snowed in, but that doesn't mean you're not busy. Last week I asked for some of your best tips to speed up cooking. Here's what some of you said:

"I'm a big believer in 'planned overs,' so that I do not have to cook every night," says Marliss from Culver, Ind. "A turkey-spinach lasagna may take about two hours preparation, baking, and resting time, but it lasts the two of us for three nights, and the latter two nights just require the microwave." Marliss also likes to roast bone-in chicken breasts or whole birds to use over multiple meals so not every element has to be made fresh.

"In the morning, when I'm energized about cooking the meal, I start staging," Diane from Carrboro, N.C., shares. "I take out the equipment I need (pans, knives, cutting board, measuring cups, etc.) as well as nonperishable ingredients. I may also do some prep and veg chopping, storing it in the fridge for later. I group all of the refrigerated foods together so I don't have to hunt for them."

Lynn from North Kentville, Nova Scotia, also likes to stage ingredients on the counter. But I really liked this tip: "I also alphabetize my herbs and spices," which helps when sorting through the more than 60 in the cupboard.

I'm looking forward to hearing more of your cooking advice and questions in the weekly live chat I host with Aaron Hutcherson. Please join us Wednesday at noon Eastern. You can submit your questions at any time here.

Until next Saturday, happy cooking!