Jack O'Lantern Soup

Happy Halloween!!!

Halloween preparations have begun at the Davis house.  We've got our pumpkins carved, our not-so spooky decorations hung, a bucket of candy, a tray of spider cookies and even a few dog treats sitting next to my front door.   Bring on the sugar craved trick or treaters. (and their parents) (and their dogs)

For years, I trick or treated with my kids while they went from house to house collecting sugary sweets that filled their little plastic pumpkins until they overflowed with sweetness.  I am so thankful that we've always lived in a neighborhood where I felt safe taking my kids trick or treating.  

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This is one of my very favorite Halloween pictures of the kids.  I love that it accurately captures my struggle to get a decent picture of the two of them until Courtney was at least 10 years old.  I also love that these two proudly marched around the neighborhood in their homemade costumes without the knowledge that store bought costumes even existed.  (Ah, the innocence of childhood.)

My days of trick or treating with my pumpkin and my Dalmatian are over so I've taken on the role of handing out candy now.  I do miss walking the neighborhood with my kids but I've discovered that sitting on my porch and watching the parade of trick or treaters come up to get their treat is actually quite fun too.  

Weekly Menu (10/31-11/6)
Monday  - Jack O'Lantern quesadilla and tomato soup

Tuesday - Honey Bourbon Spatchcocked Chicken
It's more than a mouthful to say but I'm super excited about this new chicken recipe to try.  

Wednesday - Chicken Pot Pie Skillet Pizza 
Another new recipe for me to test out.   

Thursday - Sandwich night
I'm trying a Honey Whole Wheat Pull Apart Roll recipe from my Cooking Light magazine which will make the perfect base for some simple sandwiches.  

Friday - Barbecue Dinner compliments of the soccer team fundraiser.  Woohoo!

Saturday - Spending time with some family and friends and not sure yet what I am going to cook.  (Just one of the struggles of trying to plan meals so far in advance.  Some days I just can't predict what kind of food I will need.)  

Sunday - Slow Cooker Chicken Chili served in bread bowls
Using up the leftover spatchcocked chicken from Tuesday night and trying a new bread bowl recipe.  Yum.  

Sounds like an easy enough menu.  Hopefully I can stick to it and get all these meals on the table this week.  

In the interest of full disclosure: some days even with the best of intentions, a dinner menu already planned and groceries bought - I still can't seem to get the meal on the table that I had planned to serve.  I know that this happens to a lot of you who are trying to stick to a meal plan too.  I don't want you to get discouraged.   You're not alone.  Life happens and sometimes whatever is causing you to disrupt your meal plan is far more important than sticking to a schedule anyway.   I have to remind myself that even if I don't feed my family the meal that I intended to serve - as long as they go to bed with dinner in their belly - it was a successful day.  

Have a great week friends.

​Ciao!