I wish I could tell you that I had an amazing trick-or-treat-oriented menu but I just don’t. Mostly because the theme of dessert for the rest of the week is going to be dolling out pieces of candy collected during trick or treat on Sunday evening.
There, of course, will be a parent-tax imposed on the trick-or-treat loot that the kids bring in. The kids are already well trained to turn over any Snickers collected to my wife and I’m happy to take a few Reeses’ Peanut Buttercups off their hands. And, perhaps most importantly, a selection of Halloween candy will be set aside for donation.
Donating Halloween candy is something relatively new to me, but I really do love how it helps transition our thoughts from the “give me” orientation of Halloween to the thoughts of gratitude that lead up to Thanksgiving. And as much fun as Halloween is, the message of Thanksgiving is much more powerful and meaningful to me.
To help you start conversations about gratitude and giving thanks, watch my Facebook page and Instagram account for weekly messages about gratitude leading up to Thanksgiving.
Menu Plan
Sunday
Pizza (we need something quick and easy to complement trick or treating)
Monday
Leftovers
Tuesday
Shakshouka, bourekas, cut veggies
Wednesday
Hamburgers, fries, asparagus
Thursday
Italian sausage gnocchi ragu, Stepha’s meat sauce (my kids love our friend Stepha’s cooking so much that they were convinced that she was mailing it to us when I made it) on pasta, cut veggies
The next two meals are going to look a bit familiar because I was planning on making them last week. However, a change of weekend plans meant that I was single parenting and a simple meal plan was substituted (Friday – Spaghetti and meatballs, air-fried broccoli; Saturday – kebabs and Persian rice from the freezer, green beans).
Friday
Dijon-maple drumsticks with Brussel sprouts and butternut squash, drunken salami with sweet potatoes
Saturday
Grilled salmon with a miso-honey glaze, pizza quiche, butternut squash souffle, sesame noodles with toppings