Comfort food is a deeply personal thing that no one should have explain.  At least that's what I keep telling myself.

The boys love Lasagna for Kids which, even though I make with organic macaroni and cheese, pasta sauce, and free range beef (even sometimes grinding my own), it just doesn't feel like dinner.  Even with salad.  I can't explain it.

 But, I'm moving on.  Tonight we're having Basil Pork Cutlets, whatever green vegetable looks good at the store (shopping day!), and baked sweet potatoes.

Does organic food make me feel better about opening up a bunch of boxes and jars?  A little.  What helps even more?  Being free to eat mujadara (home made) with hummus and raw veggies!

I love Halloween, but this year I'm switching it up a bit.  Why bother making a fabulous dinner when everyone is dying to get out the door?  This year the frightfully freakish feast will be presented on Devil's Night.

Not everyone appreciates gruesome.  And when I step back and think about it, I really don't want to spend time making a dinner and then have the kids cringe by giving things unappetizing names.  This year I'm going to go more crazy than creepy.

The table setting is probably what anchors the theme.  I bought black sheets as chair covers, so I can use a few to cover the table.  Using a box with something heavy in it for stability (never use tape to secure the box to your good dining room table...oops!) under the cloth adds dimension.  I have a bunch of Halloween themed confetti (purchased last year at 90% off) to sprinkle around.  Add in a few containers filled with candy corn and tea lights, and it's looking good festive.  Have you bought a bunch of tiny pumpkins that you really have no use for?  I did!  I'm going to draw faces on them, and then put them in front of napkins folded like neckties.  Not sure there's a place for the silverware in all this, so I'll just put it in with the food...

The entree, beef and macaroni will be served in highball glasses, broccoli in the double old fashioned, and breadsticks in juice glasses.  Salad will be served on a platter instead of the usual salad bowl, which is kind of nice because the toppings stay evenly distributed.  But, I have these clown picks from the cake decorating aisle that will make a semi-creepy addition (kids are too young to have read It).  The boys do not appreciate having their milk colored (can't blame them), so I'm going to make chocolate milk, but, serve it from a well washed out wine bottle (decorated, of course).  The one tiny concession to ooze will be lava cakes.  These are really simple to make - no need to buy the scary box mix.

What are you doing for Halloween???

 Pizza for Breakfast?

Child #2 dragged himself down the stairs, flopped on the couch (rather  dramatically), and announced that he wanted pizza for breakfast.  Pineapple and pizza, to be exact.  Can one actually call 1-800-Dominos at 7:30 am?  No matter, I have a quick fix for him, too.

1 slice of double fiber bread
2 tbs spaghetti sauce
1 slice of deli ham
2 tbs of pineapple chunks
2 tbs shredded mozzarella cheese.

Note that it is 7:30 am and measurements are not exact.  Measuring tools are not even used. 

Toast the bread.
Find the rest of the stuff.
When the bread is done, turn the toaster oven to broil.
Spread a piece of foil on the broiler pan, because cleaning up melted cheese is not fun.  Nor is cleaning up hardened cheese because you got interrupted in cleaning because someone couldn't find his shoes.  (Have we been here before?  I think so...)
Spread the spaghetti sauce on the bread.
Chop the ham and the pineapple into smallish pieces and put it on top of the sauce.
Sprinkle on the cheese.
Pop this under the broiler while you clean up.
Voilà. 

But of course, I had to know the nutritional value of this concoction, so I created a recipe out of it and it says:

Calories: 216.7 Fat: 6.6g Unsaturated Fat: 1.04g Protein: 10.7g Carb.: 35.9g Sugar: 7g Sodium: 732.4mg Cholesterol: 20.7mg Fiber: 7.2g

Now I only have to worry about lunch and dinner...