Looking for more fun ideas to power your children up with protein before sending them out on the annual candy walk that is Halloween?  Try this really fun serving suggestion and make “spiders” for dinner!

SeaPak Maryland Style Crab Cakes make quick and easy “crab spiders.”  Bake the crab cakes according to the package instructions.  While they are baking, use the aioli sauce (thawed) that comes packaged in the crab cake carton to “draw” a spider web on the plate.  In the example below, we drew rings with the sauce then pulled a chop stick from the middle of the plate to the edges to complete the web look.  Place a crab cake in the center of the plate.  Finally use red or orange bell peppers to make the legs.  Instant fun for Halloween dinner!!

Happy Halloween Everyone!!

I will let you in on a little secret – I absolutely love Halloween!  I am actually a little obnoxious about it.  I decorate, try to get cool candy and even like to dress up just to greet trick-or-treaters at the door.  Now you may think it is odd for a mature grown-up, such as myself, to still get such a kick out of what is basically to most people a kids’ holiday.  Let me tell you while I love it so much.

 First of all Halloween is such an awesome family night.  Unlike a normal evening of TV watching or other routine activities, Halloween usually involves a lot more family together time.  Parents help the kids get ready in their costumes. One or both parents walk the kids around the neighborhood to trick-or-treat.  Then at the end of the evening the family gathers in the kitchen or living room to admire the bevy of sweet treats collected during the evening.  It is all good positive family together time.

And did I mention the stroll around the neighborhood? Well that is the second point of what I think is so great about Halloween – all that walking (also known as exercise!).  Walking door to door to trick-or-treat is at least a moderate amount of exercise and way better for the kids than parking it in front of the TV for an evening of mindless entertainment.   For some kids (and parents too) I bet the Halloween trek around the neighborhood is really about the most exercise that they will get all year!   So bring on the candy-walk and let us all walk around the block one more time for good measure!

The final thing that I think is so great about Halloween is the socialness of the evening.  Seriously there is no other day of the year when I will see and talk to more of my neighbors and their kids than on Halloween evening as I pass out candy.  Not only will I see everyone but everyone is in such a great mood as they walk around the neighborhood.   Halloween seems to make everyone just more friendly.

Of course there is one negative about all this Halloween fun – the complete excess of sugary treats distributed on this day.  I am sure you are well aware of the inevitable sugar high that will have our kids bouncing off the walls by the time they are half way through their stash of candy treats.  If you are searching for a way to moderate that sugar roller coaster ride this Halloween, I suggest you make sure you little darlings have a protein packed dinner before hitting the trick-or-treat trail.  A full tummy won’t be tempted to eat the whole treasure chest of candy in one evening and the protein will also help slow the absorption and digestion of all those candy carbohydrates. 

Now this can be easier said than done as many savvy little children will be inclined to skimp on dinner to make more room for candy.  The trick is to make sure dinner is something your kids really really like and that it is quick and easy to prepare.  So this year Halloween dinner at the Reed house is going to be SeaPak Popcorn Shrimp with ranch dipping sauce, microwave steamed broccoli with a little sprinkle of cheddar cheese, a fruit salad and a nice glass of milk.   I mean, what child could resist that? So how about dinner at your house? What is on the menu before the trick-or-treating begins?

I think October is a really underappreciated month. While September has all the crazy hecticness of back-to-school and November has us careening at break-neck speed towards the insanity of the holiday season, October comes in peacefully on cool autumn breezes that usher us out the summer heat.

In October there are county fairs, hayrides, a bevy of fall vegetables (pass the pumpkins and squash please!) and games of touch football in the back yard with family and friends.  As the grand finale to this fabulous month we get to embrace our inner child and play dress-up with our kids for Halloween.  Seriously, what more could you ask for from a month?   

Well, as if all of that isn’t enough, October has two more credentials to bring to the calendar.  It is also National Seafood Month and National Pasta Month.  Oh my goodness, someone pass a fork please! I am in heaven.  October is now a great excuse to eat more of two of my favorite food groups!

In honor of this great month, for dinner tonight I am planning to make Tangy Lemon Pepper Shrimp over linguine.   What I love about this recipe is that it’s super easy yet it tastes like something that you would get at an upscale restaurant.

The picture shows the recipe made with a 1-lbs carton of SeaPak tail-on scampi (which I love because it looks so gourmet).  But you could easily substitute 2 of the regular 12 oz cartons of SeaPak Scampi without the tails in the recipe. The dish would still serve 4 people and taste just as delish!

If you’re feeling a little spicy and sassy try adding a dash of red pepper flakes to this recipe for a little bit of a kick.  Oh and since it  is National Pasta Month, if you really want to get really wild and crazy try using fresh pasta instead of your usual dry pasta.  You can find fresh pasta in the refrigerated section of your local grocery store.  It not only tastes hands-down better than dry pasta, but it also cuts your cooking time down to almost nothing.  It’s perfect when you want to go gourmet in minutes on a weeknight.

So now that you know how I am celebrating October, how about you?  What favorite seafood and pasta dish will you pull out to tempt the taste buds this month?