October is imminent!!!!!!! Alert, alert! 

October plus the gloomy weather we’ve been having has me in full Fall Food Mode. I made some bread yesterday! Today I hope to make a bit ol’ pot of butternut squash soup in which to dip my bread! Yum! I feel very exclamation pointy about October for unknown reasons! 

Surely my October excitement is in part because Elisabeth’s CBBC Walking Club begins tomorrow?! I have recommitted to walking daily and this will be such a big motivator. 

Well. Excitement aside, I still need to make dinner. (Although it’s a birthday week around here, so there will be some meals out that I do not have to plan or prepare, AND I am not in charge of the cake!) 

Dinners for the Week of September 30-October 6

• Sheet Pan Sausages with Acorn Squash and Onions: I needed a last-minute ingredient on Friday and asked my husband to swing by the grocery store on his way home. He impulse bought an acorn squash, which is pretty much the most adorable thing I can think of to impulse buy. Anyway, that was the inspiration for this meal. I am hopeful that Carla will eat the sausage. She has eaten sausage in the past, I’m pretty sure. Although, as we all know, past performance is no prediction of future behavior.
• Broccoli Beef Stir Fry: I’m in the mood for another stir fry. As per usual, I will add red bell pepper to the pot for color and extra crunch.
• Autumn Chicken and Roasted Veggies: I just came across this recipe and it sounds fun. I’m also intrigued by the addition of the cheese tortellini. 
• Chili Two Ways! My parents are coming for dinner and football this weekend, and I’m planning on making chili. My favorite chili has ground beef and dark red kidney beans, but I don’t think everyone is a fan of beans, so I want to try a bean-free version as well. (I NEED my beans.) I am leaning toward this green pork chili, which my husband would LOVE (although I’m a little concerned about finding fresh tomatillos at this time of year?) or this Texas chili, which my dad would enjoy. (By the way, I make my own chili powder and have been doing so for YEARS, but recently I lost the recipe! I had it written down on a slip of paper, and I thought it was stowed carefully away in our recipes binder. But it is not there! And, worse, I cannot find a bookmarked recipe for chili powder among my copious online recipe folders, nor can I find a link to it on my blog. Argh! I think this may be it, or very close, but we will have to see. Yet again I am kicking myself for never having posted my very easy recipe for chili on the blog, which surely would have linked to the original recipe for the chili powder!) If we were having more people over for dinner, I might try a third version: a white chicken chili. If I were making it purely for my husband, I might attempt this chili verde with sausage and pumpkin. This is making me want to have a neighborhood chili potluck. Is that a thing? Could that be a thing?
• Creamy Chickpea and Sweet Potato Stew: This is one of the rare vegetarian meals my husband is on board for, so I am taking FULL advantage. In fact, I’m going to add green peppers to my portion as well. (I’m not a huge sweet-potatoes-in-stew fan, plus I love green peppers.) 

Have you ever been to a chili-centric potluck? Would you attend one at my house, if you were my neighbor? If you wanted to come, which chili would you bring? Or which dessert or salad, I suppose; probably at least half of the guests at this imaginary potluck should bring a dessert or a salad instead of chili.