blue artichoke

I've made quite a dent in my overflowing cupboards and freezer. Now there is room to see everything with minimal shuffling. Mostly I've been paring down the things we like to eat fairly often: leftovers, frozen vegetables, canned vegetables and so on. I defrosted a giant log of ground beef and made lots of meatballs (which I froze) and a classic ground beef lasagna. I combined all the various styles of canned tomatoes in the cupboard and made some marinara, which I froze in ice cube trays and put in a baggie (and used in the lasagna). We somehow managed to eat all the ice cream in the freezer. This is a tough undertaking. So, while I'm making room in the freezer, I'm still adding things to it. Today, I used a falafel mix that's been in the cupboard for a long time. Finally, I'm using up those things that sounded good at the time, but only languish in the dark recesses of the cupboard. I also had a jar of tahini, so I made some tahini sauce to go with the falafel. Now I have to find something to do with the rest of the open bottle of tahini. Any suggestions?

I also made another loaf of banana bread:
Banana Bread #3, Blueberry Banana Bread
This recipe is from Taste of Home, and is a more traditional banana bread than the first competitor (which was more desserty, like a banana pound cake). It had a golden center flecked with banana threads, and a thick, dark (but not burned) crust. The flavor was sweet with a pronounced banana flavor. The blueberries were a nice addition, adding some moisture and sweetness, but the bread could easily stand alone. This is a really good banana bread.

Dinner last night: Spice-rubbed pork chops with mango-lime salsa; oven-baked potatoes and onions
Dinner tonight: falafel salad with tahini dressing