Menu plan + Sunday happenings

I got up this morning & went on a 6.5 mile hike with a friend. It was an absolutely gorgeous fall day. So happy I got outside! It was a winning combination of fitness + social activity, and best of all, free. :-)

I just wrapped up making pesto, and ended up with 6 small jam jars full. I'll keep one in the fridge, and the others in the freezer. I also clipped back most of the remaining basil, and will bring it to a friend at work. Waste not, want not. I also used the last of a jar of walnut oil in place of some of the olive oil, as I have had it lingering in the pantry for quite a while.

I was hoping to make fresh cranberry muffins as a special surprise for M (they are his absolute favorites), but realized I was out of flour. How did this happen?! I'm usually pretty organized. Upon taking a closer look at the pantry, I discovered we were also low on: salt, garlic & bouillon cubes, and are out of peanut butter. I've been making my own almond & cashew butter, to reduce pantry supplies. M picked up our supplies as part of another errand, so we're now stocked again!

I spent part of the day organizing our schedule for the week: making a menu, reviewing my work schedule against the kids activity calendar, coordinating the various carpools, and building a schedule for our nanny. A moderate investment of time on weekends saves me a bunch of pain the following week.

Here's what's on the menu for the week ahead:
Sunday - M is grilling kebabs & making Persian rice + a yogurt sauce
Monday - we'll have leftover chicken rice pilaf
Tuesday - Tacos with guacamole & chips
Wednesday - leftover kebabs & rice
Thursday - Eat anything left in the fridge :-) If that fails, we'll resort to some frozen soup & rolls
Friday - the boys have been asking for hot dogs wrapped in crescent rolls (they like to help make the dinner), so we'll have that, plus roasted potatoes.

I don't list it, but we have a salad EVERY night for dinner. M is a bit of a salad fiend.

And with that, I'm off to finish my muffins, and work through the rest of my chores for today. What about you? How are you spending your Sunday? Any new recipes to try out? 

I made these granola bars & they were amazing. I must confess that I used the recipe as more of a base. I had no peanut butter, so I used cashew butter. I ran out of honey, so I used a bit of agave. I had no coconut oil, so I used olive oil. No chocolate chips, so used white chocolate chips, bought for $.10 on clearance way back. Subbed the dregs of a bag of trail mix for the peanuts. And, no pretzels, but I did have some stale remnants of a bag of pita chips from our Hawaii trip, so used these instead. Again, bears little resemblance to the original recipe, but I like that it's flexible. Also, I continue to eat down the pantry. Woohoo!