Here’s the thing: I love to cook, but I don’t always have the time or money to whip up a new meal every single night. If I have a work deadline approaching, I can’t always take an hour or two to cook and then clean the kitchen. And with my husband going back to school, and both of us changing jobs, we’re on a pretty tight budget this year. That’s why I look for recipes that will give us leftovers to eat off of for a few days.

This week, I decided to make a big ol’ pot of vegetable soup to cover a few dinners, and jam-filled oat muffins to cover breakfast for a few days. Both are incredibly easy to make and budget-friendly.

As far as vegetable soup is concerned, I don’t follow any particular recipe. I like to use vegetable soup as an opportunity to clean out my refrigerator. I happened to have some celery, carrots, and cabbage in the fridge, so I threw those in the pot with some potatoes and other frozen veggies. But you can add whatever you like. I don’t typically measure anything when I make my soup, so the measurements below are approximations. This will serve two people for at least two days, and you’ll probably have extra to freeze for later.

The jam-filled muffins are taken from The Joy of Vegan Baking by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau (a must-have for any vegan cook). They are very hearty and perfect for the morning rush.

Vegetable Soup

Ingredients:

2 tbsp olive oil

¾ cup chopped yellow onion

3 cloves of garlic, diced

1 cup diced red potatoes

1 cup diced carrots

1 cup frozen peas

1 cup frozen lima beans

1 cup frozen corn

1 cup sliced cabbage

1 28-ounce can of diced tomatoes

2 cups tomato juice

2 cups water

2 vegetable broth cubes

1 ½ tsp dried oregano

1 ½ tsp dried thyme

1 ½ tsp dried basil

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Heat the olive oil in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Add the onions and the garlic and cook for about 4 minutes, or until the onions are translucent. Add the rest of your ingredients and bring the soup up to a boil. Turn down the heat to medium, cover, and simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the potatoes and carrots are tender. Add salt and pepper to taste. Like most soups, this will taste better the next day, but you can certainly eat it right away.

Jam-Filled Oat Bran Muffins (from The Joy of Vegan Baking)

Yield: 16 muffins*

Ingredients:

2 tbsp ground flaxseed

6 tbsp water

2 cups oat bran

1 cup unbleached all-purpose or whole wheat pastry flour

½ cup firmly packed light or dark brown sugar

4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp salt

1 ¼ cups nondairy milk

1/3 cup canola oil

1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

½ cup strawberry (or any fruit) jam

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Lightly grease your muffin tins.

In a food processor or in a bowl using an electric hand mixer, whip the flaxseed and water together until you have a thick and creamy consistency.

In a large bowl, combine the oat bran, flour, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside. In a small bowl, whisk together the flaxseed mixture, milk, and oil. Stir in the walnuts, if using. Add to the dry ingredients and mix just until blended.

Fill the prepared muffin cups less than half full with batter.

Place a dab of jam or preserves in the center of the cup.

Add more batter to fill the cups two-thirds full, concealing the jam.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, depending on your oven. Cool in the tins for 3 minutes, then remove to cool on a wire rack.

*I only got 12 muffins out of the recipe, but I over-filled the cups.