Its All About Planning

One very important lesson for any vegan, dieter, student...well anyone really is planning meals.  People always ask how I find the time to cook. My answer?  I make a plan and only cook about twice a week.  Big pots of soup will last a few days in the fridge.  A big pot of rice or quinoa will last even longer.  That being said I have to admit, sometimes I get really bored with that same pot of soup and find myself struggling to finish the entire thing over a few days period.  But, I recently found a way to avoid this!  Last week I posted a recipe for black bean soup.  The recipe essentially begins by making vegetable soup then adding pureed black beans.  This week I made a big pot of vegetable soup on Saturday.  I ate it for two days, and then turned it into that same black bean soup.  I just added my black beans and cilantro this Sunday evening after having had the vegetable soup for two days and plan to have the black bean version Monday and Tuesday.  This same method can be applied to your favorite grain dishes.  Start with a pot of half quinoa, half brown rice for your soup and two days later add sauteed onion, fresh chopped parsley and dill, toasted pine nuts, chickpeas, and a squeeze of lemon and you have a perfect side dish!

Vegetable soup with roasted butternut squash and chickpea quinoa