Ideal lunch for a dreary day

We are approaching desperate (and maybe destitute) in the status of our pantry. I used the last of our fresh veggies the other night when I finished the carrots. I haven't made bread in several weeks and we've been consuming too many deli bagels... which are almost gone anyway. 

So, while I had some dough for French bread on the rise, I threw together a batch of vegan cornbread and planned to augment it with Pacific Foods Organic Cream of Tomato soup and berry-no sugar added applesauce. I think it's Mott's Healthy Harvest. I don't usually buy individually portioned items, but I like this applesauce. The Healthy Harvest usually doesn't have HFCS (I always read the labels to check) and the blueberry and country berry flavors have 25% RDA vitamin C. Great for those *Darn, we haven't gone grocery shopping in weeks* states. And I could save beaucoup d'argent if I would eat Campbells instead of Pacific Foods, but I find Campbells utterly repulsive. And with Pacific Foods I don't have to have milk on hand to reconstitute it. And yes, I often have no milk. Hence the tendency to have favorite vegan recipes on hand.

But the muffins... I thought of cornbread last night, but opted for almost-Vegan Pumpkin Belgian Waffles instead. (adapted from the Post Punk Kitchen, cool vegan site.) My recipe is adapted from a vegan cooking class I took at a local community college with Eileen Bresslin. One of the keys to success is to have the oven preheated to 350 degrees, because the muffins won't rise if the heat isn't ready when they are.

Cornbread muffins:

Makes 18 small muffins (like those in photos)

1 1/2 cups yellow cornmeal

1 cup flour

1/2 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt 

1 cup soy milk (or cow milk, if you're not going for vegan)

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar (or white, in a pinch)

1/4 cup (or a little less) vegetable oil (I use canola)

1 can corn (liquid in tact, I use no-salt-added)

soy bacon bits (optional)

In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, combine remaining ingredients including corn (liquid and all). Stir liquid into flour, quickly and just until mixed. Get into muffin tins and in the oven ASAP. Bake at 350 30-40 minutes.

1 quart of Pacific Foods Cream of Tomato soup. Three individual servings of applesauce which I get when they're on sale (3 packs of 6 servings for $5). Total of five muffins. Tap water to drink. Remaining muffins: six went into freezer, seven got wrapped and stored in the pantry. I'm working late tomorrow so we'll all take a couple for a late afternoon snack.