The "Cook Once, Eat Twice" 7-Day Vegetarian Template for Real Life

Let’s be honest: most “7-day meal plans” look great on Pinterest and fall apart by Wednesday.

Real life has:

• late meetings,
• kids, partners, social stuff,
• days when you open the fridge and just stare.

So instead of giving you a rigid list like
“Monday: ½ cup of this, ¼ cup of that, no fun allowed,”
I want to give you something much more powerful:

A template. A formula. A way to build your own Smart Week without living in the kitchen.

Our motto here is simple:

Cook once. Eat twice. Never feel like you’re on a diet.

This is a lacto-ovo vegetarian template (eggs and dairy are in, meat/fish are out), but the real focus is not on labels. It’s on feeling:

• fed,
• satisfied,
• and not obsessed with food all day.

Step 1: The Breakfast Formula

Protein + Complex Carbs (+ Optional Fruit or Fat)

Breakfast is your “autopilot” meal. The less you have to think, the better.

The idea: pick 1–2 favorite options, and repeat them.
If it helps, prep in batches so your future self says “thank you” every morning.

Formula:

• Protein source (yogurt, eggs, cottage cheese, tofu)
• Complex carb (oats, wholegrain bread, muesli)
• optional fruit or fat (berries, banana, avocado, nut butter).

Examples:

Overnight Oats Trio

1. Mix oats, Greek yogurt, a bit of milk, chia seeds.
2. Make 3 jars on Sunday night.
3. In the morning just add berries and a spoon of nut butter.

Savoury Toast Plate

1. 2 slices of sourdough or wholegrain bread, toasted.
2. 2 scrambled eggs or crumbled tofu.
3. ½ avocado on top, plus cherry tomatoes and a drizzle of olive oil.

Cottage Cheese Bowl

• Cottage cheese or quark.
• 1 piece of fruit (apple, pear, berries, peach).
• A small handful of nuts on top for crunch.

No tiny yogurts with three sad spoonfuls.
Breakfast should feel like a meal, not a “snack before the real food”.

Step 2: The Lunch Formula

The Easiest Meal of the Day

Here’s the rule that saves my sanity:

On weekdays, lunch is leftovers. Full stop.

You do not cook lunch from scratch Monday to Friday.
Lunch is simply: “What did we eat last night?” put into a bowl or lunchbox.

Formula:

Leftover protein + leftover veggies + (optional) extra carb if you need more energy.

Examples:

• Last night’s lentil chili reheated + a slice of bread.
• Roasted veggies from yesterday + chickpeas + some feta.
• Cold pasta from dinner turned into a quick salad with extra veggies.

If your future self is going to eat leftovers, your present self just needs to do one thing at dinner:

Always cook 1.5–2× what you need for the evening.
Half now, half tomorrow.

That’s it. That’s the strategy.

Step 3: The Dinner Formula

Your Main Cooking Event

Dinner is the only meal where you actually cook on purpose.

Formula:

• Protein source (lentils, beans, tofu, eggs, cheese)
• Lots of veggies
• optional carb (rice, potatoes, pasta, bread) depending on hunger and activity.

We build the week around a few “anchor dinners”:

Example Smart Week Dinners

Monday & Tuesday – Big Pot Night

• Make a big pot of lentil chili or vegetable curry with chickpeas.
• Eat it with rice or bread on Monday.
• Reheat on Tuesday for dinner or lunch.

Wednesday & Thursday – Tray-Bake Night

• Fill a baking tray with potatoes, carrots, onions, broccoli or Brussels sprouts.
• Toss with olive oil, salt, pepper, herbs.
• Add chickpeas or tofu cubes right on the tray.
• Half for tonight, half for tomorrow’s lunch.

Friday – Freestyle Friday

• Option 1: wholewheat pasta with a quick tomato or creamy mushroom sauce, plus some cheese.
• Option 2: order in something that actually fits your values (vegetarian pizza, veggie bowl, etc.) and eat it without guilt. This is part of the plan, not a “fail”.

Weekend – Flexible & Social

Use the same formula, but make it more fun:

• Veggie burgers with roasted potatoes and salad.
• Shakshuka (eggs in tomato sauce) with bread.
• Big salad with halloumi, beans, and toasted bread on the side.

You’re still following the template, just with more room for people, plans, and spontaneity.

Step 4: The Smart Snack Formula

Protein First, No “Sad Apple Only” Energy Crashes

Snacks are not punishment between meals.
They’re there to stop the “I’m starving, give me everything” moment at 5 p.m.

Formula:

Protein + (Fiber or Fat)

Examples:

• Greek yogurt with berries.
• Apple + a small handful of almonds.
• Cottage cheese with sliced cucumber or cherry tomatoes.
• Hummus with crackers or vegetable sticks.
• A latte + a piece of dark chocolate.

The goal is simple:
You eat a snack and feel calmer, not more obsessed with food.

Step 5: Soul Food & Permission Built In

This is where we step away from the diet world completely.

I don’t want you “being good” all week and then “ruining everything” with two cookies. That story is boring and false.

Instead, we plan soul food on purpose:

2–3 times a week, eat something just because you love it. And call it part of the plan.

Ideas:

• A piece of really good chocolate after dinner.
• Your favorite bakery cookie with coffee.
• A scoop of ice cream on the weekend.

No “cheat days.” No drama. Just being a human who enjoys food.

Step 6: The Emergency Dinner

There will be nights when everything falls apart.
You’re tired, hungry, annoyed, and the only thing your brain can think of is delivery.

That’s where Emergency Dinner comes in.

The rule:

Always keep one freezer option and one cupboard option that can become dinner in 10 minutes.

Examples:

Freezer combo: frozen mixed vegetables + frozen edamame or peas.

• Throw them into a pan with olive oil and garlic.
• Add soy sauce or tomato sauce, eat with toast or rice.

Cupboard combo: a can of chickpeas + a jar of tomato sauce.

• Heat them together with spices.
• Eat over pasta or with bread and some cheese.

Is it fancy? No.
Does it save you from random pizza 3 times a week? Absolutely.

And sometimes you will still order the pizza.
That doesn’t break the system. The all-or-nothing mindset does.

How This Becomes Your 7-Day Plan

So instead of:

“Day 1: eat exactly this. Day 2: eat exactly that.”

You get:

• One breakfast you love on repeat.
• Leftovers as your default lunch.
• 3–4 anchor dinners you rotate through.
• Smart snacks so you’re not starving.
• Soul food and emergency options built in.

You’re not chasing perfection.
You’re building a rhythm.

That’s the Smart Week Template:

Science-backed for your body. Human-proofed for your real life.