5-Day Meal Plan Recap + Grocery List

A 5-day easy, healthy, vegetarian meal plan, plus grocery list. Perfect for weeknights and busy schedules. Vegan and gluten free options.

As promised, here’s a recap of the 5-day meal plan that I posted this past week. First things first, why did I all of a sudden meal plan for 5 days (and never before? ha ha). Well, I’ve had the idea for some time, but like many things, it hit the back burner. With the launch of our new meal journal, I thought: “Welp, now’s the time!” There’s a concept that I touch on in our cookbook… I call it “cooking backward” and it differs from many other meal planning approaches. You see, I’m not a person who plans, organizes,…

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Curried Cauliflower Soup

This curried cauliflower soup is made with just 9 ingredients and comes together in a few simple steps. It's destined for your regular meal rotation!

Today is the last day of my 5-part meal plan, and it’s a good one! I love this curried cauliflower soup! It’s so darn simple to make and it’s so delicious with the curry spices. There’s a little kick from the cayenne and some brightness from the lemon. The ingredient list is short, so this is definitely a recipe that’s bound for the regular meal rotation… and it came about so unexpectedly. See, I started the this meal plan series last week with a set amount of groceries and ideas for 5 meals, each meal using the ingredients from the…

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Orecchiette Pasta with Broccoli

This vibrant orecchiette pasta uses 10 ingredients and takes 30 minutes to make. Pesto & a dash of white wine make it a delicious weeknight go-to.

Welcome to Day 4 of my meal plan week, where we’re making orecchiette pasta! In case you haven’t been following, here are Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3. This week, I’m posting easy real-life meals where each one leads into the next, making cook/prep time a breeze. This is the way I love to cook – it’s fun, it’s flexible, and I hope it helps inspire your own meal planning. And speaking of meal planning, here’s a shameless plug for our new meal journal, The Love & Lemons Meal Record & Market List, which is a handy tool to help you…

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Quinoa & Kale Veggie Quesadillas

Veggie quesadillas are one of my go-to weeknight dinners, and I love this kale & quinoa version. Don't skip the tomatillo salsa for dipping!

Aaaand meal planning week continues on Day 3 with these Quinoa Kale Veggie Quesadillas. Just to recap, I’m trying something new this week where I’m posting easy real-life meals in the order that we actually eat them. What does this mean? I went to the grocery store at the beginning of the week, I prepped a few components while making dinner on day 1, and I’ve been using those components and leftovers from the prior meal to make a different meal each day. One meal leads into the next, which makes cook/prep time a breeze. These meals are not culinary…

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Kale Quinoa Salad with Pesto

Use your favorite roasted veggies & grains in this easy kale quinoa salad, or make it as Day 2 of our 5-day meal plan with leftovers from Day 1!

Hi, and welcome to my week of meal planning: Day 2! In case you missed yesterday’s post, here’s what’s happening: I started with one base meal – yesterday’s Mean Green Grain Bowls. For 5 days I’ll be making a new meal each day using those base ingredients and components. So you’re basically seeing our real-life dinner, day to day. These recipes are very simple, but this is how we eat in real life – and I thought it would be fun to share that! So here’s today’s: an easy Big Green Kale Quinoa Salad! Something I love to do with leftovers…

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Roasted Veggie Grain Bowl

This grain bowl recipe checks all the boxes: it has plant-based protein, lots of veggies, a vibrant sauce, and a scoop of sauerkraut for pop!

This grain bowl recipe is Day 1 of a meal planning week here on Love and Lemons! Why? Well first and foremost, it’s because our meal planning journal, The Love & Lemons Meal Record and Market List, is out today! If you missed my post last week, click here to read all about it. If you haven’t pre-ordered one, click here to get one now! When I write about meal prep or making quick, easy dinners throughout the week, I often suggest cooking components on Sundays in big batches. I like this approach, but this week I’m doing something a…

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The Love & Lemons Meal Record & Market List

The Love & Lemons Meal Record and Market List is the prettiest meal planning journal you've ever seen! Plan your meals, grocery lists, and social events!

Meet the newest member of our L&L family: The Love & Lemons Meal Record and Market List! Also known as the prettiest meal planning journal you’ve ever seen (of course I’m biased). This is for all of you who LOVE to meal plan… and also for those of you who think you might want to start meal planning (raising my hand), but were just waiting for the perfect pretty book, with letter-pressed type on the front, to record all of your wonderful plans and goals. When you open up the hardcover case, it looks like this (below). The pocket on…

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Creamy Vegan Pasta Bake with Brussels Sprouts

The secret to this vegan pasta bake is a velvety, savory almond-miso sauce that creates a creamy coating for the veggies and pasta.

Happy first week of spring! With summer on the horizon, at least in my still-Austin-based mindset, I really want to be making lighter and brighter food. But then I’m reminded that it still snowed here last week. Sooooo… a creamy pasta bake it is! This veggie-ful dish is hearty yet cheese-less – it won’t weigh you down, but it will fill you up! Instead of a bunch of cheese and cream, I used my secret creamy blender sauce: almonds, Almond Breeze almondmilk, white miso paste, garlic, lemon juice for tang, and a bit of Dijon mustard for the depth you…

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Kale Pesto Mushroom Pistachio Bowls

Tangy balsamic mushrooms, quinoa, chickpeas & a bright kale pesto top these yummy bowls. Easy & healthy, they're weeknight dinner perfection.

Last August, we decided to move to Chicago. When we first walked around what would become our new neighborhood, it was sunny, warm, children were playing, and the birds were singing. It was pretty hard to picture the snowy cold weather that would only be a few months away. I grew up in Chicago, but the dreamer in me still thought “maybe this year it won’t be cold.” As the fall weather started to become winter weather, the realist in me spoke up and said, “It’s Chicago. We’re going to hole up in this house, cook all winter, and order…

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Chocolate Zucchini Cake

This chocolate zucchini cake recipe is the ULTIMATE summertime treat! It's moist, fudgy, and decadent, with a rich dark chocolate flavor.

When your garden (or your fridge) is overflowing with zucchini, there’s no better way to use it than by making this chocolate zucchini cake. It’s a recipe I make every summer, when I’ve already had zucchini noodles, zucchini chips, and zucchini salad, and something really decadent sounds like it would hit the spot. This chocolate zucchini cake is moist and delicious, with a rich chocolate flavor that I can’t get enough of. It’s wonderful on its own, but I like it best with a thick layer of frosting on top. If you want to lean into the green theme, you…

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Cauliflower Rice Kimchi Bowls

Bowls of cauliflower rice topped with tofu, veggies, kimchi, and creamy coconut sauce make a fun, healthy weeknight dinner. Vegan & gluten free.

You probably already know about my love for cauliflower rice by now, but something I’ve never posted about are kimchi bowls… or kimchi anything for that matter because for awhile I thought it was an ingredient that would be difficult to find. But I see it everywhere now, so here we go, let’s bowl! Whenever I need a reset or just a well-rounded meal, I love bowls that are balanced with greens, veggies, a protein like tofu (or tempeh), avocado, and something fermented. When I’m building this type of bowl I often go for sauerkraut or pickled ginger in a…

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A food blog with fresh, zesty recipes.
Photograph of Jeanine Donofrio and Jack Mathews in their kitchen

Hello, we're Jeanine and Jack.

We love to eat, travel, cook, and eat some more! We create & photograph vegetarian recipes from our home in Chicago, while our shiba pups eat the kale stems that fall on the kitchen floor.