Meal plan generator: a week of meals and one grocery list
Deciding what to cook every night is tiring, and a meal plan is only half the job without a shopping list. This prompt gets your todo.is agent to plan a week around your diet and budget, reuse ingredients so little goes to waste, and give you one grocery list sorted by aisle.
The prompt
- Make a 7-day meal plan for [NUMBER OF PEOPLE] with [MEALS TO PLAN]. Diet and allergies: [DIET AND ALLERGIES]. Foods we don’t like: [FOODS TO AVOID]. Our weekly food budget is about [WEEKLY BUDGET]. Keep weeknight dinners under [MAX COOKING TIME] minutes, reuse ingredients across the week so little goes to waste, and cook a double batch twice for leftovers. Give me an Excel file with the plan on one sheet, a grocery list grouped by supermarket section with quantities on another, and short recipes on a third. Email it to me.
What to change
- [NUMBER OF PEOPLE]: E.g. "2 adults and 1 child (6)". Ages help with portion sizes.
- [MEALS TO PLAN]: E.g. "dinners only", or "breakfast, lunch and dinner".
- [DIET AND ALLERGIES]: E.g. "vegetarian, nut allergy", "high protein", "halal". Write "none" if there are none.
- [FOODS TO AVOID]: Things people won’t eat, e.g. "mushrooms, olives".
- [WEEKLY BUDGET]: An amount and currency, e.g. "$120". Your agent keeps the plan simple if the budget is tight.
- [MAX COOKING TIME]: Minutes you’re happy to spend on a weeknight, e.g. 30.
Example result
- Week plan: 2 adults, vegetarian, about $90
- Dinners under 30 minutes · leftovers become lunch on Tuesday and Thursday
- Dinners
- • Mon: Chickpea and spinach curry with rice (double batch)
- • Tue: Leftover curry for lunch · Dinner: Black bean tacos with quick pickled onion
- • Wed: Lemon orzo with peas, feta and herbs
- • Thu: Leftover orzo salad for lunch · Dinner: Tofu and broccoli stir-fry (double batch)
- • Fri: Homemade flatbread pizzas with peppers and mozzarella
- • Sat: Shakshuka with crusty bread
- • Sun: Lentil and vegetable soup, freeze 2 portions
- Grocery list
- Produce
- • Spinach, 300 g · Broccoli, 2 heads · Red onions, 3 · Peppers, 3 · Lemons, 2 · Fresh parsley, 1 bunch
- Pantry
- • Chickpeas, 2 cans · Black beans, 1 can · Red lentils, 400 g · Orzo, 500 g · Basmati rice, 500 g · Chopped tomatoes, 3 cans
- Fridge
- • Firm tofu, 400 g · Feta, 200 g · Mozzarella, 250 g · Eggs, 6
- Bakery
- • Tortillas, 8 · Flatbreads, 4 · Crusty loaf, 1
- How ingredients are shared
- • Red onion goes into the tacos, shakshuka and soup
- • Peppers are used in the stir-fry, pizzas and shakshuka
- • One bunch of parsley covers the orzo, shakshuka and soup
- Prep on Sunday (40 minutes)
- • Cook the rice and pickle the onions
- • Chop the peppers and onions for the first three days
How to do it with todo.is
- Copy the prompt and fill in your household, diet, budget and cooking time.
- Send it to your agent on WhatsApp or Telegram, or paste it on the Today screen in todo.is.
- You get an Excel file with the week’s plan, the grocery list and short recipes, emailed to you.
- Make it recurring: "send me a new plan every Saturday morning, and don’t repeat last week’s meals".
Tips
- List what’s already in your fridge and freezer, and ask your agent to use it up first.
- Your agent remembers your diet and dislikes, so next week "same rules, new meals" is enough.
- Ask for the grocery list in your supermarket’s language and units (grams or cups).
- If you have a target, add "about 2,000 kcal and 120 g protein a day" and ask for numbers per meal.
FAQ
- Can it plan for a medical diet? It can follow rules you give it, such as low salt or gluten free. For diabetes, kidney disease, pregnancy or any medical diet, check the plan with your doctor or a registered dietitian.
- Are the calorie numbers exact? No. They are estimates based on typical ingredient values, good for a rough guide but not precise.
- Can it order the groceries for me? It won’t pay for anything. You get the list, and you can shop in store or paste it into your grocery app.
- Can I get the grocery list on my phone? Yes. Ask your agent to send the list as a WhatsApp or Telegram message as well as the Excel file.
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