“What’s for dinner?” — the question that drives us all crazy!
I used to spend hours each week deciding what to cook, finding recipes, and writing messy shopping lists I’d forget at home.
Now, AI helps me plan a week’s worth of meals — and the grocery list basically writes itself.
If you’re ready to ditch last-minute takeout and endless grocery runs, here’s how I do it.
Step 1: Use AI to Pick Recipes
I start by asking ChatGPT for recipes based on what I already have in my fridge — or what’s in season.
For example, I’ll say:
“Give me 5 easy dinner ideas with chicken, rice, and broccoli.”
In seconds, I get a list of balanced, realistic meals that actually match my tastes.
Step 2: Generate a Weekly Meal Plan
Next, I ask for a 7-day meal plan.
I’ll add special requests like “low carb lunches” or “one vegetarian dinner.”
I can even add budget constraints: “Meals under $5 per serving.”
The AI gives me breakfast, lunch, dinner — and sometimes snacks — with prep times and portion sizes.
Step 3: Make the Grocery List
This is the magic part: I ask AI to turn the meal plan into a consolidated shopping list.
It groups items by category — produce, dairy, pantry — so shopping is quick and organized.
No more wandering aimlessly down every aisle.
Step 4: Adapt, Don’t Stress
I treat the plan as flexible, not rigid.
If I don’t feel like cooking one night, I just swap meals around.
Having the plan and the ingredients ready makes it so much easier to stick to healthy, affordable eating.
Bonus: Less Food Waste
One of the best perks?
I buy exactly what I need — no more wilted veggies or mystery containers in the fridge.
It saves money and feels good to waste less food.
Ready to Try It?
Whether you’re feeding a family, cooking for one, or meal prepping for fitness goals, AI can help you plan smarter.
Give it a try this week — you might be amazed at how much time and mental energy you get back.
Do You Meal Plan?
I’d love to hear your best hacks for saving time in the kitchen.
Have you tried AI tools for meal planning yet?
Share your tips in the comments!
i used to be a part of a community on livejournal way back when where people just posted their grocery lists. no photos, no meal plans.. just a simple, text grocery list.. and i loved it! :D so i'm going to bring it back here on my little blog.
i'm vegetarian and gluten free, but my family isn't, so this trip to trader joe's was mostly to get some things for them.
Trigger warning: PTSD, grocery shopping, crowds, anxiety, abusive marriage (not you and Steve), fluff.
Summary: Steve goes grocery shopping for the first time since getting out of the ice. You help him navigate the modern supermarket.
Steve wakes up on this warm Monday morning, He turns on his coffee maker, and then heads to the bedroom. He grabs his jeans and a sweater. He brushes his teeth, and then showers.
Today, he has to go grocery shopping. Steve has no milk, no eggs, no coffee after this pot, no creamer, and has only two slices of bread. Steve prepares himself some oatmeal, and toasts the last two slices of bread. When the toast pops, he slathers the slices with butter and some grape jelly. When his oatmeal is ready, he puts on some blueberries and bananas and eats his breakfast.
He then makes his list. You're still sleeping, so it will be a while before you wake up. Steve doesn't like going to the grocery store, he remembered when he used to get his groceries delivered. He remembers when his mother would go to the corner market to get things such as coffee, tea, sugar, flour, soap, and cans of soup. He remembers when his mother would go to the butcher and get things such as beef, pork, and chicken when the food budget would allow for such things.
You wake up, brush your teeth, wash your face, and then shower. You make instant pancakes and some instant sausage in the microwave, and put butter and syrup on the pancakes. You eat your breakfast, and drink your coffee. Your wearing a black skirt and a red blouse. You also need to do your grocery shopping, but that's going to have to wait until after work.
You meet Steve at the elevators and greet each other with a kiss. You and Steve have only been dating for a few months, and
"Good morning, doll," Steve says.
"Good morning, Captain Handsome," you say.
You two talk about your plans for the day, and since you both need to go grocery shopping, you two would make a date out of it. You two were holding hands while you were walking and talking on your way to the meeting room.
You and Steve go to the meeting to discuss the latest mission. You make the coffee, both regular and decaf, and you get the donuts and various other breakfast pastries. Steve is helping you set up the meeting room, and Nick Fury and Phil Coulson walk in,
Tony was discussing the latest mission, in which several hostages were taken. What was supposed to be two days max took four days because they were trying to free the hostages while dealing with Hydra agents. Of course, every mission was followed by a meeting, and Tony and Nick and Coulson needed to know why this mission, even short, took longer than expected.
After that, you and Steve went to lunch in the cafeteria, and talked while you were on your way to the cafeteria. Steve had his arm around your shoulders and kissed your forehead. You were holding onto his arm.
You two talk and eat your lunch. Steve goes back to his apartment, and fixes himself a cup of coffee and reads his book. You go back to Tony, and finish up your work. You finish making the copies and type of a summary of the meeting to e-mail to Tony, Nick, and Coulson. You leave when you're done.
When you arrive home, you call Steve and make your grocery list.
"Well, Captain Handsome, I can't wait to go grocery shopping," you say.
"I really don't know what I'm doing, where I'm going. The modern supermarket confuses me," says Steve.
"Look, when we go, there will be less people. Before, we'll get some Chinese. It's my ritual before I go grocery shopping," you say.
Steve and you talk some more. He's been curious about Chinese food, and has yet to try modern Chinese food. When he was growing up, there was only a few things on the menu to choose from.
Steve comes over, and greets you with a kiss. You two talk, and you're wearing your black jeans with your Docs, and a sweater.
"What's Wor Su Gai?" asks Steve when you two arrive at the Chinese restaurant and looks at the menu.
"It's Almond Boneless Chicken," you explain.
"The sweet and sour chicken sounds interesting," says Steve.
You two place your order, and you both talk while you're both waiting for you meal. You two share off of each others plates, and you both steal a kiss while you both are eating. You go to pay, but Steve insists on paying.
This chicken soo guy recipe was given to me by my Aunt, when I was a child introduced me to Chinese cuisine. The almond flakes mix wonderful
Steve hails a taxi, and you guys go to the grocery store. You both start on the pharmacy end of the store, and Steve gets some toothpaste, a toothbrush, some deodorant, and some soap. You get your favorite Cover Girl mascara, some body wash, some tampons, and some chap stick. Steve is amazed at the choices that are out there.
You then get some flavored creamer, and Steve is not only amazed by the brands, he's amazed by the flavors.
"Steve, it's just creamer. It's not going to bite you," you say.
'Doll, where is the half and half?" asks Steve.
"Try the dairy case, it's usually in there," you say.
Steve grabs the half and half, and looks at the price.
"I don't remember it being THAT much," Steve says.
"Steve, prices have gone way up thanks to several decades of inflation," you say.
You hear a loud noise, and start to feel the walls closing in. You immediately feel your heart rate rise. You start to feel shortness of breath, and you feel dizzy. Steve asks if your okay, and he immediately sees that your not. Steve guides you to the ground, and tells you that you're okay.
"Can you tell me five things you see?" asks Steve. You name five things you see.
"Can you name four things that you can touch?" asks Steve. You name four things that you can touch.
"Can you name three things that you can hear?" asks Steve. You name three things that you can hear.
"Can you name two things that you can smell?" asks Steve. You name the two things that you can smell.
"Can you name one thing you can taste?" asks Steve. You name the one thing that you can taste.
A small crowd has gathered, and Steve's PTSD is triggered by that. He just wants you to be okay. Steve doesn't really like crowds, and hearing the noise of a man yelling at his wife also triggered his PTSD. Any loud noise triggered it, and Steve was trying to keep himself together for you.
Steve instinctively ran towards the noise. It's a man who is screaming at his wife for not putting an item on the list, and then misspelling a word on the list. He's screaming and belittling her, and you're having a flashback from the time you were in an abusive relationship. That triggered your PTSD.
You're still sitting on the ground, hugging your knees, and trying to self-soothe. Tears are stinging your eyes, and you are now shaking and you don't even realize that your body is now having a reaction. With shaky hands, you try to reach for your purse to take a Valium, only you can't seem to unzip your purse.
"Oh, doll. This isn't about you. This is about him," says Steve, who has his arms wrapped around you, and pulls you close to him. Steve helps you unzip your purse, and gives you the pill bottle. You take the pill, and Steve let's you take a sip of water from the small water bottle that you keep in your purse.
Steve helps you up when you feel like you can. You grasp onto your cart, and standing feels strange right now. Steve holds you until the feeling passes.
"Steve, I'm sorry. I....I....I....," you say.
"Shh, doll. This is about him," says Steve.
You realized that it was this wasn't your abusive ex. After the Avengers confronted your ex, they helped get him jail. It took a while just to go out to do simple tasks. At first, you could barely make it out the front door without having an anxiety attack. Steve gave you time. Tony arranged for you to see a therapist. Sam was right, talking about what happened was the first step towards healing.
Steve was just there. He wouldn't let you go anywhere without him. Tony was making sure that you stuck to a normal routine at work. Natasha and Wanda and Pepper often had a girls night with you, where you guys would end it with a spa night and a sleepover. Everybody did their part in order to make you feel some sense of normalcy.
After, you and Steve head over to the produce and fruit section. You guys get the basics, and then it's off to the bakery section. You want to get some bread, and Steve got some cupcakes. Steve was amazed at the selection of cupcakes. There were only two flavors when he was growing up-chocolate and vanilla-but today, there's red velvet, coconut, mint chocolate, strawberry, lemon, key lime, Boston cream, s'mores, orange vanilla, pineapple, matcha, even mixed berry.
Next up is the bread aisle, and Steve is confused by all the breads available. His mother often made bread from scratch every day because sliced bread wasn't available until he turned 10. Even so, it was still cheaper to make bread from scratch, because sliced bread was expensive then. Steve was amazed at how cheap sliced bread was and the variety of sliced bread available. There was white bread, whole wheat, whole grain, bread with oatmeal on top, cinnamon raisin bread, hearty grain, Hawaiian bread, egg bread, potato bread, Italian bread, pumpernickel bread, rye bread, bread without the crusts, pita bread, and even pretzel bread.
You get some whole wheat and some white, and Steve gets two packages of white bread. You then move onto the meat section, and Steve is amazed. He gets some packaged bacon and packaged sausage, hamburgers, hot dogs, and some lunch meat. You get some meatballs, some ground beef and some ground turkey, some lunchmeat, and some hot dogs.
You then move on to the soup aisle, and you get several cans of soup. You get some tomato, some chicken noodle, some chicken tortilla, and even some lentil soup. Steve is looking for the Campbell's condensed version, which is still available. But, when he sees your carts with the Progesso soup, he asks what it is.
"Doll, what's that?" asks Steve.
"It's soup, Steve. You just open the can, pour it in a pot, and then let it simmer until it's hot. The water is already included, so it saves you a step," you say.
"How is this possible? And why does it cost this much?" says Steve.
"Its decades of inflation," you say. "Add competition into the mix, and that's what you get, companies competing for prime shelf space," you say.
"For decades, it was Campbell's. Now, Progresso has upped the canned soup game, there was competition. Add in gluten-free soups, soups made with organic ingredients, and soups that are low in sodium and soups that offer healthier options, that increases the competition for shelf space," you say.
Next up is the pasta aisle, and you buy some penne, some campanelle pasta, some spaghetti, and some macaroni. Steve is amazed that pasta is still cheap.
Steve also gets some rice, and he's amazed that rice can now come in individual sizes. You explain that you don't have to make a lot of it, when you just want a little of it. It's easier, and saves a bunch of time and clean up.
Next up is the baking aisle. Steve is amazed that there are boxed mixes of cakes, brownies, cookies, and even muffins. You explain that the mixes are just dry ingredients that have been mixed and measured for you, and you just add in the wet ingredients. You also explain that you only need one bowl to make it, and you just need to preheat the oven, pop it in, and let it bake. You still made your cookies and cakes from scratch.
Next up is the cereal aisle, and Steve gets some oatmeal. He's amazed at the selection of flavors, and that you don't have to buy a huge thing of it. You just add warm milk or boiling water, and Steve remembers when that's all him and his mom had to eat at times.
Steve goes to the coffee aisle, and gets his favorite brand of coffee. You get some, and he's amazed at the kinds of coffees that are available, he's also amazed that it's already ground. You explain that it's easier, and that this saves space, and saves time. There is still whole bean coffee available, but very few people own a coffee grinder nowadays. Most own a pot, or a Keurig. Steve is confused.
You explain that a Keurig is an individual coffee maker, but you need to buy the pods of coffee.
"Pods?" asks Steve.
"Yes, pods. It's easier, but they're expensive. Not everyone owns a Keurig. I own a $20 coffee maker, and I prefer it," you say.
Steve looks at you in amazement.
"Wait, you own a regular old coffee maker?" asks Steve. Steve owns one, too.
"Yes, it's just cheaper," you say.
You go to the cookie aisle, and get the store brand of Oreo's. Steve is confused at the prices, and you explain that the store brand tastes no different than the name brand. You and Steve go to the chip aisle, and he's amazed by the selection and the flavors. Steve had chips as a rare treat, but now it's an every day food. You explain that they're cheap, and it's a a cheap appetizer at parties. Chips are convenient when you have a sandwich, a hot dog, or a hamburger, you explain. Plus, there's low sodium, salt and vinegar, barbecue, sour cream and onion, sour cream and cheddar, kettle chips, ruffled chips, even tortilla chips. Steve has curious about Mexican food, and has always wanted to try tortilla chips.
"Chips?! We only had regular," Steve says.
Next up is the frozen foods, and you get some ice cream. Steve is amazed at the all of the flavor selections that isn't chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, and even mint chocolate chip.
"Wow, ice cream is expensive," says Steve.
"It really isn't when you factor in individual servings. Plus, competition between companies. The store brand has some really good flavors, and factor in lactose free, ice cream made from coconut milk and oat milk, almond milk, sugar-free ice cream, and even brands such as Graeter's and Haagan-Dazs, and Ben and Jerry's, ice cream makers are competing for space in the frozen food section. It's not about the product, it's about the brand," you say. Ice cream was a rare treat for Steve.
Next up is the frozen dinners, followed by the frozen pizza. Steve is amazed by all of these culinary revolutions. You explain that you can either make the frozen dinners in the microwave or in the oven. Most will just have microwave instructions, and there those such as Stouffer's or Banquet that will have oven instructions. You explain that frozen dinners became a thing when he was still frozen in the ice.
He looks at the pizza. He's confused by the pizza. You explain that frozen pizza is cheap, and that there are several brands. Each brand has improved upon quality.
You and Steve finish. You have everything in your carts. The cashier is scanning the purchase, and the bagger is bagging the groceries. He loads everything back in your cart, and you call for Tony. One of Tony's driver's arrives, and waits for you in the parking lot, in the line where they have cars waiting to pick up passengers, and shoppers getting into their taxis.
You wait for Steve. Steve is amazed that the cashier is scanning his groceries, and not entering them in by hand. The cashier explains that this way is much quicker, and the only things that get entered in by hand are items that are weighable. He might have to enter in a discount by hand at times, but that's rare.
The bagger bags Steve's groceries, and he's amazed that everything is placed in plastic bags. The bagger says that he'll still have a job in a year, it's just that everyone will now have to purchase reusable bags because it's a way to help the environment. Steve is amazed because he explains that the corner grocery store always used paper bags when he was growing up.
Steve is finally done, and Steve and you load your groceries into Tony's car. Tony's driver, Happy, gladly takes you both back to Stark Tower, and gets the available security guards to help you both take your groceries back to your apartments.
Happy also explains that you can arrange for a grocery delivery.
"Wait, we can have our groceries delivered?" asks Steve.
"Yeah, Tony has it available for all of his employees. I had to use it a few weeks ago when I had a migraine, and it was grocery day. You just put in for delivery on the store's site, and they'll take it from there," you explain. Steve remembers when his mom used to get their groceries delivered, and when Steve was in his teens, him and Bucky worked as delivery boys for the local grocery store.
You and Steve kiss, say your goodbyes, and you and Steve go back to your apartments to unpack your groceries. Steve then calls you to say good night, and you can't wait for tomorrow.
