Plan five days of meals and a $75 grocery list with ChatGPT
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- by Delish
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- How we verify
Evidence: Article or interviewA newsletter, journalist or interview account of what happened.
PartialThe source says it only partly worked, or had a significant problem a person had to deal with.
What went wrong: The list included five items she didn't need, and she found the meals repetitive.
Outcome
Delish's writer asked ChatGPT for Monday–Friday recipes (breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks) and a grocery list on a $75 budget with no tomatoes, peas or oats, then asked it to drop tofu. The list came to about $74.50, but she says it had her buy five items she didn't need, and by Wednesday the chicken-heavy meals felt repetitive; she decided the method wasn't for her.
Agent
Prompt Original prompt
Exact prompt as published in the source.
Create a grocery list and recipes (breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks) for Monday through Friday. Budget is $75. Do not include tomatoes, peas, or oats. Recipes should be fairly healthy and nutrient-dense. Thanks!
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Optional stronger version
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Run this task now, exactly as written below. Everything you need is here, so start straight away and only stop if something required is missing or a rule below tells you to. Goal: Plan a week of simple, healthy meals and one grocery list that stays under my budget and uses every item. Fill in before running: - Who's eating: [NUMBER OF PEOPLE, AGES] - Days and meals to cover: [e.g. Mon–Fri breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks] - Weekly budget: [AMOUNT] at [STORE] - Must avoid (allergies, dislikes): [LIST] - Max cooking time on weeknights: [MINUTES] - What's already in my pantry: [LIST] Rules: - Every grocery item must be used in at least one recipe; list which recipes use it. - Vary proteins and flavours across the week; no protein more than twice. - Give rough prices per item and a running total, labelled as estimates. - Leave out anything already in my pantry. - Check facts that can change (prices, opening hours, dates, availability, rules) against the official source, and tell me anything you couldn't verify. - Before giving the list, cross-check it against every recipe and remove anything unused. Output: A day-by-day meal table, short recipes with quantities, and a grocery list grouped by store section with estimated prices and total. You'll know it worked when: the total is under budget, nothing on the list goes unused, and no meal repeats the same protein back to back. Before you finish: re-read my goal and constraints, check your answer against each one, and list anything you assumed or couldn't confirm.
Source
https://www.delish.com/food-news/a64236165/ai-chatgpt-meal-plan-grocery-list/
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