Meal Planner

Quick Reference

Core Rules

1. Check Memory First

Before any meal planning, read ~/meal-planner/memory.md for:

• Dietary restrictions and allergies (critical for safety)
• Household composition (adults, kids, guests)
• Cooking skill level and time constraints
• Budget targets and preferences
• Cuisine preferences and dislikes

2. Meal Planning Lifecycle

3. Weekly Planning Rhythm

When user asks to plan meals:

• Check inventory first (avoid buying duplicates)
• Balance nutrition across the week
• Cluster similar ingredients (reduce waste)
• Plan leftovers strategically (cook once, eat twice)
• Leave 1-2 flex slots for spontaneity or eating out

4. Shopping List Generation

For each shopping trip:

## Shopping List — YYYY-MM-DD

### Produce
- [ ] Onions (3) — Mon stir-fry, Wed soup
- [ ] Spinach (1 bag) — Tue smoothie, Thu salad

### Proteins
- [ ] Chicken breast (1.5 lb) — Mon, Wed meals

### Pantry (only if low)
- [ ] Olive oil — check inventory first

**Budget estimate:** $XX
**Store suggestions:** [based on preferences]

Link items to meals so user knows why they're buying each thing.

5. Dietary Safety

For any dietary restrictions or allergies:

• Flag incompatible recipes BEFORE suggesting
• Check ingredient lists thoroughly
• Suggest substitutions when possible
• Never assume "a little bit is fine"
• Mark severity: preference vs. intolerance vs. allergy (life-threatening)

6. Household Coordination

When cooking for multiple people:

• Track individual restrictions per person
• Note kid-friendly vs. adult portions
• Plan meals everyone can eat (or easy modifications)
• Track who likes what (reduce "I don't want that" moments)

7. Budget Optimization

Weekly Plan Format

# Week YYYY-WXX

## Overview
- Budget target: $XXX
- Dietary focus: [any theme]
- Special events: [guests, holidays]

## Monday
**Breakfast:** [meal] | Prep: X min
**Lunch:** [meal] | Prep: X min
**Dinner:** [meal] | Prep: X min | Recipe: `recipes/meal.md`

## Tuesday
...

## Batch Prep (Sunday)
- [ ] Cook rice for Mon/Tue/Wed
- [ ] Chop vegetables for week
- [ ] Marinate Thu chicken

## Shopping Needed
[Auto-generated from meals above]

Recipe Format

# {Recipe Name}

**Time:** Prep X min | Cook Y min
**Serves:** X (easily doubled)
**Difficulty:** Easy | Medium | Advanced
**Dietary:** vegetarian, gluten-free, etc.

## Ingredients
- X cups ingredient — substitute: [alt]
- Y tbsp ingredient

## Instructions
1. Step one
2. Step two

## Notes
- Pairs well with: [sides]
- Storage: X days fridge, Y months freezer
- Kid modification: [if applicable]

## History
- YYYY-MM-DD: Made it, family loved it
- YYYY-MM-DD: Added more garlic next time

Inventory Management

Proactively ask about inventory updates:

• After shopping trips: "Want to update what you bought?"
• When planning: "Checking pantry — last update was X days ago"
• For staples: track approximate quantities (full, half, low, out)

## Pantry — Updated YYYY-MM-DD

### Grains & Pasta
| Item | Status | Notes |
|------|--------|-------|
| Rice | Full | 5 lb bag |
| Pasta | Half | |

### Canned Goods
...

### Spices
...

Common Traps

• Planning without checking inventory → duplicate purchases, waste
• Overambitious meal plans → exhaustion, ordering takeout
• Ignoring prep time → not just cook time, total time matters
• Same proteins all week → meal fatigue, nutrition gaps
• No flex meals → rigid plans break under real life
• Forgetting leftovers → food waste
• Not tracking what worked → repeating failures

Security & Privacy

Data that stays local:

• All meal plans, recipes, shopping lists stored in ~/meal-planner/
• Dietary restrictions and household info in ~/meal-planner/memory.md
• No cloud sync, no external services

This skill does NOT:

• Send any data to external servers
• Access health apps or fitness trackers
• Store payment information
• Read files outside ~/meal-planner/

User consent:

• Files created only when user engages with meal planning
• User can view/edit all stored data directly (plain markdown)
• User can delete ~/meal-planner/ at any time to remove all data

Scope

This skill ONLY:

• Manages meal planning in ~/meal-planner/
• Reads/writes markdown files for plans, recipes, shopping
• Suggests based on preferences and inventory

This skill NEVER:

• Orders groceries (provides list for user to order)
• Accesses health apps or fitness trackers
• Stores payment information
• Reads files outside ~/meal-planner/
• Provides medical nutrition advice (refer to dietitian for health conditions)

Related Skills

Install with clawhub install <slug> if user confirms:

• grocery — detailed grocery management
• cooking — cooking techniques and tips
• nutrition — nutritional tracking and analysis
• recipe — recipe discovery and management
• daily-planner — daily task management

Feedback

• If useful: clawhub star meal-planner
• Stay updated: clawhub sync