This is the beginning of a series of articles on how to simply household tasks with the help of generative AI apps like ChatGPT to reduce stress and save time on chores so you can spend your time your way.

The never-ending struggle to come up with tasty and nutritious but quick and easy meals for the family is real. And constant. You don't need to scour recipe books, blogs or Pinterest: if you're time and energy-poor like most of us, ChatGPT or another generative AI can help you come up with a week's meal plan - or jumpstart your inspiration - quickly so that you can spend less time thinking about food and more time enjoying it with you household. 

If you find yourself intimidated by this new wave of generative artificial intelligence (AI) programs that have inundated the world, it's not just for the tech nerds and corporate world - generative AI is simplifying, educating and improving the every day life of individuals and families everywhere. And it's so much easier to use thna you think!

For example, with ChatGPT, you can create a personalized meal plan in minutes, catering to your family’s dietary needs and preferences. Say goodbye to last-minute dinner stress and hello to delicious, easy-to-make meals!

Why Use ChatGPT for Meal Planning?

Meal planning can be challenging, especially when catering to specific dietary restrictions. ChatGPT simplifies the process by generating meal plans and recipes tailored to your family’s or guests needs.

Here’s how you can plan a week of quick and easy dinners in a minute. I chose for a family of 3 and wanted to include some food restrictions so that it would represent a real-world scenario. For this family, I decided one member is gluten-free and another allergic to shellfish.

Creating a Weekly Meal Plan

Sign up to ChatGPT and in the chat bar at the bottom of the screen, simply type in, in your own words, something like the below:

Prompt: "Create a weekly meal plan with quick and easy dinner recipes for a family of three, where one person is gluten-free and another is allergic to shellfish."

Here's what it came back with for me from that request:

ChatGPT's response:

How easy was that? If you don't like a suggestion, ask it to replace it with something else and receive a new week of dinners immediately.

You can adjust your menu request, such as specifying in your prompt:

• foods you want to use (e.g. that you already have in your fridge or pantry) or enjoy a lot,
• make the meals, for example, low carb, or keto,
• detailed recipes with each meal plan or even a breakdown of portion calories and macros... whatever you require for your lifestyle!

Go ahead and talk to ChatGPT like a human, maybe even ask it to provide the most popular recipe for each dish!

Pro tip: In your prompt, ask ChatGPT to act as a master chef, or a nutritionist and see how the results might change.

Developing a Shopping List

It's one thing to have a meal plan prepared, but now you need the ingredients!

Continuing the same conversation in the same window - so that it remembers the information it has provided you already - type something like the below in the chat bar:

Prompt: "Create a shopping list for the above meals, with quantities, 3 servings needed for each meal."

ChatGPT's response:

I don't work in pounds and ounces, so would request it to repeat the shopping list using the metric system to receive quantities I could find with ease at my local supermarket.

Generative AI apps like ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, Llama, Claude and others can honestly put every day life chores and activities on easy mode. You can probably tell I'm a big fan.

Give it a go if you haven't already! What has been your experience? What are you finding it most helpful with?

I have created an ebook beginner's guide (with the help of ChatGPT!), ChatGPT for Parents & Household Management full of further tips and ideas for how to make AI work for you. Grab yours on Amazon.