Weekly menu: how to create a meal plan with preferences and time
The 'Weekly menu' tool helps create a weekly meal plan with your preferences, restrictions and available cooking time. It is a text generator: you fill in three fields, press Generate and get a ready-made menu as plain text. Important: the tool does not provide medical or dietary recommendations and does not replace specialist consultation. This guide walks through the workflow with a specific example, shows how to check the result and what the tool's limitations are.
Open tool: Meal planner ↗What the tool does and what it is suitable for
'Weekly menu' is a web form with three text fields: 'Preferences and restrictions', 'People or portions' and 'Available time'. You describe your conditions in plain text, select the output language and press 'Generate'. The tool returns one result in a separate panel, which you can copy or download as a plain text TXT file. There are no sliders, style presets or levels of changes here — only text on input and text on output.
The tool is suitable for everyday planning: when you need to quickly sketch a weekly menu so you don't have to think every day what to cook. It takes into account your restrictions (e.g., vegetarianism, absence of certain foods, disliked dishes) and available time. However, it does not calculate calories, does not check nutritional value and does not guarantee balanced nutrition. This is a draft that you adapt to yourself.
Important: the tool is not a medical or dietary advisor. If you have diseases, allergies or special dietary requirements related to health, use it only as an auxiliary tool for ideas and definitely consult a specialist.
Example request: 'Vegetarian dinners for two adults, 30 minutes cooking time, no mushrooms and nuts'.
How to correctly fill in the input fields
The 'Preferences and restrictions' field is the most important. Describe what you love, what you don't eat, which products to exclude, if there are allergies. The more specific, the better the result. For example: 'No meat, no milk, I don't like broccoli, I like pasta and rice'. Do not write too general phrases like 'healthy eating' — the tool does not know what you mean. Maximum length of this field is 8000 characters, but usually 200–500 is enough.
The 'People or portions' field indicates how many people or portions the menu is planned for. You can write 'two adults', 'family of four', 'one portion for dinner'. This affects the quantity of ingredients and the volume of dishes. If you are cooking for several days, specify this: 'two adults, cooking for 2 days ahead'.
The 'Available time' field sets a constraint on the time allocated for cooking. Specify how many minutes per day you are willing to spend: '30 minutes for dinner', '1 hour for lunch and dinner', '15 minutes for breakfast'. The tool will try to select recipes within these frames. If you do not specify time, it may suggest longer dishes. Remember: the tool does not check whether the recipe actually fits into the specified time — it is an orientation, not a guarantee.
Filling out: Preferences: 'Vegetarian, no nuts, I like Italian cuisine'. People: '2 adults'. Time: '30 minutes for dinner'.
Step-by-step workflow on an example
Consider an example: two adults, vegetarians, dinner in 30 minutes, no mushrooms. Step 1: open the tool. Step 2: in the 'Preferences and restrictions' field enter: 'Vegetarian dishes, no mushrooms, no nuts, I like pasta, rice, vegetables'. Step 3: in the 'People or portions' field — '2 adults'. Step 4: in the 'Available time' field — '30 minutes for dinner'. Step 5: select the output language (Russian). Step 6: press 'Generate'.
The tool will return a menu for 7 days. Usually this is a list: day of the week, meal type, dish name and a brief description. For example: 'Monday: pasta with tomatoes and spinach (20 min)'. You can copy the text or download it as TXT. Note: the result may contain errors or inaccuracies, so it must be checked.
After receiving the menu review it: do all dishes meet your restrictions? Are there no mushrooms if you excluded them? Do the dishes fit into 30 minutes? If something does not suit, edit the request and generate again. The tool does not save history, so save a successful version manually.
Result (fragment): Monday — pasta with tomatoes and spinach (20 min). Tuesday — vegetable ragout with rice (25 min). Wednesday — lentil soup (30 min).
How to check the result and make corrections
Checking starts with restrictions: make sure there are no forbidden products in the menu. The tool may make mistakes, so do not rely on it blindly. If you excluded nuts, check if there are nut sauces or pasta. If you do not eat dairy, check if there is cheese or cream. Read dish descriptions carefully.
Second step — realism of time. The tool may suggest a dish that actually takes longer than the specified 30 minutes to prepare. Assess whether you can manage. If not, replace the dish with a simpler one or increase the time in the request. Remember: the tool does not know your skills and equipment.
Third step — variety. Check if the same dishes repeat too often. If yes, add a wish to the request: 'varied dinners, do not repeat dishes more than twice a week'. You can also ask to include more vegetables or legumes. If the result is not satisfactory, change the formulation and generate again.
Check: in the Wednesday menu 'mushroom soup' is indicated — this violates the restriction. Change the request: add 'no mushrooms' and generate again.
Tool limitations and typical errors
The tool does not provide medical recommendations and does not calculate calories, proteins, fats and carbohydrates. It does not check whether the menu is balanced. Do not use it for therapeutic nutrition. If you need a diet for medical reasons, consult a doctor or dietitian. The tool also does not guarantee that dishes will please you in taste — these are just ideas.
Technical limitations: maximum length of the first field is 8000 characters, details field — 1000 characters. For images — only SVG and PNG, for speech — WAV (eSpeak), for subtitles — SRT. No DOCX or PDF export, no batch processing, no automatic saving. Model responses may contain errors, and queue and availability may change. The tool is not intended for generating photorealistic images or audio/video.
Typical user errors: too general requests ('healthy menu'), missing restrictions, ignoring time. Also do not expect the tool to remember your preferences — you have to enter them each time. And remember: this is just a draft, the final decision is yours.
Error: request 'menu for a week' without restrictions. The result may include meat if you are a vegetarian. Better: 'vegetarian menu without meat and fish'.
Practical tips for everyday use
Save successful requests in a separate file so you don't have to create them every time. For example, if you found a combination of fields that gives a good menu, copy it to notes. This will save time. You can also create several templates: for weekdays, for weekends, for guests.
If you are cooking for several days, specify this in the 'People or portions' field: '2 adults, cooking for 2 days'. The tool may suggest dishes that are convenient to cook in large portions. But check if they suit reheating.
Use the tool as an ideas generator, not as a strict instruction. Combine its suggestions with your own recipes. If a dish seems complicated, simplify it or replace it. Remember, the tool does not know your tastes — only you can evaluate whether the menu suits you.
Tip: save the request 'vegetarian dinners in 30 minutes for 2 people without mushrooms' in notes and use it as a basis.
The 'Weekly menu' — a convenient assistant for planning everyday eating. It saves time on deliberations and helps diversify your diet, if the fields are filled in correctly. However, it does not replace specialist consultation and does not guarantee balanced nutrition. Always check the result against your restrictions and adjust the request if needed. Use it as a draft that you adapt to your real needs.
Open tool: Meal planner ↗Interface translations are machine-assisted and may need refinement.