Food and meals
Plan dinners around what is already in your kitchen
Start a meal plan with the food that will spoil first. A list of ingredients, quantities and available cooking time gives an assistant something useful to work with.
A text to start with
Plan four dinners for two using half a cabbage, six eggs, rice and a can of chickpeas. We have twenty minutes on Tuesday and an hour on Sunday. Put any extra groceries in one list and use the cabbage early.
Example request. Change the details to fit your situation.What to check in the reply
Check that each ingredient lasts for the number of meals proposed. A plan that uses all six eggs on the first night should not depend on eggs again later. Ask for approximate quantities and leftovers that carry into another dinner. Tell the assistant about dietary restrictions before choosing recipes, and check labels yourself when an allergy is involved.
The next step
Pick the dinners you actually want, then ask for the shopping list grouped by aisle. Keep the list short by removing ingredients bought for one garnish. If the plan sounds too ambitious, reply with the night you need to simplify and the equipment you have.