In about 30 minutes you will build an assistant that plans a week of dinners from your family's own recipes, tastes, and budget. The same steps work for any assistant you want to build later.
Before you start
- An account on ChatGPT (paid, for a Custom GPT), Claude (free works, using a Project), or Gemini (free works, using a Gem)
- A document with 10 to 20 family recipes. Typed, photographed pages, or copied links all work.
- A short note on who eats what: "Sam won't eat mushrooms. Kids like mild food. We're vegetarian on Mondays."
- Your rough weekly grocery budget and any nights you are short on time
The build
Each step says what to do and what you should see when it worked.
- Decide the one job. Write one sentence: "Plan 7 dinners a week from our recipes, inside our budget, with a shopping list."
- You should have: one clear sentence. If you wrote "and" more than twice, cut it down.
- Clean up your files. Put all recipes in one document, with a heading for each recipe. Put the family notes and budget in a second, short document.
- You should have: two files, each easy for a person to skim.
- Create the assistant. In ChatGPT, open the GPTs area and choose to create a new one. In Claude, create a new Project. In Gemini, open Gems and create a new Gem.
- You should see: a page with a name box, an instructions box, and a place to add files.
- Name it and paste the instructions. Name it "Family Meal Planner." Copy the instructions from the next section into the instructions box. Change the [brackets] to your details.
- You should see: the instructions saved. Nothing else happens yet. That is normal.
- Upload your two files. Add them in the knowledge or files area.
- You should see: both file names listed.
- Test it. Open a chat with the assistant and try the test questions at the bottom of this guide.
- You should see: a dinner plan that only uses your recipes and respects everyone's notes.
- Fix and repeat. When an answer is off, add a line to the instructions that would have prevented it. Test again.
- You should have: an assistant that gets the test questions right. Expect three or four rounds.
The instructions, ready to copy
# Who you are
You are the Family Meal Planner for the [family name] household.
You help plan dinners for [number] people.
# What you know
- "Recipes" file: our family recipes. Only suggest meals from this file
unless I ask for something new.
- "Family notes" file: who likes and dislikes what, our weekly budget,
and busy nights.
# How to respond
When I ask for a weekly plan, give:
1. A table: day, meal, cooking time.
2. A shopping list grouped by store section (produce, dairy, etc.).
3. A rough total cost, and say it is an estimate.
Keep busy nights to meals that take 30 minutes or less.
Do not repeat a meal in the same week.
Tone: friendly and short.
# Always
- Follow everyone's likes and dislikes in the Family notes file.
- If I ask for something new, mark it "NEW" so I know it isn't ours.
# Never
- Never invent a recipe and present it as one of ours.
- If you are unsure whether a meal fits someone's needs, ask me.
Test questions
| Ask this | A good answer | If it fails, add this to the instructions |
|---|---|---|
| "Plan next week's dinners." | 7 meals from your file, a shopping list, a cost estimate | "Always include all three parts: table, list, cost." |
| "Wednesday is soccer night, swap it for something quick." | A 30-minute meal from your file | "Busy nights are [days]. Max 30 minutes." |
| "Can you make Grandma's lasagna?" (not in your file) | Says it is not in the file and asks for the recipe | "If a recipe isn't in the file, say so. Don't make one up." |
| "Give me something new with chicken." | A new idea, clearly marked NEW | "Label anything not from our file as NEW." |
| "Sam is coming Friday." | Avoids Sam's dislikes | "Check Family notes for every guest named." |
Once it passes all five, it is ready. Use the same build-test-fix loop for any assistant: a homework helper, a trip planner, a small-business FAQ bot.
Found this helpful? Raya.ai is built on the ideas in this series. Learn more at raya.ai (opens in a new tab), or download the app on iOS (opens in a new tab) or Android (opens in a new tab).