A weekly meal planning kit that runs in Claude.ai.
Set it up once (20 minutes). Use it every Sunday (15 minutes). Get a full week of dinners and a grocery list that fits your family, your schedule, and what's already in your freezer.
No app. No subscription. Just a free Claude.ai account and a few files you fill in once.
- 7 nights of dinners matched to your actual week (busy Tuesday = easy crockpot meal)
- Lunch plan — leftovers first, then simple options
- Grocery list organized by store section
- Thaw reminders so you don't forget to pull the chicken at 9pm
No installation. Works in a browser. You fill out files about your family, paste them into Claude, paste the planning prompt, done.
What you need: Free Claude.ai account. Claude Pro ($20/month) is recommended for Projects — it saves your preferences so you don't re-upload every Sunday. Not required to try it.
Your files: Everything in the simplified/ folder.
Claude browses your actual AnyList recipe library, builds the week, and pushes the plan directly into your AnyList calendar with real recipes attached. Requires some setup (Claude Code + AnyList MCP), but the Sunday workflow is faster once it's running.
Your files: Everything in the full-system/ folder.
Click the green Code button above → Download ZIP → unzip anywhere.
Or clone: git clone https://github.com/melsplains/roux.git
It walks you through which version is right for you and what to fill out.
Open the templates and fill in the brackets. Your family, your rules, your meals.
| File | What it is | When you update it |
|---|---|---|
01-family-preferences.md |
Who eats what, hard nos, protein rules, your meal rotation | Once |
02-weekly-schedule.md |
This week: busy nights, weather, freezer items to use | Every Sunday (~3 min) |
03-inventory.md |
What's in the freezer and pantry | As you cook; every Sunday |
04-sunday-planning-prompt.md |
The prompt you paste into Claude | Every Sunday |
Paste your files + the planning prompt into Claude.ai. Get back a full week plan and grocery list. Adjust anything that doesn't feel right. Done.
The setup-guides/ folder has step-by-step instructions for both versions — including how to set up Claude Projects so your preferences are always saved.
Melsplains is a content brand for working moms who want practical help with AI, marketing, and family systems — explained without condescension.
- Download page + more context: melaniedunn.work/melsplains-meal-planning-kit
- More free tools: melaniedunn.work/melsplains/tools
- Instagram: @melsplains
Questions or feedback? Open an issue — I update this kit when I find better ways to do it.