Plan four family dinners from fridge and pantry photos and save about $150 with Gemini
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Before you start, ask me 1–3 short questions about the details below and wait for my answers. Once I've answered, confirm the plan in one line and run the whole task start to finish. Goal: Plan this week's dinners around the food I already have, and buy as little as possible. Questions to ask me first: - How many people am I feeding, and are there any allergies or foods someone won't eat? - How many dinners do I need, and how much time do I have to cook on weeknights? - What is my grocery budget for the top-up shop? Inputs (fill in or confirm): - Photos of my fridge, freezer and pantry: [PHOTOS] - People and preferences: [HOUSEHOLD] - Number of dinners: [NUMBER] - Top-up budget: [BUDGET] Rules: - List what you can see in the photos first, and ask me about anything you can't identify or that might be past its date. - Build each dinner mainly from food I already have, using up perishables first. - Keep the shopping list to the few cheapest items that unlock the most meals. - Keep recipes simple enough for a busy weeknight, with rough cooking times. - Don't assume pantry staples I didn't show you; ask. Checkpoint: Show me the ingredient list you read from the photos and wait for me to correct it before you plan the meals. If you get stuck: If a photo is blurry or crowded, ask me to retake it or list those items in text. Verify before you finish: Check that every meal uses only my food plus the short shopping list, and that nothing I said someone won't eat is included. Output: A numbered dinner plan for the week, a short shopping list with rough prices, and which ingredients to use first. Done when: I have a dinner plan built from my own food and a short, cheap shopping list.
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Photos of my fridge, freezer and pantry
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Before you start, ask me 1–3 short questions about the details below and wait for my answers. Once I've answered, confirm the plan in one line and run the whole task start to finish. Goal: Plan this week's dinners around the food I already have, and buy as little as possible. Questions to ask me first: - How many people am I feeding, and are there any allergies or foods someone won't eat? - How many dinners do I need, and how much time do I have to cook on weeknights? - What is my grocery budget for the top-up shop? Inputs (fill in or confirm): - Photos of my fridge, freezer and pantry: [PHOTOS] - People and preferences: [HOUSEHOLD] - Number of dinners: [NUMBER] - Top-up budget: [BUDGET] Rules: - List what you can see in the photos first, and ask me about anything you can't identify or that might be past its date. - Build each dinner mainly from food I already have, using up perishables first. - Keep the shopping list to the few cheapest items that unlock the most meals. - Keep recipes simple enough for a busy weeknight, with rough cooking times. - Don't assume pantry staples I didn't show you; ask. Checkpoint: Show me the ingredient list you read from the photos and wait for me to correct it before you plan the meals. If you get stuck: If a photo is blurry or crowded, ask me to retake it or list those items in text. Verify before you finish: Check that every meal uses only my food plus the short shopping list, and that nothing I said someone won't eat is included. Output: A numbered dinner plan for the week, a short shopping list with rough prices, and which ingredients to use first. Done when: I have a dinner plan built from my own food and a short, cheap shopping list.
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The prompt they actually used
The exact prompt from the source.
Analyze these photos. Give me 5 meals I can make using what I already have, plus the 3 cheapest items to buy.
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Outcome
Amanda Caswell, a mom of three writing for Tom's Guide, kept buying food the family already had. Caswell photographed the fridge, freezer and pantry, uploaded the photos to Gemini (using the Nano Banana 2 image model) and asked for meals made from what was there, plus the cheapest items to buy. Gemini spotted lean ground sirloin, frozen broccoli, chicken, black beans and spaghetti, and built a 4-day plan: beef and bean pasta, a cheesy chicken and broccoli bake, an everything frittata and burrito bowls. Caswell estimates about $150 in savings compared with a usual weekly spend.
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Source
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- by Amanda Caswell (Tom's Guide, via Yahoo Tech)
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https://tech.yahoo.com/ai/gemini/articles/let-gemini-scan-messy-fridge-090000520.html
Context: The savings are the writer's own estimates: about $45 on meat, $25 on staples and $80 from a shorter shopping trip.
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