A Very Creative Idea IMHO

[acorgihouse]

I couldn't decide where to put this, open to moving it to a more appropriate place if needed. I have a brilliant friend, she lives in Utah (I'm in Florida) so we don't actually see each other in person lately, and communicate by internet, phone, Zoom. She sent this last night, I just looked at it this morning. I've sent her back request for details how to do it, but I thought someone here with experience in AI might help.

She has a fair number of vegetarians in her family (I know, foreign to most of us, but the idea is pretty universal. Bear with me.) They divvy up the Thanksgiving meal, she is usually the one to make a selection of vegetarian sides. This year, she wants to plan way ahead, and make and freeze ahead whatever possible, then prep in bulk for the last day stuff. Here is what she came up with, which, using my simple familiarity of AI, I think is kind of genius.

She asked ChatGPT to make her a master shopping/prep list, giving it a list of the recipes she wants to use this year. It pulled together a complete shopping list, and divided into groupings that represent the grocery aisles. I have her permission to attach a copy of the first list she generated. I am hoping to talk to her later today, and get more detail, but does anybody here know how one would start to do this? I envision it for, maybe, weekly shopping and prep for a selection of recipes. Conceivably, at least in my imagination, you could include stuff in your freezer/fridge that "need to be used," and also make use of seasonal items. Even, if I really fantasize, link to a database like my Paprika, or NYT cooking, etc. Here is what she came up with, I'm having some issue with attaching a PDF here, so will type it in:

Cindy's Holiday Grocery List

Produce
Sweet potatoes 8-10 large
Onions 5-6 medium
Apples 2
Celery 2 sticks, diced
Carrot 1
Pepper 1/2
Orange 1 (zest and juice)
Cranberries 1 bag (12-16oz)

Dairy
Sour Cream 60 oz
Cheddar Cheese, grated 11.5 cups
Butter 9-10 sticks
Milk or Cream 1-2 cups
Cream Cheese 1/2 block or 1/2 cup

Pantry & Baking
Cream Soup substitute 8 cans total, or equivalent
Water Chestnuts 8 cans total
Corn (Shoe Peg/Regular) 7-9 cans or equivalent (105 oz total)
Green Beans 3 lbs or 7 cans, or frozen equivalent
Crushed Pineapple 1 can (20 oz)
Crackers (Ritz or Club) 1-2 sleeves
Sugar 1 cup
Brown Sugar 1/2-1 cup
Frosted Flakes 1-2 cups
Crushed Pecans 1 cup
Mrs. Cubbison's Dressing Mix 2-3 boxes
Dried Bread Cubes 1-2 bags
Vegetable Bouillon 2-3 cubes
Vegetable Stock 8 cups
Flour 2-3 Tbsp
Vegetable Stock/Water as needed, have available

Frozen
Corn to substitute as preferred
Green Beans to substitute as preferred

Miscellaneous/Seasonings
Apple Juice 1/2-1 cup
Garlic 3-4 cloves
Sliced Almonds small bag
Salt & Pepper to taste (pantry staples)

I would have never considered something like this, for AI. Ideas?

[dpearce]

So with most professional (meaning paid) AI accounts you can attach PDF's, upload or link google sheets and docs and tell it to reference certain websites. So what you can do is take your recipes, load then into a document, then upload it. Then start asking it to reference the sheet, and build you a shopping list.

You can also create a "space" in your AI account. This is a specialized area where you upload specific reference documents and information for AI to reference when you want information on special topics of interest, and you don't want to keep uploading the same documents and information over and over again for each conversation.

For instance, I have several spaces. Electro-Mechanical Pinball Machine Repair, Electronics (also for repair and troubleshooting as well as building circuits), Aquarium Fish, and BBQ Smokers . Each space has reference materials attached to it, as well as special instructions, and links to sites with good information that I've found. I create a new "space" whenever I find I'm going back for more and more information, or if it's a hobby of mine.

You could easily create a recipes space, upload your list of recipes in a document, then upload another document of what you already have on hand (so it doesn't duplicate the ingredients)

Next, for your specific space, it usually allows you to put in instructions for that space. So for instance, I would give my Recipe space these instructions: "Reference the <name of recipe document>, and make a list for the store. Reference my <name of ingredients on hand list> and if an ingredient is listed there, do not include it on my shopping list". You could even get specific and include how much of an ingredient you have on hand, and tell it "if I don't have enough of an ingredient in my <name of on-hand ingredients doc>, include it in the ingredient list"

Then in the space, say "I need to make this dish, or these dishes. Make me a list of ingredients I'll need and print it out by food category"

If I were to do this, I would create multiple recipe spaces (sometimes you can only attach so many documents or so large of a document). I would have BBQ, Baking, Outdoor cooking (with multiple ways of cooking) then maybe special ones for Christmas, Easter, etc..

That way you could build some very specific and targeted lists without cluttering up a single space with tons of conversations.

Play with it, and refine your instructions as needed. Also, maybe uploading something that tells it how to make "Paprika formatted output" would be helpful. Bet you'd find a spec doc on that on the Paprika site.

Edit: As far as your friends output, I see she told it to categorize the list by food/ingredient type. Smart, so she's not running all over the store looking for stuff back and forth. Sorry, I keep re-reading what I wrote and adding to it for clarity.

After you get the hang of this, I'll tell you about prompt engineering and also sharing spaces amongst friends and colleagues for their use as well

[bbqLuv]

And all we use is pen and paper for shopping list.
AI is a useful tool for suggestions.

[Alan Brice]

Uht uhh, I use a pencil.

[Carolyn]

Sometimes I use a pen, sometimes I use a mechanical pencil and sometimes I use "Notes" on my iPad.

[RichieB]

Photographic memory.😏

[dpearce]

The only challenge I see for shopping lists for recipes is having to keep the ingredients on hand list up-to-date.

There's lots of recipes I'd like to try, but don't have ingredient x or y. And my local stores sometimes don't even carry a specific ingredient. So you might even want your "space" to have it reference your local stores' website(s) so if it doesn't find a particular ingredient at any of those places, it gives you an online retailer link (if found), or at least lets you know don't bother walking around in the store looking for it.

So yeah, you can get somewhat complicated with it, if you'd like. I found that early versions of my prompts and spaces needed refinement as time went by or I needed more specific output.

[yakima]

My solution is to live 1 mile from a grocery store.

[Murdy]

I lived 15 miles from the nearest (full-sized) grocery store for quite a while. My kitchen was full of duplicate items of things I couldn't quite remember whether I had, but needed for a recipe I was intending to make. Not buying in those situations might have kept me from making the recipe as the recovery would have been too difficult.

[dpearce]

Murdy I ended up pulling every spice I had out onto the kitchen table about 6 months ago, just to see what I had and how old I thought they were. A little taste of each helped decide what I kept and what I tossed. Ended up with quite a few empty bottles, and a decent shopping list. Now I'm not questioning myself if "is this still good or not?"

[acorgihouse]

dpearce thank you! I see I need to play with the AI program first, and make rules and groupings and all that. I have a pretty standard selection of pantry and fridge ingredients on hand, that when I use down, I add back to the shopping list. Finding things isn't really a problem, I live in a large, very diverse city, with all kinds of resources. My produce co-op is next door to a Caribbean grocer, and there is a large Hispanic grocer a couple miles away. Asian grocer not much further, all of it. If I made a list of my standard pantry, standard fridge/freezer, and modified it periodically to reflect changes, that would work. Could even modify, say, garage freezer inventory, that could be modified as things added and subtracted? Household stuff, knitting patterns and yarn inventory (you have no idea), and the hundreds of cookbooks (I'm truly addicted.)

My brain took off, and I can see how this could be useful in so many other ways, like organizing tax information. Will take me time, but I'm in no rush. I like having a hotel room project, and I will be in a hotel a few days late next week I'll look at the options. I know of ChatGPT, another friend uses something called ?Sora, I never heard of, but then I haven't looked. She lives in Italy, but I'm assuming these programs are universal. Thank you so much, I love a project!

[dpearce]

acorgihouse You'll have fun with it, for sure. It's a rabbit hole, but I use it for all sorts of things. My accounts are with ChaptGPT and Perplexity, either one will probably be fine for most folks. Here's a trick: Use the free version of ChatGPT to compare and contrast the various AI engines for the purposes you want to use it for. There may be cheaper options for paid accounts that are more geared for your intended uses! Or you may find the free versions capable enough for your use.

[Mosca]

Idk.

I use an app called Shopping List. That’s all it is, and all it does. Whenever I think of something I need: if I use the last lime, if I’m looking at a recipe and decide I want to make it, if Mrs Mosca says she needs blueberries, if the pharmacy texts me that a prescription is ready, I open Shopping List and add that to it. I was at the grocery store today, so the list is empty right now. But if we run out of tomatoes tomorrow, it goes on the list.



You can set up lists for different stores. For Sam’s Club, I might do rotisserie chicken, toilet paper, paper towels, Wright bacon, prime rib sliders, acorn squash soup, dishwasher pellets.

If you can’t think of what you need, or you want to do a “big list”, like walk through the store, and get EVERYTHING you need, you can just start by typing “a”, and it will populate the things you’ve bought most frequently. Here is “t”:



That’s how I do it. Simple, centered.

[SheilaAnn]

Mosca we use Our Groceries app. It syncs between our phones.

“Hey, I’m going to the store after work…. Check the list and add to it if you need”

We have specific lists… EX: Tonight is for stuff we need immediately. Team Harco (our street name) is for stuff we need eventually, but if it’s on sale, grab it. I also have added market specific lists such as our Korean market, Trader Joe’s, etc.

[JCBBQ]

I’ve recently become aware of my rediculous (generational) ignorance concerning AI. I won’t speak to that, BUT, I’ve got a fair number of “veggies” in my life so I could share the most incredible and crowd pleasing cheese, mushroom and nut loaf that can be made way ahead and frozen. I was a vegetarian for 10 years and recipe is from the Greens cookbook. It was THE veg restaurant in SF back in the day - before their ubiquity this century. I still enjoy eating it. Let me know if your friend would like that recipe.

[JCBBQ]

fzxdoc actually it’s slightly different. I’ll send you what I use.

[acorgihouse]

She has been vegetarian for many years, but I'll let her know. If it is a Greens cookbook by Alice Waters, or Deborah Madison, I have it. Thanks.

[JCBBQ]

Yes!

[Huskee]

Very cool. As resistant as some of us may be to the idea of AI and its unwelcome bulldozing into our lives, or even its nefarious use, it's here to stay. So I say use it where you can to help yourself out.

I've used it recently to help me re-write a document. I used it to reword an email to my manager about an issue at work. I've used it to help me add a bridge to a song I'm working on. I also used it to help me with the chords for said song bridge, given the other chords of the song.

ChaptGPT, Claude, etc, they are phenomenal when used properly.

[Huskee]

texastweeter The side that doesn't use AI to spell check the correct spelling of "aisle"?

[texastweeter]

What if I was abbriating island

[Huskee]

texastweeter Let me check AI, hang on....

[SheilaAnn]

acorgihouse cool! I admit that I used Gemini for helping me decipher some recipes. I was almost impressed! The recipes are very old timey. “Take a Guinea fowl, pluck the feathers and add some onion and put in a pot with water. Boil into oblivion.” Gemma (my nickname for AI) produced a well written recipe that was formatted and even included that little fluffy verbiage at the beginning of the recipe. And the recipes made sense!

ill show you next week 🙌🏼

[dpearce]

When Gemma reads it back to you, do you make it speak in a British or French accent? I'd probably have it speak like Julia Childs or Justin Wilson!

[SheilaAnn]

Gemma talks? I did not know that. If she does, I would have her use the same accent as Keeley from Ted Lasso.

[Alan Brice]

Sorry folks, I am the stick in the mud here. I will use the back of an envelope that offered me a new/dif credit card. That gives me a 4x9.5 blank fresh piece of paper, whip out my trusty pencil or favorite pen and as I go thru my day create the current list of whats needed or even things to do.
Go to the market and either use or lose that list and most times forget to take my phone.

I know, Neanderthal, right? If my knuckles are draggin I know my posture needs attn. I am a simple guy, not simple minded.

[dpearce]

With all my big talk, I mainly use AI for work and a couple hobbies, it saves me tons of time, typing, and looking up info. Also wastes some of my time, as well. I won't lie, there's a pencil and pad of paper in the kitchen, and my phone takes pictures of the pantry quite well.

[acorgihouse]

No, not at all. I'm not talking about the usual weekly, or so, list in general. I do that in a notebook in my pocketbook. I used a program called ?I think Out of Milk, or something similar, and I found it much faster than going to an app. I can't shop without my pocketbook. She pulled in 5-6 recipes to bulk/batch cook and freeze for Thanksgiving, the AI is faster in making a comprehensive list of ingredients needed.

[Johnny Booth]

Carol yells, do you need anything? I yell back. What happens from there I have no idea. 🫢😁

[WI Bubba]

I'm a big fan of Paprika for making grocery lists. I add all the ingredients to the list and delete anything I already have before placing the grocery order online to be delivered to my house. I'm not a full fledged hermit yet, but thanks to technology, I'm getting closer.

[acorgihouse]

dpearce I love Paprika. I haven't had chance to look at Paprika and AI yet, but I will. One thing my friend did is scan in some old recipes, on handwritten cards, from her grandmother. She scanned them into ChatGPT, and it read the writing and transformed it into a printed recipe. I'm thinking that would be faster, to then send to Paprika, rather than figuring out what the handwritten card says, and typing it all into Paprika.

[dpearce]

acorgihouse I wondered how people were able to get those hand-written recipes in there. Glad to know there's a faster method than just re-typing everything. We have plenty from my wife's side and from my side of the family, that'll definitely save time!

[acorgihouse]

dpearce I did a work fill-in for someone today, so didn't have time to look at it until now. Apparently, at least some AI programs have an image to text. You can take a photo (or maybe scan, not sure about that) a recipe and ChatGPT, for instance, will turn the written image into a text document. That is how my friend did it, photo'd her grandmother's recipe cards, used image to text, then saved to a file on ChatGPT, so you can refer to it when you want to use the recipe again.