Plan. Shop. Cook.KaiPrep · New Zealand
Plan a week that fits your household
Bring a little calm to the dinner question. Build your week around the people at your table, the evenings you have and ingredients you will enjoy using.
Give each evening the right dinner
Start with the evenings when everyone will be home. A late finish on Tuesday might call for a familiar pasta dish; a quieter Sunday can make room for a traybake. Give a busy evening a familiar meal with a short ingredient list, and put a longer traybake or simmer on a day when you can check it. Include preparation, oven heating and washing up in your expectations rather than looking only at cooking time.
Decide what your plan covers. A dinner-only plan does not cover breakfasts, lunches, snacks or every household grocery. Put those on a separate list so a dinner estimate is not mistaken for the entire week’s spending.
Try the methods against your own week
The sample has two chicken dinners with different flavours and cooking methods. Choose their evenings around the time and equipment you actually have, then plan safe storage. The order below follows the sample; it is not a claim that these meals suit every household or have been cook-tested.
| Sample evening | Cooking approach | Plan ahead |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1: lemon chicken traybake | Oven cooking with staged vegetables and chicken doneness checks. | Allow for preheating and preparation, not just oven time. |
| Day 3: ginger chicken rice bowls | Active pan cooking alongside freshly cooked rice. | Freeze later chicken promptly if needed and defrost safely in the fridge. |
| Day 6: broccoli and pea pasta | Hob cooking, with the yoghurt coating finished off the heat. | Check the yoghurt label and storage instructions for later in the week. |
Your household worksheet
- Who is eating each evening?
- Write the portions needed, adding leftovers explicitly if wanted. The sample makes two dinner portions, not spare lunches.
- Which evening needs the easiest cooking?
- Write the time and equipment available. Match the full recipe method to them, including preparation and preheating.
- What can the meals share?
- Identify compatible ingredients, then check safe storage and the combined amounts rather than repeating the same dinner.
Plan for the people at your table
Count the people eating each night. If you want lunch leftovers, plan extra portions explicitly and check that you can cool and store them safely. Do not assume a recipe for two will also provide tomorrow’s lunch.
Keep allergies, exclusions and equipment limits visible while choosing meals. Check individual product labels as well as recipe names: a sauce can contain wheat, soy or milk even when those ingredients are not obvious from the dish title. Preferences help narrow choices; they do not replace checking a label.
Reuse ingredients without repeating the same dinner
Choose a few ingredients that work in different dishes. In the worked sample week, chicken appears in a lemon traybake and a ginger rice bowl. Broccoli appears in both and in a pasta dish. These meals use different methods and flavours, while their shopping requirements can still be combined.
Plan how to store later-week ingredients before buying. Follow use-by and storage instructions; freeze later portions where appropriate rather than holding raw meat for a whole week. Use delicate leaves earlier or choose a suitable alternative when the recipe can accommodate it. Follow New Zealand Food Safety guidance for handling and storage.
Use your preferred supermarket as a practical choice
You may prefer Pak’nSave, Woolworths or New World because of location, opening hours, familiar products or how you normally shop. Check the actual store or its own website for current stock, labels and prices. A product or offer at one location is not evidence that the same thing is available everywhere.
KaiPrep lets you select a supermarket, but does not supply live retailer-specific prices or guarantee availability. Treat the selection as part of your preferences, not a reservation of products or a price quote.
Make one list, then do a final reality check
- Read every recipe and record the required form and unit: dry pasta, cooked rice and a drained can are different starting points.
- Add amounts only when they are the same ingredient, in the same form and unit. Two recipes using 300 g raw chicken each need 600 g raw chicken together. Think about packs afterwards.
- Check what is already at home manually, and make sure it is usable and sufficient. Eligible Plus users can also use the app’s pantry inventory and deductions; that feature is not included in Free.
- Check product sizes, dates and actual prices before buying. Keep a flexible meal choice in mind if a suitable ingredient is unavailable.
See the shopping-list guide for unit and pack examples, and the budget guide for the difference between ingredients used and checkout spending.
Keep what works for next week
After cooking, note what actually suited your household: portions, preparation time and anything you would change. Reuse reliable meals instead of making variety mean seven unfamiliar dishes every week. KaiPrep can help bring preferences, recipes and shopping requirements together; see the planning journey or start free.