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Design·2026·Self-initiated

Meal Planning Bot: Telegram Kitchen Assistant

Meal Planning Bot Telegram interface

01 · The problem

Meal planning runs on two frictions most people never solve: knowing what's actually in the kitchen before it goes off, and knowing what to cook with it. Ingredients expire unused, and "what should I make" becomes a decision made from scratch every single day.

02 · The approach

Same starting point as Biscuit AI: meet people where they already are. Telegram is the interface, not a separate app to install. Ingredients can be added one at a time through a guided flow, or in bulk as a freeform list the AI parses into names, quantities, and categories on its own.

  • Google Gemini turns whatever's on hand into ranked suggestions across 40+ cuisines: match percentage, difficulty, and cook time included, not just a recipe name
  • A scheduler checks expiry dates in the background and proactively flags what's about to go bad, before it's wasted
  • Cooking history and 1-5 ratings quietly shape future suggestions, so the bot stops repeating cuisines the user rates low
  • An optional Notion sync gives anyone who wants a visual dashboard one, without forcing it on everyone else

03 · The outcome

A full command-driven kitchen assistant: inventory, expiry alerts, cuisine- and diet-filtered AI suggestions, detailed recipes, cook history, ratings, and an AI-generated shopping list. Built and deployed the same way as Biscuit AI: solo, end to end, no handoff.

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