Frequently Asked Questions

Not a cent. The full planner — meal generation, recipes, shopping lists, PDF downloads — is free and always will be. If we add optional extras down the track, the core tool stays open to everyone.

The engine scans our database of 100+ Australian-tested recipes and picks five balanced lunches spanning different categories — sandwiches, hot meals, baked goods, and cold options. It respects every allergy and dietary filter you've ticked, then builds a categorised shopping list with live Woolworths pricing.

Sign in with Google (free) and any plan you generate is automatically saved to your account. You can revisit, re-download, or re-email it at any time.

After generating a plan, tap 'Download Plan PDF' — the file includes the full menu plus a shopping list sorted by supermarket aisle with price estimates. You can also email it directly or share via WhatsApp.

Three languages are supported right now: English, Korean (한국어), and Chinese (中文). Switch between them using the language toggle in the navigation bar.

The entire site is responsive. Generate plans, browse recipes, and download PDFs on any smartphone or tablet — no app install needed.

Open the Planner page — no account required. On the left sidebar (or tap the filter icon on mobile), set any allergy filters your family needs, exclude ingredients your child won't eat, and optionally type a fridge leftover you'd like to use up. Press 'Generate Plan' and within about five seconds you'll see a complete Monday-to-Friday lunchbox schedule. Each day shows a main meal with ingredients, Woolworths and Coles price estimates, and a snack suggestion. From there you can download everything as a single PDF or email the shopping list to yourself. The whole process takes under sixty seconds.

Hit Generate again — each run picks a fresh combination from over 100 recipes, so the result will be different every time. To nudge the planner toward meals you prefer, add favoured ingredients in the 'Fridge Leftovers' field or exclude ones your child dislikes. A day-level swap feature that lets you replace a single day without regenerating the full week is on the roadmap for late 2026.

Six filters are available: Nut-Free, Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free, Egg-Free, Vegetarian, and Vegan. Toggle any combination before generating, and the planner automatically excludes recipes containing those allergens or animal products.

Every recipe in our database is individually tagged and reviewed for allergens. That said, the products you buy at the supermarket may contain traces due to shared manufacturing lines, and formulations can change without notice. For any allergy — especially anaphylaxis-level — always read the product label, even on items you've bought before.

Absolutely. Switch on the Nut-Free filter and every suggested recipe will be free of peanuts and tree nuts. We still recommend double-checking product labels, as manufacturing processes can change.

Stack as many as you need. All six filters — Nut-Free, Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free, Egg-Free, Vegetarian, Vegan — work in any combination. If the resulting recipe pool is too small for a full five-day plan, the planner will let you know so you can decide whether to relax a filter.

Recipes are tagged strictly by their ingredient lists — no nuts in the recipe means a nut-free tag. What we can't control is cross-contamination during commercial food production or in your own kitchen. If your child is at risk of anaphylaxis, always read the label on every product (even ones you've bought before — formulations change), and consult your child's allergist or immunologist for personalised guidance. The planner is a meal-planning aid, not a medical tool.

The Gluten-Free filter excludes recipes containing wheat, barley, rye, and non-certified oats — covering the primary gluten sources. Because coeliac disease demands zero tolerance for trace gluten, we recommend treating our filter as a starting point and always confirming that the brands you purchase carry a certified gluten-free label. Coeliac Australia (coeliac.org.au) publishes a regularly updated product directory that's worth bookmarking.

Woolworths prices come from live data feeds and are refreshed every one to two weeks. Coles figures are estimates based on recent pricing history. ALDI is not currently included. Treat all figures as a planning guide — your local store may vary.

Start with the 'Fridge Leftovers' feature — using ingredients already in your kitchen can shave $5–10 off the weekly bill. Next, glance at the Woolworths vs Coles price column in your shopping list and pick whichever store is cheaper for staples like bread, eggs, and pasta. Sunday batch-cooking (a big pasta bake, a tray of scrolls) slashes the per-serve cost dramatically. Finally, buy fruit and veg in season — it's cheaper, tastier, and aligns with NHMRC dietary advice. Check our blog for a full budget breakdown. Most families land between $12 and $17 per child per week.

No — we use regular shelf prices from Woolworths, updated every one to two weeks. Weekly specials and Everyday Rewards or Flybuys discounts change too fast and vary by region, so we don't track them. The upside is that our figures are effectively a ceiling: you'll almost always spend less once you factor in current deals. Pro tip: open the Woolworths and Coles apps the night before your shop, compare what's on special, and tweak your plan accordingly.

Right now each run covers one week. For a fortnightly shop, generate two plans back-to-back and merge the shopping lists. A strategy many parents use: buy shelf-stable items (tinned goods, rice, crackers) for both weeks in a single trip, then grab fresh produce (bread, fruit, deli meats) at the start of week two. It cuts shopping trips in half without sacrificing freshness.

Nutritional data is drawn from the Australian Food Composition Database maintained by FSANZ. These are approximate values based on standard serve sizes, useful for general guidance but not precise enough for clinical diets.

Every recipe is mapped to the five food groups in the Australian Dietary Guidelines (NHMRC) — grains, vegetables and legumes, fruit, lean protein, and dairy or alternatives. The generator distributes variety across these groups over five days so no single category dominates. Each lunch targets a protein source, a wholegrain or starchy component, and at least one fruit or vegetable serve. For children with clinical dietary needs, we always recommend working alongside an Accredited Practising Dietitian.

Recipes target primary-school children aged 5–12, with each lunch sitting in the 300–450 calorie range — appropriate for the average child in that bracket. Younger kids (Prep to Year 2) may not finish everything, while older or sporty kids (Year 5–6) might need an extra snack or a bigger serve. The best guide is your own child: if food regularly comes home uneaten, scale back; if they're ravenous after school, add a piece of fruit or a muesli bar.

Calorie and macronutrient figures come from the Australian Food Composition Database published by Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ). They're calculated against standard portion sizes and are intended to give parents a rough sense of energy content — not clinical-grade precision. Real-world values will shift depending on the specific brands and quantities you use at home.

We're all ears. Head to the Contact page, pick the relevant topic, and include as much detail as possible. Recipe ideas, allergy-tag corrections, and pricing errors are all welcome — we act on every report.

Type an ingredient you already have — say, 'chicken' or 'sweet potato' — into the Fridge Leftovers box on the sidebar. The planner will then favour recipes that use that ingredient, helping you cut waste and save money.

New recipes land roughly every month after going through our full test-and-review process. Supermarket prices are refreshed every one to two weeks, and seasonal tweaks happen at the start of each school term.

Download the plan as a PDF — it bundles the 5-day menu, every recipe, and the full shopping list into a single file you can AirDrop, email, or send through any messaging app. If you're signed in, you can also tap 'Email Plan' to fire a copy straight from the planner. Shared family accounts are on our radar — tell us via the Contact page if that's something you'd value.

Thanks for flagging it — accuracy matters to us. Visit the Contact page, choose 'Tech Help', and include the recipe name, what's wrong (wrong ingredient, allergy mis-tag, pricing issue, etc.), and your browser name and version if it's a technical glitch. A screenshot helps enormously. Allergy-related errors are prioritised and typically fixed within 48 hours; other corrections within a week.

If you create an account, we store your email, saved plans, and favourites on Supabase — a SOC 2-compliant platform. We never store payment details, health records, or personal information about your children. Anonymous usage analytics (pages viewed, features used) go through Google Analytics with IP anonymisation turned on. We do not sell personal data to anyone. Full details are in our Privacy Policy.

Generating a plan requires internet because it queries our recipe database and pricing API in real time. Once the plan exists, download it as a PDF and you're set — the file works completely offline. A popular routine: generate on Sunday evening, save the PDF, and refer to it all week, no Wi-Fi needed.

Roughly every month we publish 3–5 new recipes, each having passed through sourcing at Australian supermarkets, allergy verification, a test cook by a team member, and editorial review. Woolworths and Coles prices update every one to two weeks. At the start of each school term (Terms 1–4, late January to mid-December) we also run a seasonal refresh to ensure the recipe mix reflects what's currently in stock and well-priced.