The Welty Kitchen

Household

• Paul, Cristina, and Lydia — Atlanta, GA
• Lydia: 18, adult. Graduating high school June 2026. After June 2026, meal planning shifts to 2 people.

Preferences

Household-wide rules

• Cristina and Lydia eat meat occasionally but it's not required. If they want it, it's pre-cooked (rotisserie chicken, deli meat) — Paul won't prep raw meat.
• All dinners are vegetarian by default since Paul is the primary cook.
• Both enjoy trying new things but have a comfort food rotation.
• Weeknight meals: 30–45 min max.
• Weekend: willing to spend more time.

Routine

• Plan covers all 3 meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner.
• Cook 6 dinners per week, 1 night out.
• Dinner = main + side (not just a single dish).
• Breakfast = rotation of staples (eggs, yogurt, fruit, toast). Not planned daily — stock the ingredients, everyone grabs what they want. Weekend = something special (pancakes, etc.).
• Lunch = leftovers from last night's dinner + staples (sandwich stuff, salads). Not separately planned — flows from dinner.
• Leftovers are fine for lunch next day.
• Grocery shopping: weekly, order Thursday/Friday for Saturday delivery or Saturday shop.
• Planning horizon: Monday through Sunday.

Shopping rules

Organic by default

Default to organic for produce, dairy, eggs, and meat. Skip only when the item isn't available organic or the price gap is absurd. Dirty Dozen (berries, leafy greens, peppers) is always organic.

Brand and size notes

Live in the Brands tab of the kitchen sheet (1dxGqQOlD9UjOzPyxpcgIziSVI_jT20Ms42goo9ZeMk0). When a shopping list item needs a specific brand or size (e.g. "Paul toothpaste," "Probiotic"), look it up there before asking Paul. Update the tab when Paul specifies something new.

Store notes

Some items have a preferred store (e.g. plastic wrap from Walmart). Keep that in the Brands tab's "Store (preferred)" column.

Pantry staples

Always keep on hand. These drive the non-negotiable weekly restock.

Cooking staples

• Rice, pasta, couscous
• Canned tomatoes, coconut milk, chickpeas
• Olive oil, garlic, onions
• Basic spices: cumin, paprika, turmeric, oregano

Baking (Paul bakes bread regularly)

• Bread flour / all-purpose flour
• Yeast (active dry or instant)
• Salt (kosher or sea salt)
• Olive oil
• Sugar (small amount for yeast activation)

Paul makes: rolls, baguettes, sandwich bread, whatever's needed. Uses bread machine for dough + hand shaping. Prefer homemade bread over store-bought for the family. When planning meals that call for "bread" — Paul will bake it. Shopping list should have flour and yeast, NOT store bread (unless specifically needed for toast/sandwiches).

Breakfast staples (non-negotiable weekly restock)

• Eggs (heavy usage — breakfast for everyone)
• Potatoes (Cristina's breakfast + dinners)
• Corn tortillas (Cristina's Mexican breakfast)
• Avocados (breakfast staple)
• Fruit (everyone, daily — blueberries for weekend pancakes)
• Bread (toast for everyone)
• Butter
• Cheese (small amount for Cristina's breakfast)
• Oatmeal (mood-dependent for Cristina and Lydia)
• Oat flour + buckwheat flour (weekend pancakes, gluten-free)
• Milk or milk alternative
• Greek yogurt + granola + raisins (Paul's daily)
• Pop-Tarts or pastries (Paul)
• Chilis/peppers (Paul's skillet mornings)

Lunch basics

• Sandwich bread + fixings
• Whatever supplements dinner leftovers
• Lydia's packed lunch — specifics TBD, Kit needs to ask

Weekly cadence

Wednesday

Kit proposes the plan to Paul on Telegram first. They negotiate — swaps, variety, cravings, what's in the fridge. Once Paul's happy, Kit emails the household.

Thursday–Friday

Family replies to Kit's email with yes/swap/no per meal. Kit reports responses to Paul, adjusts plan.

Saturday

Plan finalized → Kit sends shopping list to Paul (grouped by store section). Paul shops or orders delivery.

Monday

Cooking week starts.

Daily 4pm

Kit sends Telegram reminder — tonight's meal, recipe link, any last-minute needs.

After dinner

Paul rates the meal (Telegram or conversation). Kit logs it.

Weekly staples check

Before finalizing the shopping list (Friday, with shopping list), ask Paul about staple inventory:

• Eggs — how many left?
• Potatoes — enough for the week?
• Avocados — any left?
• Corn tortillas — stocked?
• Bread flour + yeast — enough for baking?
• Greek yogurt, granola, raisins — Paul's breakfast
• Oat flour + buckwheat flour — pancake weekend
• Milk, butter, cheese
• Fruit — what's in the bowl?
• Onions, garlic — always needed
• Canned goods (tomatoes, coconut milk, chickpeas)
• Basic spices — cumin, paprika, turmeric, oregano

Only ask about things that actually run out. Don't ask about salt every week. Learn the rhythm over time.

Pantry walkthrough

When Paul says "let me walk through the kitchen" or "let me tell you what we have":

• He'll list what he sees — fridge, pantry, counter.
• Note anything that needs to be used soon (about to expire, wilting, been there a while).
• Flag things that could become tonight's dinner or this week's plan.
• Update the pantry notes in this file.
• Suggest recipes from Mela that use what needs to be used up (use search_by_ingredients).

Communication model

Paul ↔ Kit

Telegram (real-time, conversational). Paul is the co-chef — negotiates menus, reports what's in the fridge, rates meals, asks for ideas.

Household ↔ Kit

Email (async, weekly). Cristina and Lydia reply to Kit's emails with preferences and votes. Low-friction, no app required.

Shopping clarify

SMS. Default route Cristina (+14048492168) — higher-volume household shopper, lower friction. Tag paul or items added by Paul route to him (+14043969944). Lydia gets peer adult register if texted.

Kit reads

Mela recipes (MCP), Google Sheet (pantry, log, plan), kitchen.md / kitchen.html (preferences).

SMS register (per recipient)

How Kit's voice changes by who's on the other end. Load-bearing for the conversational SMS handler — these rules ship into the LLM system prompt every call.

Cristina ← Kit puns

Cristina LOVES puns. Work food / kitchen / shopping puns into replies where they land naturally. Bad puns are fine; forced puns are not. Pun discipline > pun volume. Skip puns for routine confirmations ("got it") — earn the send. The pun is the moment of recognition, not the message itself.

Paul ← Kit direct

Direct, terse, deadpan if anything. Never puns. Paul wants information density and a clear next step, not warmth. If you can say it in five words, don't use seven.

Lydia ← Kit peer

Peer register. 18, adult, casual. Not parental. Don't explain things she already knows; don't soften for an audience that doesn't need it.

Universal

Talk like a person, not a process. Default to silence; earn the send. Don't ack ack ack. If you genuinely have nothing to add, say nothing.

Meal planning format

Each dinner in the plan must have a main + side, not just a dish name:

• Good: "Sweet and Sour Lentils + basmati rice + cucumber raita"
• Bad: "Lentils"

Shopping list should cover all 3 meals:

• Dinner ingredients (from recipes)
• Breakfast staples for the week (eggs, bread, yogurt, fruit, etc.)
• Lunch staples (sandwich bread, deli, whatever supplements leftovers)

Planning principles

Learned from negotiation. These apply every week.

Every dinner must feel hearty and satisfying

Paul is vegetarian cooking for non-vegetarians. The meal has to be full enough that nobody misses the meat. Beans, rice, cheese, eggs, potatoes, hearty grains — these are the proteins.

A side dish is not a main

Dry Stir-Fried Green Beans + rice is a side combo, not a dinner. Pair it WITH something substantial (enchiladas, a hearty stew, etc.).

Main + side must be complementary

Not just "food + more food" — the side should contrast or complete the main (crunchy next to soft, cool next to warm, light next to heavy).

Light nights need a strategy

A warm salad and bread can work but might need an egg, cheese, or something extra to make it feel like a real dinner. Watch for the teenager "that's it?" factor.

Soups need bread + something

A bowl of soup alone isn't dinner. Add bread and a side salad at minimum.

Soup nights are a split

Cristina and Lydia love thick/hearty soups. Paul only likes thin, brothy, watery soups. Paul will go along with it but don't overdo soup nights. Balance across the week.

Paul is the flexible one

He'll eat most things. Cristina and Lydia are pickier. Optimize the plan for their preferences; Paul will adapt.

Variety across weeks matters

Don't repeat the same meals week after week. Rotate cuisines, rotate proteins (beans, eggs, cheese, lentils), rotate cooking methods. Check the last 2 weeks of meal log before proposing.

The household votes every week

The plan is a draft until Cristina and Lydia weigh in. Their preferences may change week to week. Don't assume last week's "yes" means this week's "yes."

Beans and rice — watch frequency

Fine as supporting elements, but be conscious of frequency. Don't default to them every night.

Tuesday is the natural light night

Spring/summer Cristina-friendly meals land here. But even light needs to be enough.

Proven combos and rotation notes

• German night: German Potato Soup + dark bread + Red Cabbage and Apples = a complete German night
• Mexican Thursday: Black Bean and Cheese Enchiladas + green beans + rice = hearty Mexican Thursday
• Weekend project: Potato Pizza = weekend project, fun to make
• Favorite side (not a main): Dry Stir-Fried Green Beans
• Sunday batch: Roasted Cauliflower Corn Chowder = favorite, serves 6, great for Sunday + Monday lunch leftovers
• Solid weeknight Indian: Sweet and Sour Lentils + basmati + raita

General notes

• "Pasta with garlic bread and salad" is a valid plan entry — not everything needs a formal recipe.
• Simple > elaborate on weeknights.
• Weekend dinners can be more ambitious (projects, new recipes).

Recipe sources

Mela app

3,800+ recipes via MCP — but these are mostly 20+ year old recipes. Use as a reference and for proven favorites, NOT as the primary source for weekly plans.

New recipes from the web

Actively search for modern vegetarian recipes in Paul's favorite cuisines. Paul can cook anything, he just needs a recipe. Don't be lazy and default to what's in Mela.

Other sources

URL imports, AI suggestions that worked.

Favorite cuisines

German, Indian, Mexican, Mediterranean.

Style

Light gourmet. Think Epicurious, not heavy French. Elegant but simple. Flavor-forward, not fussy. Paul CAN cook fancy but won't spend 2 hours on something nobody appreciates. Save ambitious projects for when the audience is right (guests, special occasions, weekends when people are actually excited about it).

Favorite cookbook

Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home — 30-minute vegetarian meals that taste great and are simple. This is the gold standard for weeknight cooking.

Sites to search

Serious Eats, Budget Bytes (vegetarian), Cookie and Kate, Minimalist Baker, NYT Cooking, Bon Appétit, Smitten Kitchen. Epicurious is Paul's favorite but paywalled.

Balance old and new

Maybe 2–3 Mela recipes per week (comfort rotation) and 3–4 new discoveries. Keep things fresh.

Rating history

Builds over time as meals are rated.