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FamilyOrganization.app

Meal planning

In beta

Plan meals on your phone; the TV answers “What's for dinner?”

FamilyOrganization.app is the family organizer on the TV you already own, with an ADHD-friendly visual timeline for each person (Roku now; Apple TV, Fire TV and Google TV coming).

Its family meal planner lets you plan the week's breakfasts, lunches and dinners on your iPhone. At mealtime the TV shows what's being served, photos included, and its Menu screen shows the whole week.

See the TV menu

Updated · Feature status checked September 28, 2026

Someone on the sofa with a mug, looking at the family's day on the big living-room TV.
The Menu on the TV: today's breakfast, lunch and dinner with photos, or the whole week (demo family).

Short answer

How does the family meal planner work?

You plan breakfast, lunch and dinner for each day in the iPhone app, and the TV shows the plan: a menu at mealtimes and the whole week on its Menu screen.

Each meal can have a title, a short description, a time, how long it lasts and a photo, and you can plan up to five weeks ahead. Meals you make often go in a saved-meals library, so next week's taco night takes one tap.

On the TV, the Menu shows today as three cards (breakfast, lunch and dinner, with photos) or this week as seven columns, starting on your family's first day of the week. From an hour before a meal, if nobody is using the TV, the menu comes up by itself.

Meals with a time also appear on the family's timeline, so dinner sits next to practice and bedtime: timed meals on the timeline. The kids can see what's coming without asking you.

Short answer

How do you meal plan for a family of 4?

Check the week's calendar first, pick quick meals or leftovers for the busy nights and a few dinners for the nights you can cook, then write one shopping list.

Dinners are the hard part, so plan those first and keep breakfasts and lunches on repeat. A family of four usually needs five to seven dinners a week; one leftovers night and one quick night make the rest easier. Reuse the meals everyone already eats.

In FamilyOrganization.app each day has breakfast, lunch and dinner slots you can fill up to five weeks ahead, and the family calendar from your iPhone is on the same screen, so the busy nights are easy to spot.

Short answer

What does the TV show at mealtime?

It switches to Today's Menu: three cards for breakfast, lunch and dinner, each with its photo, title and serving time.

The menu appears by itself from an hour before each meal, as long as nobody is using the TV, and goes back to the family's calendar when the meal is over. If you press Back to leave it, it stays away for the rest of that meal.

You can also open the Menu yourself with the remote and switch between Today and This Week. The week view shows each day's three meals by name, so Sunday's plan for the week is on the TV all week. Meals without a photo show a colored card with their first letter.

How it works

How do you plan a week of family meals?

Once a week on your phone. After that the TV answers “what's for dinner?” for you.

  1. Step 1: Pick the meals

    In the iPhone app, fill each day's breakfast, lunch and dinner, or reuse meals from your saved library.

  2. Step 2: Add the details

    A time, how long it lasts, a short note and a photo, if you like. Everything but the name is optional.

  3. Step 3: Let the TV show it

    Today's Menu comes up before each meal, and the week view is one press of the remote away.

Example

What does a week of family meals look like?

Here's a sample week of dinners for a family of four: seven dinners, with a leftovers night and a quick night, planned on the phone and shown on the TV's This Week menu.

It's an example, not a menu the app writes for you: FamilyOrganization.app has no built-in recipes or meal suggestions. Plan around the calendar, so the quick dinners land on the nights with practice.

A sample week of family dinners (demo family of four)
FeatureDinnerWhy it fits that night
MondaySheet-pan chicken and vegetablesSoccer night: 25 minutes in the oven
TuesdayTacosQuick, and everyone builds their own
WednesdayLeftoversClears the fridge mid-week
ThursdayPasta with meat sauce, made doubleBusy night; half goes in the freezer
FridayHomemade pizzaThe kids help
SaturdaySlow-cooker chiliStarts in the morning, ready after practice
SundayRoast chicken and potatoesLeftovers for Monday's lunches

Short answer

What are the 5 basic steps of meal planning?

Check the calendar, choose a meal for each night, check what's already in the kitchen, write one shopping list, and put the plan where everyone can see it.

  1. Check the calendar for the busy nights.
  2. Choose a meal for each night, with something quick or leftovers on the busy ones.
  3. Check what's already in the fridge and the cupboard.
  4. Write one shopping list for the week.
  5. Put the plan where everyone can see it.

In FamilyOrganization.app, step 5 is the TV's Menu, and step 4 is the family's grocery and shopping list, where you add the items yourself.

Short answer

Can I find a meal planner that includes a grocery list?

Yes. Some meal planners add a recipe's ingredients to a shopping list for you; FamilyOrganization.app keeps meal planning and a grocery and shopping list side by side, but you add the ingredients yourself.

Cozi's free Recipe Box, for example, can add a recipe's ingredients to its shopping list (Cozi FAQ, checked Sep 26, 2026). In FamilyOrganization.app, meals and the grocery and shopping list sit next to each other on the iPhone and on the TV, and the list can carry prices and a running total. Ingredients don't flow from a meal into the list automatically.

Short answer

What is the best free meal planner for families?

Cozi is the best-known free option: its free plan includes a Recipe Box and a Meal Planner that sit next to the family calendar.

That is according to Cozi's own FAQ (checked Sep 26, 2026). Cozi's AI Meal Planner costs extra, in Cozi Max. Wall displays put meal planning in a subscription: Skylight in Calendar Plus, Hearth in its Family Membership. A shared note or a paper plan on the fridge is free too, and works if everyone reads it.

FamilyOrganization.app's difference is where the plan shows up: on the TV you already own, as a menu that appears before each meal, with no screen to buy. We make it, so weigh this table with that in mind; every competitor fact links to their own site, and our pricing will be announced at launch.

Family meal planners: the TV you own, a phone app and wall touchscreens
FeatureFamilyOrganization.appRuns on your TVCoziPhone and web appSkylight CalendarWall touchscreenHearth Display27-inch wall touchscreen
Where the family sees the meal planOn the TV you already own, and the iPhoneIn the phone and web apps1On its wall touchscreenOn its wall display
Meal planning is included inPricing announced at launchThe free plan (Recipe Box and Meal Planner)1Calendar Plus, $79 a year3Family Membership, $5.76 to $9 a month5
Hardware you buyNone: a Roku TV you already ownNone$149.99 to $569.994$699 list price6
AI meal planningClaude and ChatGPT connector in developmentAI Meal Planner in Cozi Max, $79 a year2Suggested meals, with Plus3AI meal suggestions, with the membership5
A mealtime menu that appears on its ownYes, from an hour before each mealNot verifiedNot verifiedNot verified

Sources

  1. 1. Cozi FAQ: Recipe Box and Meal Planner in the free plan; iOS, Android and web apps · checked Sep 26, 2026
  2. 2. Cozi compare-plans page: AI Meal Planner in Cozi Max, $79 a year · checked Sep 26, 2026
  3. 3. Skylight Calendar Plus page: $79 a year; Meal Planning with suggested meals is a Plus feature · checked Sep 26, 2026
  4. 4. Skylight compare page: 10-inch Calendar from $149.99, 27-inch Calendar Max from $569.99 · checked Sep 26, 2026
  5. 5. Hearth Family Membership page: $9 a month, or $5.76 a month on the 3-year plan; meal planning is a membership feature · checked Sep 26, 2026
  6. 6. Hearth Display product page: $699 list price · checked Sep 26, 2026

Optional

Can ChatGPT create a meal plan?

Yes. ChatGPT, Claude and other chat assistants can draft a week of family meals if you give them the ages, allergies, budget and your busy nights.

Ask for dinners first, since they're the hardest, and ask it to reuse ingredients across the week. For example: “Plan five weeknight dinners for a family of four; one child is vegetarian, and on Tuesday and Thursday we have 30 minutes.” The free versions of the big chat assistants can do this in a conversation; Cozi's built-in AI Meal Planner is a paid Cozi Max feature (Cozi plans, checked Sep 26, 2026).

Today you copy the plan into FamilyOrganization.app yourself. A connector that lets Claude or ChatGPT put the week's meals straight onto your TV is in development, and AI stays optional. How the AI connector will work.

Where it works

Where does the meal planner work?

On Roku TVs and the iPhone app, both in beta. Apple TV, Fire TV, Google TV and Android are coming soon.

On your TV

  • RokuToday's Menu and the week, on the TVIn beta
  • Apple TVComing soon
  • Fire TVComing soon
  • Google TVComing soon

On your phone

  • iPhonePlan meals and keep a saved libraryIn beta
  • Android phonesComing soon

FAQ

Questions about the meal planner

Which meals can I plan?

Breakfast, lunch and dinner, for every day, up to five weeks ahead.

Read the full answer: Which meals can I plan?

Each meal can have a title, a description, a time, how long it lasts and a photo.

Do I need photos of the food?

No.

Read the full answer: Do I need photos of the food?

Photos make the TV menu friendlier, but without one the TV shows a colored card with the meal's first letter.

Can I reuse meals we make often?

Yes.

Read the full answer: Can I reuse meals we make often?

Save a meal to your saved-meals library in the iPhone app and pick it again next week, photo and all.

Does it suggest meals or recipes?

No.

Read the full answer: Does it suggest meals or recipes?

FamilyOrganization.app has no built-in meal suggestions or recipes. You plan the meals; a Claude and ChatGPT connector that can plan them with you is in development.

How much does it cost?

Pricing will be announced at launch.

Read the full answer: How much does it cost?

There is no hardware to buy, because it runs on a TV you already own.

Let the TV answer “what's for dinner?” tonight.

The meal planner is in beta on Roku and iPhone now.

  • No new screen to buy
  • Menus with your own photos