Every household knows the script: “What do you want for dinner?” — “I don’t know, what do you want?” This preset turns the usual dishes into a wheel so the question resolves in seconds and dinner actually happens.
Step-by-step for tonight
- Trim the list to meals you can realistically cook or order today.
- Spin once and treat the result as decided — that is the whole point.
- Only re-spin if someone is genuinely unwell or an ingredient is missing.
- Note the winner so you can build a shopping list from it.
- Reshuffle the list when the same meals keep coming up.
Fairness, not favouritism
Dinner debates usually end with the loudest appetite winning. The wheel draws with the browser’s Web Crypto API (crypto.getRandomValues) and rejection sampling, so each dish has the exact same chance whatever order it sits in. Nobody can claim the wheel “always picks pasta” when the source is cryptographic and visible on screen.
Customizing the list
- Split weeknight and weekend lists so cheap meals do not compete with a weekend treat.
- Group by cuisine (Italian, Turkish, Asian) and keep one pick per cuisine.
- Add a “takeout only” list for late evenings.
- Include one 15-minute meal for the days nobody has energy.
Practical tips
- Agree in advance that the first spin is final; re-spins ruin the fun.
- Keep a pantry list next to the wheel so you only add dishes you can actually make.
- For a bigger group, let the lucky draw pick the restaurant instead.
- Add leftovers as an option — they deserve a fair chance too.