MyListResortGuide
How to keep a safe foods list, down to the exact brand
When a person eats a short list of foods, that list is load-bearing: it decides the grocery run, the lunchbox, what a sitter serves and what a grandparent buys. The version in one parent's head does not scale to a household. Here is how to keep it as a shared list in MyListResort, specific enough to hand to anyone.
The five-minute setup
- Create the list from the Safe foods templateMake a new groceries list in MyListResort and pick Safe foods under Care & routines. It opens with three lanes: Safe, Trying, and Lost for now.
- Add each food at the brand levelOne row per food, named the way your household knows it: the exact brand, the exact version. If the orange bag works and the blue bag does not, the row says the orange bag. The fastest way is the barcode button: scan the product in your kitchen and the exact item lands by name, size and all, no typing.
- Put the details in the noteThe note holds what a substitute needs to know: which store carries it, the backup brand that also works, what it gets served with.
- Share it with every caregiverInvite the other parent, the grandparent, the sitter. Everyone sees the same lanes on their own phone, and view-only members can read without changing anything.
- Move rows as things changeA food being offered lives in Trying. A food that stopped working moves to Lost for now instead of being deleted, so the record survives and nothing surprises the next person who shops.
Why the brand matters
Most food lists fail at the substitution. "Yogurt" is not a food to a selective eater; a specific cup, in a specific flavor, from a specific brand is. Writing the row at that level of detail is not fussiness, it is the whole job of the list: it means the other parent, the sitter or the online order gets the one that works. Keep a named backup in the note for the day the shelf is empty.
Keeping the safe shelf stocked
The quiet failure mode of a safe foods list is running out. Because this is a groceries list, the items you buy ride the normal shopping flow, and opened items can track estimated freshness so the last safe yogurt does not expire unnoticed. For supplies on a rhythm, the Supplies & reorders template under Care & routines reminds you when it is time to order rather than when you have run out.
What this list deliberately is not
It does not track allergies, and MyListResort never warns about ingredients: for allergy safety, rely on labels and your care team. It is not feeding therapy either. If your family works with a feeding team, the list is a good record to bring them, and what to offer next stays their call and yours.
FAQ
What is a safe foods list?
The short list of foods a person reliably accepts, kept specific enough that anyone can shop or serve from it. For many autism, ADHD and selective-eating households the working version lives at the brand level, because a changed recipe or a different bag can read as a different food.
Why track brands instead of just foods?
Because the brand often is the food. A list that says "chicken nuggets" invites a substitution that does not work; a list that says the exact brand and version, with a backup named in the note, means whoever shops gets it right the first time.
What are the Trying and Lost lanes for?
Trying holds what is being offered right now, so every caregiver knows not to be surprised by it. Lost for now holds foods that used to work: they are worth remembering, both so substitutions do not resurrect them by accident and so there is a record if they come back.
Does this track allergies?
No. A safe foods list tracks what is accepted, and MyListResort never warns about ingredients. For allergy safety, rely on product labels and your care team. The app shows the same notice on the list itself.
Is the safe foods list free?
Yes. The template, the lanes, sharing with your household and barcode adding are all part of the free plan.
More for care households: the Care & routines templates · the renewal dates that run the year · a care sheet a sitter can follow