Chef to the Rescue

When parents get home from a busy day and have only 30 minutes to change gears and get their kids to different evening activities, fast food provides an on-the-go option that takes little effort. For others, fast food and eating out provides respite from the woes of a long day at the office, when the last thing anyone wants to do is put on their apron and try to come up with a sufficient meal. But we all know fast food doesn't offer many nutritional benefits that prolong our health.

But what if food made fast did provide those benefits?

Some people who have realized that they have to alter their diets to regulate their weight or accommodate gluten-free needs or diabetes-related health limitations may need help from an outside specialist. Changing the course of learned habits for eating and cooking can be difficult, but personal chef services can help. This in-home solution buys time without sacrificing taste, quality and nutrition for your meals.

Michele Coakley of Exquisite Eats says her personalized cooking services provide stress-free evenings for people who have no time to prepare healthy dinners. She sits down with clients to share menus and asks them about their dietary needs/wants and grocery shopping preferences then prepares appropriate meal plans. Should clients want food from their local, economical grocery store, Michele will leave on cooking day, loaded up with her mobile spice pantry and cooking utensils, to pick up groceries for all the food needed to prepare the agreed upon meals.

In her clients' homes, she cooks and wraps the ready-made meals with warming instructions and places them in the freezer or refrigerator for later use. The kitchen is left looking clean and tidy, with no trace of a chef fairy.

One of Michele's clients travels frequently for work and asks her to come monthly to prepare breakfast meals and dinners for the days and weeks she'll be home. Other clients have recently found they have dietary restrictions but lack knowledge of how to make tasteful meals that cater to that need, so they ask her to cook for them more frequently.

In Home Bistro owner Kiersten Firquain says that people have become more health-conscious and aware of the benefits of organic and natural foods, but “the bottom line is always that it tastes good,” she notes.

Her company originated in cooking for children and expanded by popularity to families and other working or busy adults. She provides many of the same services and her options are kid-friendly, with separate menus for picky young eaters to choose from. For parents dealing with diet-based allergy restrictions, Kiersten can remove some of the frustration of finding safe meals and even make them tasty and inventive for the whole family.

For many adults, her personal cooking service “provides convenience for those who do not like to cook.” Her method includes providing a weekly menu beginning with in-home consultations, same-day shopping and meal preparation.
 
While personal chef services are widely used on the East and West coasts, the Midwest is just beginning to catch on to the practicality of the service. Michele says some people balk at the cost of in-home meal preparation services while others have expressed guilt associated with someone else providing meals for them. But her clients often find that the cost of eating out and watching food spoil is more than or equal to the value of in-home cooking services. “It surprises people how much food goes to waste in their refrigerators. It is the cost of eating out and produce waste versus the cost of in-home cooking that I encourage people to weigh,” she says.

Both Kiersten and Michele agree that their in-home cooking services are time-saving and add quality  to their clients' mornings and evenings without sacrificing mouthwatering taste and nutrition.

This article originally appeared in the December 2009 issue of Kansas City Homes & Gardens.