I’ve been cooking for family for decades. Some of my loved ones had special dietary needs, so I know how to cook, and lots about nutrition, but I am burned out and I wanted someone else to cook for me for a change.
One day a Google search took me to Chefs for Seniors. I was thrilled, but skeptical. After looking over the website, I took it to my husband for discussion. “This might not work out,” I said, “and it’s sure to add significantly to our budget.” He said, “let’s try it.”
I saw that there is no contract and no commitment. We were asked to try it at least twice, although we weren’t obligated, and we agreed. At our first service our Chef, Joelle, was accompanied by the boss, Mike. We all stood in the kitchen and talked and laughed while Joelle got down to business. They were warm and friendly, while Joelle went about her business efficiently.
She brings all her own equipment including knives and pots and pans, and shops for the ingredients that we don’t have in our pantry on the day she comes, to make the four entrees that we have chosen for the service. After she is done, she washes up, wipes down the counters and stove, and is on her way. We are left with a sparkling kitchen and a refrigerator full of meals, ready-to-heat or dish up.
And the budget I was so worried about busting? What I didn’t think about were these savings:
• The Chef buys only the amount of ingredients needed for the recipe. If it calls for two carrots, she buys two carrots. I’d have bought a two pound bag of carrots, used two, and quite often end up throwing out limp carrots after a few weeks of taking up space in my refrigerator. So here, we have saved a lot of money on unpurchased and unwasted food. The cooked portions are just right and we don’t have wasted left-overs getting moldy in the fridge, as she packs them in containers that we can freeze them in if we don’t want them right away.
• We don’t make as many trips to the grocery store. Each week we have 2 to 4 serving of 4 different entrees, so that’s 8 to 16 servings for the two of us. I would probably have gone to the store at least 2 or 3 times in a week, costing me gas money and impulse-spending money, and jamming my pantry with six-for-a-dollar cans of beans or whatnot.
• The stove is going for a couple of hours on the day she cooks, but otherwise it is only turned on occasionally during the week, rather than for several hours a day, three times a day, every day. The same goes for the dishwasher, which is another money saver. I save hours, too, not washing special items that I always wash by hand, like pots and pans and knives and items that don’t go in the dishwasher.
Could they make improvements? Yes. Their corporate offices need to edit some of the dietary codes listed on the entrees, the ones that let you know that they are diabetic friendly, or low sodium, or whatever. I found some of them mismarked, like the gluten free recipe that called for ½ cup of flour. And the Italian sausage and Brussels sprout bowl fails to mention on the menu that it contains Italian sausage (even though it is shown in the picture if you look closely enough) which might be a problem for vegetarians. C’mon Corporate, get someone working on this.
Oh, did I mention that the meals are delicious? After we pick our menu, Joelle sends us a shopping list and I cross out the items that I already have on hand. She gets the rest. If I see ingredients that I don’t like, I ask for a substitute, and she gets the items I like. We have tried many new foods, and I am amazed that she has gotten my husband to eat Brussels sprouts after seven decades of refusing them. He loves them the way she cooks them! She is open to cooking recipes of our own, and I haven’t taken her up on it yet, but I am planning something… maybe Asian?
So, overall, how happy am I with this service? Is five stars all you have? I’d give it ten. Joelle has been cooking for us for nearly half a year now, and I’m looking forward to...
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