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  1. #1
    infomama's Avatar
    infomama is offline Red Diamond level (10,000+ posts)
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    Default Would you hire someone to prep all your food?

    The personal chef thread got me thinking. Do you think there is a market for this? Basically you would decide what to cook and buy the groceries but someone would prep everything for you (chop veggies, prep/marinate meats, measure and blend spices). I know it was a cinch to make soup today because I prepped everything yesterday.
    Thoughts?

  2. #2
    ♥ms.pacman♥ is offline Red Diamond level (10,000+ posts)
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    i don't know but that idea sounds awesome to me, i'd love to have someone else do that! seriously the part i hate most about cooking is having to chop onions or other veggies and having to prep meats. it's tedious, it takes me forever and it tires me out. I think i would cook at home a lot more if i have help with the prep work.

  3. #3
    kijip is offline Pink Diamond level (15,000+ posts)
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    I would not because:

    Cooking is a hobby for me.
    My husband and I simply don't have that kind of money, especially if we want to keep the cleaning service, save/invest and be able to buy organic food.
    We prep a lot on the weekends ahead already.

    That said, I think there is a total market for this. I know a couple of people who work as personal chefs, sometimes just really going the meal planning and prep part, and I don't live in Hollywood or NYC. Their typical clients are not wealthy, but pretty affluent, with reasons why they can't cook ranging from "I hate to cook" to "I work 100 hours a week and don't have time" to "We have a lot of kids AND I hate to cook".
    Katie, mama to a pair of boys.

  4. #4
    09Mom is offline Silver level (200+ posts)
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    We use a service somewhat similar to what you are saying but you choose from a menu of maybe 20 items. Check out www.dinnerafare.com.

  5. #5
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    bubbaray is offline Blue Diamond level (20,000+ posts)
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    Yes. Can you move here?

    I LOATHE & DESPISE COOKING & GROCERY SHOPPING. Seriously. hate hate hate 'em. A lot of my coworkers do to. I definitely think there is a market.
    Melissa

    DD#1: April 2004
    DD#2: January 2007

    "My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world." Jack Layton 1950 - 2011

  6. #6
    infomama's Avatar
    infomama is offline Red Diamond level (10,000+ posts)
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    I was thinking in addition to those who don't like/are too busy for cooking/food prep this may be an attractive concept to elderly/arthritic folks who don't have the strength/energy to prep food for home cooked meals.

  7. #7
    edurnemk is offline Diamond level (5000+ posts)
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    You mean, just prepping and then I do the final cooking? Mmmhhh, to be honest I don't know. But then I don't mind the prepping as much as cleaning up the kitchen afterwards, I may prefer that .

    I guess if it was much cheaper than having a "personal chef" do the whole deal: prep and cook, I'd consider it. You may get more clients if you also do the grocery shopping for them (paid by the client, of course) and maybe help plan the menu.

    For full disclosure, I only cook on weekends, I have someone help me during the week (but I live abroad where it's very affordable). When living in the US I do everything myself, and what I hate most is planning the menu, shopping and cleaning up.
    DS 1/08
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  8. #8
    gatorsmom is offline Pink Diamond level (15,000+ posts)
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    Well, we already have something like this in our area. http://www.letsdish.com/ Every month they have a menu of meals to choose from with all the ingredients ready. You preorder what meals you want prepared and then you can go alone or with a group of friends to the site, put the meals together and bring them all home. You simply are organizing the ingredients while there (for example, some people might want mushrooms in their beef bourgignone, others not) for the meals you want. Or, you can have them do it all for you so you only need to pick up the meals in a big cooler. Each meal comes with instructions on how to throw it together. There are different levels of difficulty, some made especially for the crockpot, some made for a last minute meal.

    Here is another local one I've tried: http://mealsinthebag.com/

    The problem is that not all the meals are all that tasty. And they are a bit expensive, imho.
    " I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent." Mahatma Gandhi

    "This is the ultimate weakness of violence: It multiplies evil and violence in the universe. It doesn't solve any problems." Martin Luther King, Jr.

  9. #9
    infomama's Avatar
    infomama is offline Red Diamond level (10,000+ posts)
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    Quote Originally Posted by gatorsmom View Post
    The problem is that not all the meals are all that tasty. And they are a bit expensive, imho.
    Yes. And the menu is restrictive and the food is almost never organic. That is why I went once and wont go again. I like cooking my recipes...recipes I know my family enjoys. And I like using organic ingredients/grass fed beef/antibiotic-hormone free chicken. I just don't care for the assembly line places nor do most (if not all) the moms I know IRL.

  10. #10
    gatorsmom is offline Pink Diamond level (15,000+ posts)
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    Quote Originally Posted by infomama View Post
    Yes. And the menu is restrictive and the food is almost never organic. That is why I went once and wont go again. I like cooking my recipes...recipes I know my family enjoys. And I like using organic ingredients/grass fed beef/antibiotic-hormone free chicken. I just don't care for the assembly line places nor do most (if not all) the moms I know IRL.
    I agree with you. I think these businesses tried to make things easier for us, but I hate when you spend a bunch of money on a meal that you ultimately have to make yourself and there is no guarantee that it's organic and hormone free OR that you will even like it.
    " I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent." Mahatma Gandhi

    "This is the ultimate weakness of violence: It multiplies evil and violence in the universe. It doesn't solve any problems." Martin Luther King, Jr.

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