If you ask five different personal chefs, you’ll likely get five different answers. A personal chef isn't a live-in cook (that's called a private chef). Personal chefs in general make a set number of different entrees for the client to reheat and eat at a later time, or cater parties or events in your home.

It depends on your spending habits and the chef. You may actually save money using Galley Girl.

The most expensive food in your kitchen is always the food you throw away. By menu planning together, we'll cut out that wasted food. Everything I purchase will be cooked that day, or frozen for a future visit (we'll discuss all of that before your first visit). If I do the shopping, I will stick to the list, so the expensive impulse buys won't be a hidden drain on your budget.

Also, if you eat out in a restaurant that charges more than $10 per meal a few times a week, but substitute a personal chef for most of those meals, you will save money. You'll also likely get much healthier food, of course depending on the foods we're comparing.

Personal chefs work in your home cooking food to your specifications. While you can customize your meals with a take and bake company, it’s very hard to figure out how to do that if you don’t know what the ingredients taste like, or if you just can’t or don’t want to cook in the first place. I’ll cook the food you want to eat, seasoned the way you like it, in the portion sizes you want, with the kind of reheating requirements you specify. With Galley Girl, you’re not chosing from a menu of premade, preset items- all you have to do is tell me what you want and give me a budget to work within.

Simple answer for fish- it’s just not very good reheated. When fish is reheated, it goes from warm to overcooked immediately, but it also goes bad if not fully cooked.

As far as shrimp goes, it’s next to impossible to reliably find good shrimp this far inland- and I’ve looked hard. What’s readily available is fine in things like gumbo, but not for something where you can taste the actual shrimp (most shrimp flavor in my gumbo comes from seafood stock, not actual seafood).

Nothing is required,  but I would prefer that you purchase a color coded NSF certified plastic cutting board for meat in a size that will fit in your dishwasher (less than $10 from a restaurant supply store) if you don’t already have one. I will use your cookware and will supplement your items with items of my own if necessary. You may also need to buy additional storage containers, or vacuum bags if you would like your food vacuum packed (recommended for freezing).

I let you choose the supermarket. I do only use one store, to make sure groceries don't sit in the car. If you would prefer to get some items elsewhere on your own, I completely understand and support that.

The shortest answer- however you want. In our first meeting, we’ll discuss portion sizes and packaging. Most of this really is dependent upon what you currently have, how you want to reheat the meals and your storage space. I can do whole dishes so that they can be reheated and served family style (a whole roasted chicken in one container , mashed sweet potatoes in a second, green beans in a third, for example), individual plates (a serving of chicken, sweet potatoes and green beans) or individual servings of each item (one container with one serving of chicken, another with one serving of sweet potatoes, a third with green beans). These can be packaged in your serving dishes if they are to be reheated shortly (within 1-3 days), your plastic containers, or vacuum sealed bags or glass jars.

Payments are due at the end of the cooking session. You can pay by cash, check, or Paypal.

No. You’re welcome to watch me cook, or to help, but you do not need to be home for my visit. You will need to either let me in the house, or provide a house key. For safety and sanitary reasons, I do ask that children and pets be kept away from the kitchen during your session.

     Contact Information

248-202-5304

General Information: galleygirlinfo@gmail.com