Three months after I hired a personal chef to do my dinner preparations I am now back in the grocery store.  There are a few reasons for this, but mainly it has to do with my lifestyle.  I am always on the go, with days that I only return home for a shower in the morning.  For someone with a more stable and steady schedule it could very well make sense.

The Good

• Gourmet food on demand, in the freezer, anytime i want
• Custom prepared dishes to fit my personal diet choices
• The allure of saying, “My personal chef”

The Bad

• While it was the best frozen food I’ve ever had, it’s still frozen.  Vegetables don’t come out nearly as crisp, and thus, less tasty
• Dethawing a frozen meal 24 hours in advance is not always the easiest.  I’d rather have something ready to eat then
• Putting something in the oven for 60 minutes doesn’t really count as preparation work, it still took time, and sometimes I was only stopping by my house for 45 minutes or less
• For a single person, 4 servings of t he same dish is a bit much
• $17, while a fair price for quality food, is rather expensive given the above considerations

Going forward I don’t see myself utilizing this service.  However I could see a few other possibilities to automate my life.

• hire a private chef
• hire a personal chef who delivers fresh foods once a week
• purchase deli items and dinners on a weekly basis (think whole foods)
• hire a personal grocery shopper to keep good foods on hand
• eat out all the time, keeping lists and numbers handy of healthy take out and delivery restaurants
• Shopping and cooking myself, I like to cook and I like to shop for gourmet food, why not?