MMMChef Personal Chef Services

I am so excited to be able to share this review with you all.   I cannot stress enough how important it is to support local businesses and services.  I was thinking about how I could help promote home-based businesses when I came across this ad on Kijiji.  Daniela (the personal chef) put up an ad promoting her MMMChef Personal Chef Services and I sent her a message .. and voila, I now have a review for her services. 

About The Company :

Daniela has been a personal chef for quite a few years, after graduating culinary school, but just over the holidays made it full-time.   Her services as a personal chef are unique,  let me explain why..

• She meets with you before even stepping foot into your kitchen so that she can learn about you and your families likes and dislikes in the kitchen.  Along with dietary restrictions and allergies.
• All of her foods are home-made and can be portioned into family sized or individual portions.
• She can help you with all your kitchen needs.  Don’t need her cooking services but could use the extra time of going to the grocery store or market?  She will go for you! Meal plan for your family? Done!
• Daniela has prepared food for dinner parties and holidays for families.  
• She does not have a set-in-stone price! During her initial (free) consultation she will asses your needs and let you know how much her services will cost.  Whether you need her for half a day, or a full day.  If she’s going to do the grocery shopping or you will, your location, etc.. will all effect the final cost.   Continue reading to learn how much her time with me would have cost! 

My Experience :

Daniela came to my house for the consultation, but she told me she also meets clients at Starbucks or Tim Hortons.  We talked about my likes and dislikes with food, and how I have texture issues.  I told her I wanted some dinners, and some lunches – but because I don’t leave for work, they would go to my boyfriend, so Daniela asked my boyfriend questions to help her make a menu.  Before she left, she took a tour around my kitchen and looked in my pantry, fridge and freezer, and used that to also help her menu making.  She used ingredients I already had!  I informed her that I would like to do the shopping, and so after she left, she emailed me a detailed menu, with a shopping list.  She was able to find use in items I had no use for, in the cupboards, so most of my grocery list was fresh produce.

She returned on the Saturday and spent 3 hours cooking.  She has great time management and knew exactly what needed to be made, and when.  She started off with the things that would take the longest, and also took into consideration what she was making us for dinner that night, so it would be fresh out of the oven once she left.  I sat in the kitchen and we chatted like we had been friends for years, which was awesome! She’s very personable and never once told me I was in her way, or made me feel awkward in my own home – as I know some home service people can do.   After she was done cooking she did the dishes and put them away as she went.  It was so weird to have someone else do my dishes – but it was nice! Ha ha 

In her three hours (and my 120$ of groceries) she made.. 

• 4 mason jars of pasta salad with feta cheese and a home made vinaigrette for my boyfriend to take with him to work.  Also, 2 smaller plastic containers of the same salad, for me to have at home.   Ryan tried the salad while she was here, and stole one of the containers to eat as he played video games.  It was a huge hit! 😉
• 2 plastic containers of roasted garlic hummus.  She also cut up a bunch of vegetables and portioned  them out for dipping into the hummus. 
• She cooked a pound and a half of bacon, so we could have some on hand for sandwiches and salads.
• Shredded a rotisserie chicken for pita sandwiches (I picked up pitas) for Ryan’s lunches. She also made a garlic sauce that tastes exactly like garlic donair/shawarma sauce.  I was so excited for that sauce!
• Made a ‘stir fry in a bag’ for the freezer. Cut up the vegetables and frozen pork, and stuck it all in a bag for the freezer,  and then made a homemade stir fry sauce.  
• Chicken casserole, with a tonne of vegetables and a creamy garlic sauce.
• Pasta casserole, with sausage, vegetables and a tomato sauce.
• Pizza rolls, with home made pizza dough.   This is what we had for dinner that night and they were SO good. The entire tray was gone that night.  

I feel like i’m forgetting something – but either way, our fridge and freezer was stocked with delicious meals she prepared for us!  She worked non-stop for the three hours she was here, and didn’t dilly daddle to waste time. I honestly think she’s a great chef and I would recommend her to anyone in the Ottawa area.  Between the time of the consultation and the day she came to cook, I texted her with questions and let her know I didn’t own a rolling pin.  I’m sure I was a huge pain in the butt, but she responded to each question and text happily (and didn’t tell me to go away..)  

While Daniela was here, I asked her how she makes her roasted garlic, and she showed me step-by-step how to make it.  I really appreciated her teaching me her tricks so that I could use it in the future.  Same with the garlic donair sauce – she sent me the recipe to share with you guys! See below 🙂

You can find Daniela and MMMChef on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram.