Personal Chef Here! Ask Me Anything!

Caution: Wall of text incoming!

I am trying to make a vegitable beef soup and I have not found a good recipe that has all the ingredients that I want to use( beef, red potatoes, celery, cabbage, onion, garlic, carrots and noodles) and I am so confused on how to use a recipe builder to make sure I have the calories accurate. Do you know some place to find a good recipe and how to put it into the builder to get it right

I would use the recipe I posted earlier for Beef and Barley soup and modify it to suit your needs. Just cook the veggies with the other i red potatoes and noodles separately and add them in at the end instead of the barley.
The only surefire way to get the calorie count right is going to be to weigh out all of your ingredients. Most ingredients should have the nutrition information on them, and for the things that don’t (carrots, etc.) a quick google search like “carrot nutrition” will do the trick. If you don’t trust the preset nutrition information on MFP for some things (like a General Tso’s Chicken I tried entering last night said it had like 280g of fat, obviously dead wrong), you can always enter your own calorie information.
Hopefully that helped!

Any low cal, high protein crock pot recipes would be great for me. I have all the time in the world in the morning to put something together but no time in the evening except to eat it. I use the crock pot to stay away from just making it easy and getting fast food. Always stocked with chicken, beef, fish and pork.

One of my favorite crock pot meals is a German Pork Roast. Just throw a pork loin (or pork roast, or something big and generally a little tougher) into the crock pot with sauerkraut and let it go! Come back at night and you have meat that is falling-apart tender! Besides that, crock pots are so diverse you can basically just experiment with anything. Got a beef brisket? Throw it in with some pickling spice and submerge it in water and you’ll have yourself a nice corned beef! Herbs and spices will be your best friend in the world of healthy cooking. Just don’t go overboard on cinnamon or cumin and you should be good.

It's actually just those stone fruits, as well as (apparently) birch bark, that cause the issue.

Oh. Well in that case, apricots are an amazing replacement for peaches and plums can make a tasty replacement for cherries! Stone fruits are just hard to replicate when it comes to flavor.

What's the most effective way to make beef jerky? LOL I'm addicted but I want to learn how to make them versus buying time.

First off, buy a dehydrator if you don’t have one. Buy a lean cut of beef (top sirloin works well!) and cut it into thin strips, removing any fat you possibly can (fat doesn’t dry out). Season the jerky with whatever you want (teriyaki, black pepper, etc.) but keep in mind marinating it will make it take longer to dry. Spray the dehydrator sheet thing (technical term, haha) with some nonstick spray and load the beef onto it. Then let it dry to the desired consistency!
You can also do it in the oven but I find it’s a lot harder to do that way.

As an avid home cook myself looking for my next career step, I'm wondering how you got into the business of being a personal chef. Perhaps a little off topic, but you did say we could ask you anything!

Being a personal chef is actually my dream job. I went to culinary school (recently graduated with my Bachelor’s degree in Culinary/Hospitality Management) and have been working in restaurants since I started school, but I really prefer cooking for a small group and getting to interact with them on a personal level.
As for how I got into being a personal chef, a good friend of mine owns a gym and approached me one day asking if I might be interested in being a food consultant. The main excuse he got from his clients for not eating healthy was, “I don’t have time to cook healthy so I can’t eat healthy!” That “consultant” gig quickly turned into going to one of his client’s homes, cooking all of her meals for the week at once, and storing them for her family. I set up an LLC for myself and I was ready to go.
If you’re looking to get into that line of work, just do some research on personal chefs in your area and see what they offer and ask them if you could tag along and help them out. Offer to cook for your friends and when they’re amazed by your food, say you could cook for them for a fee or ask them to spread word to their friends. Social networking is a HUGE marketing tool nowadays and you’ll be surprised how much business you can get from it.
Hopefully that helped!

Looking for some foods with zero salt and low carbs!

Any ideas? I have fresh fish & veggies but looking for more ideas.

Foods with literally ZERO salt? Hopefully your doctor told you to cut out all salt because your body needs sodium in order to retain water, among other things.
Most lean meats have very little sodium and no carbs. Chicken breast can be your best friend. If you’re worried about seasonings, herbs and spices are your best friends. You don’t need salt at all if you play around with oregano, thyme, cumin, paprika, etc.
Oh, and chocolate doesn’t have any sodium in it, and if you like dark chocolate you’re in luck because it doesn’t have that much sugar in it either.
As a little side note, fiber is considered a carbohydrate. Just something to keep in mind

First of all, I want to say its amazing that you're taking your time to help complete strangers out with your skills. Soooooo awesome

I would love a recipe for low sugar protein bars. Most bars, such as Larabars, have a ridiculous amount of sugar and I want to cut back on that!

Thanks in advance!

No problem! I enjoy helping people so this is fun for me.
Did you happen to see the recipe I posted on page 1 for pumpkin protein bars? One piece only has 8g of carbs and the recipe is delicious. Otherwise, google Jamie Eason. She’s got some pretty awesome protein bars that should be exactly what you’re looking for.

I'm looking for a good way to season scrambled eggs. I usually scramble them with onion, green pepper, mushrooms and tomatoes and have used pepper or italian seasoning, but have been unsatisfied with the result. Any suggestions?

I use Gordon Ramsay’s recipe for scrambled eggs. They’re light, fluffy, and taste amazing! Here’s the link to the youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUP7U5vTMM0

I am looking for a healthy version of Kellogg's chocolate chip frozen pancakes. My kids love them and won't eat anything else...

I’ll ask one of my breakfast cook friends for a recipe

Thanks, OP for this! Want to come and be our personal chef?? I am interested in low carb/low calorie/low cost ideas but not boring lol!! Any ideas? I had gastric bypass so I can't eat much and need low fat and very low sugar. Also have problems with dry proteins like chicken and pork and ground beef at times!! Please help!

Not a problem! I love food and cooking!
Luckily for you, sugar is super easy to avoid when it comes to cooking meals, as long as you’re cooking for yourself.
Vegetables are honestly going to be your best bet for what your goals are. You might want to look at a lot of vegetarian recipes. Opt for spaghetti squash instead of pastas and your carb counts will go way down. Roast some cauliflower and blend the crap out of it and you’re looking at something with a similar consistency as mashed potatoes! Eggplant parmesan is another great choice. If your body handles fish well, eat a lot of seafood. Wild-caught salmon is absolutely amazing for you. Just because you have problems with dry proteins sometimes doesn’t mean you won’t be able to get protein! Quinoa is one of the very few nonmeats in the world that has complete protein.
Hopefully that helps!

I just discovered the Italian cookbook classic "The Silver Spoon" (on sale at Barnes & Noble, hardback, for $15!!). I love it.

In one of the recipes (Eggs in Aspic) the recipe specifies "leaves of gelatin". How does this translate to today's readily available, powdered, plain gelatin? How much should I use?

Thanks!

One tablespoon of powdered gelatin translates into four sheets.

I love steamed broccoli and steamed California blend.

I usually add either

1) Butter & Garlic Powder

2) Salt & Pepper

3) Cheese

Any advice for something else to add that wouldn't be too carby or contain grains or gluten?

I think maybe tamari and nutritional yeast possibly?

Thanks!

You can try adding nuts like cashews, maybe a little tamari. My suggestion is going to be to mess around with seasonings! Mrs. Dash has a ton of different seasonings that are all great and shy away from carbs, grains, and gluten!

Whew, I think that’s everyone for now!

I love sashimi. If I make it myself can I use any fresh fish from the grocery store? Does it have to be anything special? I don't want to get sick.

Making sashimi/sushi at home can be risky. I usually suggest that clients opt for smoked salmon or crab meat if they want to make it at home. If you're dead set on sashimi, my recommendation is to find a reputable asian market and buy ahi or yellowfin tuna. Ahi is a higher quality but is also way more expensive.

I would shy away from using any ol' fresh fish from the grocery store since you really have no idea if they have completely followed safe storage practices (thawing out then refreezing, leaving out of the cooler, etc.) and the only way to not get sick is to make sure it's in good condition and to cook it.

You *might* be able to get away with raw sockeye salmon, which is the salmon most often used for smoking.

How can I make my tomato consomme' clear? I've seen it before, but never asked about the technique.

May I ask if you are cooking it or if you are making it from raw tomatoes?

What size underwear do you wear?

Who says I wear underwear?

Thanks for the response! the zero salt & low carb is just a temporary thing, I have a weigh-in on Sunday so i'm trying to drop the water weight for that, then I'll go back to my more normal (healthier) diet.

Ah, alright. You had me a little worried with that one haha. You should be able to take in a small load of sodium from meats without having to really worry about water weight though.