Personal Chef

Chapter 2

I sat in bed with a notepad and my phone, where most of my favorite recipes were stored. My bed was in my tiny apartment above my parents' garage. I had the best of both worlds; I had a place of my own, and I had my family close by.

It wasn't easy coming up with a menu. It needed to be healthy, tasty, and possible to make in small quantities. I was used to cooking everything in bulk. Adjusting recipes for one was going to be my biggest challenge.

I chose six lunches that were extremely healthy. I figured the dinners would be a bit more indulgent. They'd still be healthy but a bit more substantial. I went for strong flavors in the six dinners I planned out.

We hadn't discussed desserts. I decided to make one the first night. I could ask him how often he wanted sweets.

Breakfasts were going to be super simple. They'd also be more repetitive. Surely he didn't expect a totally different breakfast each day.

I made my shopping list for the next morning. I probably should have inventoried his kitchen to see what he had on hand. I also needed to survey his cooking tools. If he had crap, I'd bring my own.

~~~~~~~

At 11:00 on the dot, I knocked on the door. No answer. I set down the box in my hands and started fumbling in my purse looking for the key. The door opened and Shawn stood there with a slightly annoyed look on his face.

"I gave you a key," he said.

"I know. Sorry. I wasn't sure if that was only for the times you weren't home. I didn't want to just barge in."

I reached down and picked up the box. It had the groceries for the day along with a couple of my pots and pans and other tools needed this week. I wasn't going to risk him having nothing usable.

Shawn stepped aside and let me in. I went straight for the kitchen.

"I was working on a song. I get pretty focused when writing. Next time just let yourself in," he said.

I nodded.

It hit me that this was going to be a weird arrangement. I'd be invading his personal space for hours each day. I knew he wouldn't be watching me, but he'd be around. He had to put up with me disrupting his life. That sounded terrible to me. This guy must really love his girlfriend to deal with a stranger in his home.

I put the groceries away and looked in his fridge and pantry as I did so. Good thing I bought everything and didn't make any assumptions. He had a variety of beverages in the fridge, plus an assortment of take out containers. His pantry had cereal and coffee.

Shawn was still standing around, which made things awkward. Was I supposed to tell him he didn't need to supervise me?

"I should have lunch ready in about an hour," I said.

"Okay. Cool. I'm going to get back to work. Help yourself to coffee or anything else," he said.

Phew. He wasn't going to watch me.

I made myself a cup of coffee and got cooking.

I'd bought a precooked chicken, which was totally cheating, but it was my first day and I didn't have time to roast one. I cleaned the meat off the bird and divided it three ways. I'd be making three different chicken based lunches this week, each very unique. I packaged up the two portions to use later.

Today's lunch was a curried chicken and mango salad. It was made with Greek yogurt to reduce fat. The main seasoning was yellow curry. It had apples, celery, and cilantro to add flavor and texture. I was going to serve it on a bed of bibb lettuce. For now, I put it in the fridge so that the flavors could ripen.