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Specializing in help for busy people who want a good, home-cooked meal when arriving home without the work of doing it yourself. |
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Recipes by Ruth is one of the many Home Meal Replacement (H.M.R.) options popping up all over the country. Ruth Johaningsmeir is a LaGrange Park resident who wrote her business plan for Recipes by Ruth almost 10 years ago. She now serves busy people in Chicago's Western Suburbs home cooked dinners. There are over 1500 Personal Chef businesses in the country but Ruth does things a little different. Personal Chefs cook two weeks of meals in your home and places them in the freezer for you to re-heat at your convenience. That is what Ruth does for families in Berwyn and Downers Grove. However, if you live between Brookfield and Hinsdale, Ruth will cook you a hot and fresh main course dinner every week night for as little as $7 per person. Q. How did you come up with this concept? A. I love to cook! But also, I hate cleaning my house and want someone to do it for me. I thought about trading my cooking services for cleaning service. Then I started doing some market research and found out a lot of people hate to cook. And even more people don’t have time to cook. When I was taking the train downtown to work, I wouldn’t get home until 7 p.m. Who has the time or energy to cook a good meal then? My husband complained that I was making the same thing 3 times a week. I was amazed, when I asked what other people do, how many said they have cereal for dinner. Q. So what happened then? A. I’ve started to start this business at least 3 times, once in Berwyn and twice while I was living in Brookfield. But I would move or change jobs and I quit commuting. So for the past 3 years I’ve been researching and seeing the Home Meal Replacement industry grow, which includes Personal Chef Services, Boston Market and Takeout Taxis. I gave my services as gifts for pregnant or sick friends. Finally in August I printed my brochures and business cards to get started part-time. Then I was laid off from my job, so now its full-time. Great timing? Not really but this is what I want to do. And people are getting tired of fast-food, take-out, and cereal. I truly got started under less than desirable situations. I went down to NC to help my aunt who is going through chemotherapy. I showed up with a bag of groceries to cook a weeks worth of meals for my aunt and uncle. Two days later my cooking plans changed as Floyd headed our way, insuring no power for several days. I then made my famous “Garbage Soup” which includes cleaning out all of the items in the refrigerator. I also came up with my emergency cooking kit. When my neighbor heard about it, she said it would be the perfect Christmas gift for people who are worried about Y2K. Q. How does your service work? A. I start with a 3 page food questionnaire for a family to complete. Everything is customized to their tastes and the meals can be the same recipes Mom used to make between 1950 and 1963 (my two phone numbers 708-579-1950 and 579-1963). Then I buy and bring the food to your home. My target market is really Brookfield to Hinsdale for Monday through Friday service. My day starts by preparing crock pot dinners, then casserole dishes for an oven on a timer, then stove top and microwave meals. That’s how I’m able prepare multiple meals individually cooked and ready when you come home from work. People in the LaGrange area can hire me for one day at a time or Monday through Friday. This isn’t H.M.R., its true in home cooking. For people further away, I offer H.M.R. by providing families with kits and teaching them the tricks or speed scratch to make their own meals quickly and in advance of dinnertime or I come cook a week or two worth of dinners on a Saturday or Sunday to keep in the freezer. Q. What qualifications do you have? A. You’d never know it from my married name, Johaningsmeir, but I’m Greek. It’s in my blood. Isn’t every Greek in the food business? At one time in my home town, my family owned so many restaurants that one was even a Chinese restaurant. But seriously, I went to Michigan State University and studied under the School of Hotel and Restaurant Management even though I ended up graduating with a degree in Marketing. The Restaurant Convention was an annual part of my life. To a certain extent, my husband and I postponed our honeymoon for a day because my family always went to the convention. But seriously, I'm licensed with the State of Illinois' Public Health Department. Q. You’ve mentioned a couple of kits that you put together. Tell me a little more about them? A. One kit is a package of 5 international dinners called the “Culinary Kid” and “Domestic Dad”. You can choose from over 15 regions or countries. My niece, when she was just 4 years old, cooked my version of Chicken Cordon Bleau for over a dozen people. I don’t recommend they do it that young and regardless of age they need supervision. I have even used my 2 year old neighbor to test my concepts and foolproof instructions. He has cooked me dinner twice now. Q. How do you fine time to do everything? A. I can make absolutely exquisite and delicious meals, as many people can tell you. But I’m not the French trained Cordon Bleau gourmet chef. My concept of Recipes by Ruth is easy, affordable and like busy Moms used to make in 1950 to 1963. That’s also my target market, working parents born between 1950 and 1963. My kid’s Chinese dinner is nothing like what you would get at a Chinese restaurant. It’s more like something you would have found in Good Housekeeping in the 50s. It tastes like Chinese but how many Woks were given as wedding gifts back then? My idea isn’t to replace going out to eat, it’s to replace having cold cereal for dinner because your too tired to cook. Q. What about when you work with kids. Aren’t you worried about them cutting or burning themselves? A. Either me or a parent would absolutely supervise them all of the time. And they have to be taught good and safe habits. Heck, I won’t even use a food processor because I’m afraid of them. I have no problem operating them but how do you clean them safely? I’d rather spend the extra 25¢ on already shredded cheese. It much cheaper than a trip to the emergency room! Q. What is the worst experience you have ever had? A. In 7th grade I learned how dangerous cooking can be. I was sick from school and my HomEc teacher said that I had to make up the assignment at home when I was better. She wrote the recipe for Rock Candy down for me and told me the flavoring was very dangerous and could only be purchased by my mom at a pharmacy. My mom and I went to the pharmacy, got the flavoring and followed the recipe exactly. However, my teacher was very old and hard of seeing. When she copied the recipe she didn’t see the dash between the 1 and 2 and wrote down 12 drops of flavoring. The entire block of kids got ill from eating that rock candy. Q. What is the most difficult part of your job? A. Naming the recipes. Because everything is so customized and uses similar ingredients, the logical name for ten different dishes would all be the same or each title would include over 5 words. For example, Chicken with Cream Sauce could be Chicken with Broccoli and Tarragon Cream Sauce or Chicken with lemon garlic cream sauce. Q. What makes your recipes unique? A. I feel like I’m more of a mind reader than a chef. After someone answers the 3 page questionnaire, I try and figure out what their perfect meal would taste like. Because we are the “melting pot” of the world, most Americans have a couple favorite ethnic tastes. So the question is how can they be combined into the perfect meal. Q. Do you do catering? A. No, not really. The closest I come to that is small dinner parties or luncheons that I cook in my clients home (as opposed to having dishes prepared and catered to your home). I can cook individual dishes for up to 6 couples. Basically, they are all chicken based dishes that your guest can choose their own version. It adds some fun to dinner especially when you share and taste each others dishes. Q. How much does it cost? A. Currently main course dinners are between $6 and $10 per serving with a $25 minimum, which can be applied to multiple visits. My 1999 introductory prices for the LaGrange area are: Dinner for 4 Mon-Fri $125 Single nights for 4 $ 29 Dinner for 2 Mon-Fri $ 69 Dinner for 1 Mon-Fri $ 49 There will be a price increase for the new year. But any regular clients will be able to keep their introductory prices for all of the year 2000. You pay for your dinner when you schedule it and discounts are applied to multiple days. I offer a money back guarantee if for any reason you don’t like your meal. Recipes by Ruth can be reached by calling 708-579-1950 or 708-579-1963 or by e-mailing RecipesbyRuth@yahoo.com. She has 2 brochures available, one for In Home Cooking in the LaGrange Area and the other for Home Meal Replacement for all of the Western Suburbs. Ruth can also refer you to other Personal Chefs in the Chicago area or throughout the country. |
| Call 708-579-1950 ext. 2 or 708-579-1963 to schedule your dinner. |
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E-mail to: Ruth@inhomecooking.com