5 Myths About Living With a Chef

The day I announced to family and friends that I was dating a chef, I began to hear all of the common myths.  I believed most of them at the time.  But, as time went on, I began to realize that I was wrong.  Living with a chef has it's perks (especially when you love and genuinely care for them) but don't let people fool you.

The top 5 myths I heard about living with a chef:

You will eat so good!

And some nights I do.  We have nights where we plan out an amazing menu and cook together and enjoy our awesome creation.  But, that is when he is home.  Chefs are hired to cook other people dinner, not their adoring and quite beautiful girlfriend.  When he is busting his ass on the line during dinner rush, I tend to have sandwiches or reheated soup.  Unless the kids are here.  Then we have something kid-friendly like tacos or brinner.  

You won't have to do ALL the cooking.  

Don' get me wrong.  My chef  helps out in the kitchen.  But, I do the majority of the cooking.  Again, those dinner rushes keep him at work while the kids and I fend for ourselves.  And when he is home to help with dinner, we are usually tired and come up with the extravagant meal of "Pasta and Sauce".  Occasionally we throw a salad in there if it doesn't require too much chopping.

I bet you will eat a lot less junk food...

Excuse me....BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.......HA!

Okay.  Less junk food?  You are kidding right?  He gets home after a long day of fixing meals for other people and he heads straight for the pizza rolls.  "Frozen waffles can be dinner right?"   I actually consume far more junk food now than I did before he moved in.  He often doesn't have a chance to eat at dinner time, sustaining himself on Red Bull through his shift, and after the rush he just wants to pack up and go home.  

Your kitchen will always be so clean.

This is NOT my house...but I feel like it some times.  And it makes me twitch.

At work, the kitchen is always clean.  There are strict standards and rules that are followed to keep food safety and a maximum.  While we do keep many of these rules at home (storing raw meat on the bottom, keeping the fridge at certain temps, etc.,) the dishes often pile up and are left for the next day.  At work, he can't get away with that.  He can't leave the next shift crew with a dish pit full of dirty dishes and pans.  That just wouldn't fly.  But at home he leaves a sink full of dirty dishes for the next day almost every day.  I have always been bad about being too tired after dinner and leaving the mess.  But now we have added to that.  Let's not even discuss my kitchen floor...

You will save so much money not eating out so much.

A chef in a grocery store is like a kid in a candy store.  The mentality of "let's try ALL the foods" can sometimes to lead to a jaw dropping total at the checkout.  If we do not plan out our meals for the week and stick to that list, we end up spending a lot.  I am so vigilant about it, that I sometimes don't purchase enough food for the week.  Then one of those crazy hectic days filled with school, work, therapy, and errands comes around and the kids and I are parked in the fast food parking lot.  Or a Kids Eat Free night so mommy can have a beer with dinner.  

So, there is a little truth to these statements, but I am not living like the rich and famous with a personal chef.  I do get to eat a lot of awesome food made from scratch (in part because I love to cook as well) but most nights we are throwing together noodles and leftover sloppy joe meat while praying that the kids will eat it without complaint (and hopefully eat a few carrots with it) Or grabbing a plate full of pizza rolls for lunch as I type a blog post about my chef boyfriend.....

There could be a list like this for all professions.  Doctors, brew masters, and accountants all have things that outsiders would think transfer from their profession into their home lives.  The point is that we love our partner and encourage them in their chosen field.  Even if that means taking dish duty again.