The Carefree Table Delivers Convenience on a Plate for Hungry Cranberry Residents

Debra Desautels worked in management for 20 years at technology and software development companies, but she always had a fondness for making delicious food. 

“I've had a life-long passion for cooking,” said Desautels of McCandless.

Pursuing her true love, Desautels recently launched The Carefree Table, an in-home personal chef business providing meal-planning services to the greater North Hills region, including the Cranberry area. 

The Carefree Table works to make your life simpler by letting a personal chef take on the grocery shopping and weekly meal planning. 

“I do the menu development and planning, shopping, prep work, cooking, and clean up,” Desautels said. “In addition to personal meal services, I can also cater small dinner parties, family celebrations.”

Desautels is a graduate of the Culinary Business Academy and fully insured and certified in safe food handling procedures. In early 2012, she began working on a business plan while going through an entrepreneurship class at Chatham University.

In August, she left her corporate job to dedicate herself to cooking full-time.

To start, Desautels meets with new clients for a consultation. Then, she puts together a menu based on their personal tastes. Clients decide how frequently they want the service, typically bi-weekly or monthly, she said.

The benefit of the service is that the menus, frequency, number of entrees and servings can all be customized to the individual client's needs and are priced accordingly.

She said a common service request is to have four entrees with four servings each, at a cost of around $230, which includes the cost of the ingredients. Prices can vary based on menu preferences and family size.

“I have younger single professionals, families with kids, and older singles and couples,” she said.

As a young girl, Desautels spent time helping her mother in the kitchen and learned the basics of getting food on the table for a busy family. As an adult, she faced a familiar challenge—how to find time to make a healthy dinner after long days of work and commuting.  

"I would spend time on weekends planning menus, shopping for ingredients and preparing our lunches and dinners for the week," she said.

Desautels said many of her clients are busy families with children who opt to have entrees packaged for the freezer to use on the days they're short on time, or if they need quick meals ready to go, there are “fresh service” meals wrapped for storage in the refrigerator.

This convenience allows them to save time when they need to, and to cook for themselves on the days when they can.

In addition to saving time, the meals offer clients the benefits of a proper nutritious diet and a healthier routine. Desautels' favorite dishes to cook use natural whole foods—lean proteins, whole grains, fresh vegetables and herbs, and rich spices.

Like the meals she cooks, clients vary in their tastes, from those seeking an all-organic, protein-heavy menu to vegetarian. 

“I do all of the cooking in the client's home so I travel to them,” Desautels said.

While Desautels is based out of the North Hills, her clients live throughout the area—from Marshall Township and Cranberry Township to Downtown and Shadyside.

For more information on The Carefree Table, visit www.thecarefreetable.com

Could you benefit from The Carefree Table's personal chef services? Tell us in the comments section below.

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