Local mom’s business is rescuing moms

By Julie Druker

---

Maurie-Lyne Troyer loves to cook and has a wealth of cooking experience. Trained as a personal chef at Liaison College in Kingston, she came up with a business idea years ago that she felt could definitely fill a niche.Her business is called “Moms to the Rescue” and she has been its sole owner and operator for the last two years.

Her target group: busy moms who can use a hand in the kitchen. Troyer, married and with three young children of her own, understands families’ busy schedules, often with both parents working and little time to prepare home cooked meals. Dinners often turn into a “melt down”, a rushed, fly by the seat of your pants ordeal or else is picked up at the nearest fast food chain.

Enter Maurie-Lyne, "to the rescue". Troyer explains, “The main idea of the business is to help other moms to be Super Moms. I come in and cook up to 10 family-size meals.” She spends time with each client personalizing their orders and can adapt to their needs, be it incorporating organic meats and produce into the meals as well as accommodating any food allergies.

She can also include all of the preparatory grocery shopping into her client’s plan. She works on what she calls “the no trace policy. She explains, “The client ends up with a clean kitchen and a full freezer.“

On a regular workday, she loads up her van with everything she needs, cooking utensils, cutting boards, pots and pans armed with a book of her recipes. After the initial grocery shopping she usually spends about five hours in her client’s home cooking a plethora of 10 family sized meals which she will package and freeze, often leaving one fresh to be enjoyed that night.

Her business offers a base menu that includes entrees of various choices of the main meat groups. There is a wide variety of choices including mini meatloaves, chicken a la king, Sicilian stuffed pork tenderloin, shepherds pie and lasagna among many others.

Currently she is serving clients in Kingston, Sydenham, Camden East and Parham and present clients rave about the quality of the food and the service that Troyer offers. One client stated on a comment card that Troyer submits to them for feedback: “Great home cooked food, a pleasure to have in my kitchen. Every woman/man should have a Maurie-Lyne to rescue them from the everyday drudgery of HAVING to provide a meal.”

Asked about catering large functions or parties, Troyer explains that there are strict rules for caterers that would force her to redesign her kitchen.

Troyer serves me licorice tea with honey and a huge slice of delectable homemade cranberry cake during our interview in her kitchen that is spic and span.

It’s no wonder that her business is taking off. It is clear that Maurie-Lyne is one mom who takes cooking seriously and understands the importance of healthy, great tasting home-cooked meals, which these days can be the exception rather than the rule.

For more information call her at 613-374-3312 or momstotherescue@sympatico.ca