Guest post from Holly of The Work at Home Woman
It's no secret that Americans are foodies! In fact, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Americans spent an average of $6,602 a year on groceries and eating out alone (source).
If you've been looking to launch your own home-based business and you love to create culinary delights here are 5 different food careers to consider:
1. Teach Cooking Classes
Do people always rave about your cooking? Then perhaps you should launch a home-based cooking class business. Gather individuals or small groups of people in your home and teach them how to cook or bake like a pro.
Don't want to mess with a business plan and all the logistics of setting up a business? Consider joining Healthy Hands Cooking. It's a home-based franchise that certifies instructors to teach kids how to cook healthy meals and snacks. Start-up fees are minimal and include training, certification, marketing tools, business materials, as well as ongoing support.
2. Create Gourmet Goodies
Are you a whiz in the kitchen? Then consider starting your own gourmet food business. Foodies not only love to consume delicious goodies, they also make make great gifts! From fancy gourmet sauces and treats, to healthy and specialty snack items.
Set up your own website or use an e-commerce platform like Foodoro and you’re ready to start selling your custom treats.
3. Become a Direct Sales Consultant
Would you love to own your own cafe or bistro but don't have the funds to invest in a brick and mortar storefront? No problem. The direct sales industry has made it easier than ever to have your very own home-based business within the food industry.
Companies like the Traveling Vineyard, Tastefully Simple, and Dove Chocolate Discoveries offer home-based business opportunities selling products like wine, gourmet mixes, spices, desserts, chocolates, and gift sets.
As a direct sales consultant you will be paid a commission on each product that you sell. Most direct sales companies will also pay you a small bonus commission from consultants who you refer into the program.
4. Start a Food Blog
Do you enjoy writing? Do you love to test out new recipes? Then join the ranks of Julie Powell, who set out to cook all the recipes in Julia Child's cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking.
Not only did Julie's blog quickly generate a huge following, but she went on to the write the bestselling book Julie & Julia, which was later turned into a movie. While you can make money through book sales, bloggers can also make money through direct ad sales, affiliate marketing, as well as working with brands.
Tip: Read more on how to make money blogging here.
5. Food Stylist
Do you have an eye for detail? Then working as a food stylist may be your calling. Food Stylists prep and prepare food items for displays, cookbooks, photo shoots, advertisements, and menus. Becoming a Food Stylist requires knowledge of the culinary industry as well as additional training or apprenticeship.
Denise Vivaldo, a seasoned food professional with over 27 years of experience has created workshops and classes for those who are interested in this field. You can also check out her book on Amazon, The Food Stylist's Handbook.
For more information on ways to make money, visit The Work at Home Woman, where you can read about topics like how to make money completing short tasks, selling your used stuff online, and businesses you can start with no money.
photo source
Okay, so you know how I promised that I was going to get this post up by 6 p.m. EST. Um, yeah.
And how I thought that I would get my whole morning list — including thoroughly cleaning out both of our bedrooms — done by noon? Ahem. I seriously have an issue with underestimating how long things are going to take me!
That said, the first part of the morning went along fairly smoothly and I mostly followed my Morning Plan to a tee.
{Well, except I never did make it out of my yoga pants. I just exercised, threw on a sweatshirt, and put my hair up. Kind of gross, I know, but sometimes that’s just life and I’m all about keeping it real here. However, I promise that I *will* shower tonight before bed.}
I started the day with finishing up the last lesson in the She Reads Truth Thankfulness study (yes, I’m a little behind!), reading a chapter from The Best Yes, and writing in my Gratitude Journal.
Silas was done with his morning chores and had already eaten breakfast, so he got to open a gift from the Blessing Box that my mom made for him to countdown to Christmas.
Each day, we read a short paragraph about something related to Christmas or an attribute of Jesus and then he gets to open a small gift that serves as a reminder of that. Today it was about Jesus being light.
When Jesse got home from the gym, he whipped up a batch of Protein-Packed Bacon Omelet Bites for breakfast. These turned out so yummy! I’ll post the recipe later this week. {And yes, I’m spoiled that Jesse makes breakfast like this many mornings!}
We’re on a new schedule now that my book is done and I’m overseeing breakfast/morning chores and homeschooling in the mornings while Jesse works and then we swap at lunch time and he takes over homeschooling and afternoon kid activities while I work.
We got a membership to a office-sharing space a few months ago and Jesse usually goes there in the mornings and I go in the afternoons. We sometimes work from home, too, depending upon the day.
We’re learning what works and what doesn’t as we go… but overall this both of us sharing the homeschooling/housework/business responsibilities has been a true win for our family at this season of our lives.
I got in a quick run on the treadmill, and then Jesse left to go work and I cleaned up the kitchen while the kids finished breakfast.
While I finished up the kitchen and some laundry, the girls finished their morning routine and chores and then got busy on their school projects for the day.
I helped Silas with his kindergarten workbooks while the girls worked on their morning schoolwork. He is eating up school like it’s the best idea ever invented… which makes teaching him a lot of fun! 
For the most part, the girls are able to work pretty independently on many of their projects. Jesse grades everything every night and goes over what they missed/are struggling with. He’s SUCH a great teacher and I love watching him patiently working with them on math problems or science experiments or helping them research something for an essay they are writing.
After Silas finished his Kindergarten lessons, I worked on the laundry and finished a few cleaning projects and then we all sat at the kitchen table and eat lunch while I read today’s devotional and a chapter from our current read aloud book.
I had planned to get started on the bedrooms after this, but it was almost noon and I needed to leave with Jesse to drop him off at the car shop to pick up his car (it’s been in the shop off and on for the past week because of some weird issues it’s been having — we are hopeful that it’s finally fixed!). Jesse got home right around noon, we all loaded in my car, and drove to the shop. I dropped them all off and drove home while Jesse took the kids to Kathrynne’s swim team practice.
I’m sill recovering from a head cold today and not feeling 100% at all, so I decided to work from home this afternoon instead of going into the shared office space to work. I had a podcast interview at 1:30 p.m. and then emails to answer, projects to work on, posts to draft, comments to respond to, and lots of other little projects to attend to.
Before I knew it, it was 5:30 p.m. and I still hadn’t gotten the bedrooms clean. So, I finished up my blog work for the day and got busy on the bedroom…
At first glance, the bedroom doesn’t look too bad.
{Yes, don’t freak out that our bed is unmade… I try to make it every day, but it doesn’t always happen. Still working on developing that habit!}
But look closer in the closet and you’ll see it needs LOTS of help.
There’s a suitcase that I never fully unpacked from last week’s trip, a box of some odds and ends of winter hats and gloves that I only recently pulled out from storage… and has been getting all sorts of things tossed into it as it’s sat in our closet!
And there’s an overflowing tub of CD’s and DVD’s that desperately needs to be gone through.
I went through all the shelves, the overflowing tub, all the dresser drawers, unpacked the suitcase, organized all the shelves, and found a LOT of things to get rid of.
After an hour and a half, it looked SO much better!
Kaitlynn and Silas busied themselves helping me organized my jewelry.
Then I dusted — including dusting the fan blades that had never been dusted since we moved here.
Yikes! They were BAD! This was just from one blade!
I cleaned the floor, made the bed, and lit a candle. And it looked worlds better.
And it didn’t just look good, it felt so good because I had found this entire box full of stuff to donate to Goodwill!
I didn’t even make it to the Kids’ Room today, but 2 hours of deep cleaning was enough for one day. I’ll try to tackle it tomorrow!
Leave a Comment & You Could Win This Stack of Books!
In my cleaning today, I found this stack of books that I’ve been meaning to give away on my blog for about a month now. Who wants to win them? To win, just leave a comment on this post and I’ll choose one winner tomorrow evening and will mail them to you so you’ll have them in time for Christmas. Most are brand-new or in like-new condition and would be great for gifts for people on your Christmas list!
Did you work on cleaning your house today? If you blogged about participating in this Clean Your House For Christmas Challenge, leave the direct link to your post below that is specifically about this challenge. Or, leave a comment telling us how your cleaning went today.
