Start a Legal Home Food Business
by Arjaree
Monetize Your Family Recipes
A Practical Guide to Starting a MEHKO
You don’t need a restaurant.
You don’t need a food truck.
And you don’t need to risk everything to share the food you love.
Monetize Your Family Recipes is a clear, compassionate guide for home cooks who want to legally sell fully cooked meals from their own kitchen through a Microenterprise Home Kitchen Operation (MEHKO).
Written by educator and home chef Arjaree, this guide walks you through the MEHKO model step by step—without pressure, jargon, or unrealistic promises. It is designed for real people with real lives: parents, retirees, hobby cooks, community members, and anyone who loves feeding others but wants a legal, manageable way to do so.
Inside, you’ll learn:
What a MEHKO is—and how it differs from cottage food, catering, food trucks, and restaurants
How MEHKO laws work, including California’s AB 626 and AB 377
How to check if MEHKOs are allowed in your county and what to expect during inspection
Required equipment vs. helpful upgrades (from real-life experience)
How to design a profitable MEHKO menu
Costing, pricing, and sustainability—without burnout
Customer service tips for home-based food businesses
When to adjust, pause, or pivot your MEHKO as life changes
Throughout the book, Author’s Notes share practical insights from Arjaree’s own MEHKO journey—what worked, what didn’t, and what she wishes someone had told her earlier.
This is not a get-rich-quick guide.
It’s a bridge option—for cooks who want something real, legal, and sustainable without turning their lives upside down.
If you’ve ever thought:
“I love cooking, but I don’t know where to start,”
“I want to share my food without breaking the rules,”
or
“There has to be a middle ground,”
—you’re in the right place.
By Arjaree is a place for stories that travel. Inspired by family, culture, and real-life experiences, these books are written to spark curiosity, encourage learning, and connect generations — one page, one kitchen table, one conversation at a time.
Arjaree is an educator, home chef, and storyteller who writes stories rooted in family, culture, and everyday moments that quietly shape who we become. Inspired by her Thai heritage, her children, and a lifelong love of learning through food and travel, she creates books that invite readers of all ages to explore the world with curiosity and heart. Her work spans fiction and nonfiction, blending real places, real traditions, and real questions about identity, belonging, and growth. Whether she’s guiding young readers through international adventures, helping families learn through cooking, or sharing practical wisdom through humor and storytelling, Arjaree’s voice is grounded, thoughtful, and deeply human. She lives in Carlsbad, California, where her books often begin their journeys—traveling from family to family, classroom to classroom, and community bookshelf to community bookshelf.
