New 5/1 Meal Plan Offers Affordable Weekly Meal Plans To Members

OLDSMAR, Fla. - Aug. 19, 2013 - PRLog -- For time-strapped working professionals and busy parents, dinner time is usually more about convenience than health. But Charlie Bodine and Scott Henry, two Tampa entrepreneurs are looking to change the way America shops and what it spends for dinner.  Both, Henry and Bodine are graduates of the University of South Florida.

 

The two business partners, fathers and food enthusiasts have created a meal planning program with a personal touch. Each healthy and delicious recipe has been cooked and taste-tested with their own families.

 

“What most people do not realize is that shopping healthy and preparing quality meals is not difficult – it is attainable. What’s missing is the education and directional focus.  That is where our service, 5/1 Meal Plan comes to the rescue,” explained Henry. “This meal plan works because we take away the decision process and organization issues.  Members only need to shop for dinner items once a week and have a concise, easy-to-read shopping list to do this. A recent study conducting by the Natural Resources Defense Council says ‘The typical American throws out $28 to $43 worth of food each month.’

 

Much of this can be attributed to food that is bought but not used at home. The 5/1 Meal Plan helps drastically reduce this waste.”

For $1 per week, 5/1 Meal Plan delivers menus to the members each Friday via a password-protected member's page on the website.  Each week's menu plan includes recipes for five meals and a weekend bonus food item that is based on “weekend fun”.  That bonus item includes a wine or spirits pairing. The weekly meal plan also includes a corresponding budget-friendly shopping lists for easy once-a-week shopping for a family of four. This can be simply modified to feed two.

“We offer time-saving shortcuts for certain tasks that can be done ahead of time,” said Bodine. “We will list all of the food prep that can be done on the weekend so that the cooking process will be minimized. This includes cutting vegetables, mixing marinades, size portioning, etc. As working parents ourselves, we wanted the program to stay within the 30-45 minute range total cooking time, from start to finish for nearly all of the recipes.”

 

Both Henry and Bodine agree that many people struggle with cooking nightly meals because they don't have the items on hand and/or lack a few culinary steps to coordinate the meal and they resort to picking up unhealthy processed, high caloric or expensive takeout food.

 

5/1 Meal Plan offers subscribers more than an organized grocery list for each week’s meal plan. With a food and wine education stemming from 15 years at the world renowned Bern’s Steak House, Bodine wanted to share his passion with his members, which included a two year intensive food and wine study program.   He was the youngest server in Bern’s history, at the age of 19 and offered a Captain position at 22.  Working for Bern Laxer, he wrote the first training manual for the Steakhouse in 1991.  He assisted in the Server Training Program during his tenure under owner, David Laxer.  He worked very closely with Chefs Jeannie Pierola, Kim Yelvington, and Habteabe Hamde during his time.  He has since consulted in the Tampa Bay area in food and wine capacities in the restaurant industry.

 

Henry’s complex marketing and multimedia skills and Bodine’s vast knowledge of ingredients and food combinations can be seen in every weekly meal plan and shared in the special weekly videos of a selected recipe. The men take members through the recipe with step-by-step directions, economically putting nutritious, healthy meals easily within the time constraints of busy but conscientious home cooks.

 

“We make each one of our meals using fresh ingredients and include actual meal photos, not stock photography,” explained Bodine. “Because of this extra step, when you see the picture on the daily recipe, you know exactly what you are going to get. We select one meal each week and create a video for you showing us making the recipe. These videos will show tips and techniques and take away any apprehension in the kitchen.”

 

5/1 Meal Plan members have 24/7 access to the “Members Kitchen,” where the current meal plan and all of the archived recipes, videos and weekend bonuses are showcased.

 

“I believe education is key to incorporating nutrition into our busy lives and 5/1 Meal Plan provides our members a variety of good, healthy, and fresh food, that is also affordable,” said Henry. “Our goal is to make figuring out ‘what’s for dinner’ just a mouse-click away.”

 

Bodine added, “5/1 Meal Plan saves time and money. We can create great meals and give our members tips and techniques about cooking and pairing, and best of all, we make it fun in the kitchen.”

 

For a limited time, guests can join 5/1 Meal Plan and get three additional months free with six month or annual membership. To register and to learn more, visit www.51mealplan.com.

 

ABOUT 5/1 MEAL PLAN

Founded in 2013, 5/1 Meal Plan is a weekly meal planning company that provides recipes and weekend bonus, along with time-saving, healthy and taste-tested meals with online recipes, printable shopping list, supporting videos, photos, tips, techniques, and food and wine pairings. Visit www.51mealplan.com.

 

MEDIA CONTACT

5/1 Meal Plan

PO Box 1578

Oldsmar, FL 34677

 

Contact: Scott Henry

Telephone: 813-385-1183

Email: press@51MealPlan.com