LITTLE CURRENT—By providing pre-prepared healthy and delicious food that is ready to be reheated in just a few minutes, Prepped Manitoulin is hoping to make the lives of busy Islanders a little bit easier.
“That is what we have here for people who want to eat good food, but who have busy lives with work, taking kids to hockey or other things. When do you have time to cook?” said Jodie Elliott, owner-operator of Prepped Manitoulin, which held a sneak peak open house at its Little Current location over two days last week. “We all live busy lives, and what we are doing here is helping people to enjoy time with their family, friends and all the other activities that are part of their lives without having to spend time cooking.”
Everything is provided, from hearty meals for one person or for a family, kids lunches, a grab and go section, and even a bakery on hand in the 1,400 square foot Prepped Manitoulin building located on 13 Manitowaning Road in Little Current.
Ms. Elliott explained, “I owned Elliott’s Restaurant (in Little Current) for five years, with new owners taking over in November. When I was there, I realized there is a place for a meal preparation for people in their homes or for individuals who are busy with their life but also have to grocery shop and prepare meals. Our business provides for stress free meal preparation.”
“When I first mentioned opening the business my husband Jason said he would build a shop in our back yard,” said Ms. Elliott. “Then we started to design the shop and he said he was going to buy this property. We are no longer a little meal preparation business,” she said, noting her husband, who by trade is a heavy equipment operator, constructed the building.
“We are holding our open house today and yesterday, and we will be open to the public on September 23, with our first orders to go out on September 25,” said Ms. Elliott. “We received our first order last night.”
Prepped Manitoulin, “will be offering a grab and go section in the store with items being available daily and changing daily. This will include items like deli sandwiches, grain bowls, homemade soup, macaroni and cheese, individual and family size lasagnas and much more.”
There will also be many freezer friendly frozen items available such as shepherd’s pie, homemade soup, chili, pot pies and much more.
“Carrie Green, a local baker, will be making baked goods daily, cookies, muffins, dinner rolls, peanut butter cups, mini-cheesecakes and other items,” said Ms. Elliott.
Kids’ lunches packed and ready to send to school with your little ones are also available.
“A lot of our menu items will be available gluten and dairy free, and/or plant based,” continued Ms. Elliott. “That’s just an alternative to our meat items. The options are all there.”
Ms. Elliott said, “I love to cook, and all the food that we will make here is the same food I make for my family (which includes two young children). Because we are so busy, all I do on Friday is cook everything for the week so I can enjoy my kids and family. I do it for myself. We all love convenience, and I knew there was space for our business locally.”
“We prepare all the food,” said Ms. Elliott. “All meals are ready to go into the microwave.” She pointed out, “we will do custom catering by request.”
“I love cooking,” said Ms. Elliott. “All the items we have on our menu are items that my family and I have all eaten.” She said that earlier this spring, “I made 237 meals in three months to take pictures of each of the meals to post on our website.”
“We will have 40 individual and family meal items available on a week-to-week basis, such as beef, pork, and chicken,” continued Ms. Elliott. “We do all the prep and cooking, so all a customer has to do is heat it and eat it.”
To choose your meal go to preppedmanitoulin.ca, and place your order by Thursday at 10 am. Then choose your pickup food date for Sunday or Wednesday. You can check out the new menu every week, which is posted every Thursday at 2 pm.
There are different portion sizes to fit all appetites, from small, regular, double protein, as well as kids’ school lunches and family style meals. There is the grab n’ go daily menu available during store hours with items changing daily.
You can order by phone at 705-618-7713 or online at www.preppedmanitoulin.ca
The store is open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 10 am to 5 pm, and Saturday from 9 am to 4 pm.
Ms. Elliott will have five other employees, Carrie Green in bakery, as well as a manager and three prep people.
