Hot dish hoping to become a hot start-up

Minnetonka food start-up Mostly Made debuted its products on crowdfunding website Kickstarter.com on January 24, 2017. The idea began as a better way to bring meals to an ill family member, but the resulting fillings can help other busy people get a fresh dinner together quickly. The Kickstarter campaign hopes to pre-sell their savory fillings so they can begin production.

When her sister-in-law was diagnosed with breast cancer, Jillian McGary did what many Minnesotans would do: she made hot dish for the family. That is, until the bulky pans would no longer fit in the freezer.

After cooking many dinners over many months, she realized it took hours to chop vegetables and brown the meat, but once that was done, the meal could be assembled in a few minutes.

So Jillian began bringing just the dinner fillings. Each one stacked nicely in the fridge and could be prepared whenever the family needed a quick meal. The result was healthy food, no chopping and a cleaner kitchen.

“I began keeping the fillings in my freezer too. It was a relief to have a plan for dinner and I realized Mostly Made could help other busy people cook healthier meals and eat more vegetables,” said founder Jillian McGary.

With two kids of her own, Jillian was seasoned at sneaking healthy ingredients into dinners. She replaced two-thirds of the meat with extra beans, mushrooms, zucchini, onions or peppers. The Enchilada and Lasagna Fillings actually contain over a pound of vegetables in each package, though you wouldn’t know it from the meaty flavor.

McGary, who had been wary of traditional frozen food, aimed to make healthy family meals using fresh ingredients. She is partnering with a Minneapolis gourmet producer to cook her line of assemble-and-heat fillings from the same recipes she created at home. The resulting meals are gluten-free, locally produced and filled with veggies.

Home cooks customize meals to their liking; opting to make them gluten-free, dairy-free, with or without extra sauce. Consumers do the fun part, without the hassle of chopping, measuring and clean-up. “I felt like I was really cooking! But it was easier than making it from scratch,” said Mostly Made tester, Jenny Putnam. The fillings offer a head-start on homemade with recipes that are ready to bake before the oven preheats—saving cooks an hour of cutting, cooking and cleaning.

“Each meal is freshly cooked so we need enough customers to meet our producer’s minimum batch requirements,” said Jillian. The online Kickstarter hopes to pre-sell 24-ounce Lasagna and Enchilada Fillings that ship to each supporter. If the Kickstarter funding goal isn't reached, McGary will not receive any of the raised funds. "If you like this idea and would like to buy these meals some day, please back our project so we can launch," stressed McGary.

Each package contains 24-oz of filling that fits in a 9”x13” pan and serves 4-6 people. Jillian McGary founded Mostly Made L.L.C. in 2015. Her sister-in-law is celebrating two years cancer-free.