About a year ago Bill and Mary Lou Butler opened a meal prep business called Creating Dinner aiming to reach the family that doesn`t sit down at the dinner table together anymore. The idea is to take the hassle out of buying, preparing and making a meal.

The Butlers create a new menu every month with 14 new items to choose from. Each entrée serves four to six people. Customers choose as many entrees as they like and, once they decide, all the ingredients will be prepared and laid out ready to cook upon arrival.

Walk-ins are welcome, or you can call and make an appointment for a session. Menus are available online and in the store. Sessions are closed 36 hours in advanced to prepare for the quantity of food needed.

The staff sets out all the ingredients for the meals. When the costumers arrive to assemble the meals, everything is ready to assemble at one of the seven stations set up in the store with each station set for two different meals with recipe sheets. All the ingredients are stored in a refrigeration unit stored in each station.

No shopping or chopping necessary, and the staff does the cleaning too. If the costumers do not have time to stop and prepare the meal, the staff can assemble the entrée, package it and it will be ready for the customer to pick up.

The idea is to take the hassle out buying, preparing and making a meal.

Freezer space at home is necessary. Meals are stored in freezer bags and containers that the Butlers provide to the costumers.

 With more than 30 years of food experience, the Butlers decided to get out of working for someone else and start working for themselves.

"I decided to do some investigating and I came up with this and thought ‘wow, we can do this,' so that`s what we did," said Bill.

There are more than 1,500 meal prep franchise stores in the United States and five in the Farragut area. Creating Dinner is the only independently owned location in Knoxville. "What makes us different from the other stores in the area, besides our food experience, is we are the only independently owned store. The others are franchise stores," said Butler.  

The Butlers employ two or three part timers, one being Mary Lou`s little sister.

Their customers have included single moms and dads, seniors, family groups, and sororities. "We had a party of sorority girls in here that were donating meals to the Ronald McDonald house. They all made one meal each and I thought that was the coolest thing," recalled Butler.

A party of Army wives stuck out in Butler`s mind. One of the women was pregnant and her husband was overseas and her friends brought her to the store to prepare meals for her and her kids. That way once the baby was born she wouldn`t have to worry about making dinner.

For a kitchen session, prices range from $23 plus tax for one to five entrees to $250 plus tax for 12 entrees.  Pre-assembled entrees cost $28 for on to five entrees.

The shrimp with sausage gumbo has become one of the more popular entrees. They started this entrée in October 2006 and people kept asking for it. "It`s a good hearty soup that will give a little sweat to the brow with all the heat," said Butler

Knoxville has an overwhelming array of food choices such as restaurants, fast food places, cafes, and other businesses like the Butlers`. This made business the first year slower than anticipated. They tried many advertising methods, even radio remotes and a Charter Media infomercial.

Butler estimates that 80 percent of the patrons heard about the store through word of mouth, however.

For the next year the Butlers hope to build on what they have already accomplished.

 "We are very happy with where we have gone in only a year. We wish we had more sales, but who doesn`t."

This slideshow was created by Yolanda Ortiz. Photos were taken by Samantha Thornton.