Huntley Woman Delivers Hearty Dinners in a Flash

Sharon Host remembers the hectic days of getting home from work to care for young children while trying to figure out what to cook for dinner.

Dinner often ended up being carry out or, on some occasions, cold cereal.

"I feel their pain," the Huntley mom of two said. "I understand what they are going through. I don't judge them for going through the drive-thru. I did it too."

Host hopes to alleviate the chaos and help families come together for dinner.

She recently opened Thyme to Share, a meal preparation business with a twist: She delivers the meal kits that aim to be healthy, fresh and easy to prepare.

A sales executive whose job often took her away from home, Host decided she needed a career change but wanted to do something fulfilling, something she was passionate about, she said.

Cooking has always been something Host enjoyed, so she started researching the idea of opening a meal preparation business. What she found was those types of business had been a trend five or six years ago but seemed to be fading away.

Her research showed consumers didn't like the high price, the fact the meals were frozen and didn't have the time to go to a location and prepare meals, she said.

Thyme to Share kits, starting at $22, offers fresh ingredients and can be prepared within 30 to 40 minutes, depending on how much your children will help out, she said. Each recipe is color-coded to show parents which steps children can do, so preparing the meal becomes a way to spend time with them.

"We've got nine items to choose from, it changes every two weeks," Host said, sitting in front area of her storefront on Vine Street.  "We have a wide variety, we have crock pot recipes, we have fancier menus or the family favorites like pizza. We really try to appeal to lots of different tastes."

Host only uses fresh ingredients, she said. Dessert is included.

"What we do is cook from scratch, we are eliminating the preservatives and processing," she said. "In my experience, when we take out the preservatives, it makes a big difference.

The recipes come from her family, neighbors and online, she said.  She gets lots of inspiration from Food Network celebrity cook Rachel Ray.

"I would watch her show, and I would try to do what she did in 30 minutes," Host said. "I did OK, but I would take so long. What I figured out is she has all the ingredients at her fingertips. Our idea was to pull all those ingredients together" in a kit, she said.

The portions are smaller than restaurants but not diet size, she said. Thyme to Share is not a diet nor do meals meet any dietary requirements, but the meals are healthy, she said.

"I follow my mom gut instinct," Host said. "There's always a veggie on the plate along with a protein and starch. It's what Mom taught me—it works."

Business has been steady since Thyme to Share opened in February, she said, and it gets better every month, adding the business has a good customer base and is reaching out beyond its target audience. Host has started delivering kits to three Schaumburg office buildings and hopes to build a following that way.

Locally, Host did lots of research and found that Huntley residents eat out often. A survey by the village found that residents eat out three times a week. She also found that children who are picky eaters tend try new foods if they have a hand in preparing meals, she said.

"Our goal is to replace one meal a week with this instead of a drive-thru," she said.

She is keeping her hopes up that the business will take off.

"I feel I am doing some good in the world," Host said . "I'm doing something to help families eat healthy and bring families back to the kitchen table."