Thanks Everyone!

This concludes our blog. Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts, and creativity. Your recruiter will be sending out your incentives.

One last item on the ideal meal

You asked what celebrity would work well. Frankly, it doesn't do anything for me so it's irrelevant. I couldn't name half the actors in any one film, so you're wasting your money appealing to someone like me. An honest product pitched by an honest company is what I'm seeking. You can keep the Hollywood fakes as far as I'm concerned.

Swift Steak

I would have a steak that is pre-marinated and seasoned that you could cook in just a matter of minutes. I would call it “Swift Steak”. It would give me the ability to have my favorite food in just a matter of minutes. It would taste great, seasoned so it would not be bland. It would be in a soy based marinade with seasonings such as garlic green onion, season salt, salt, and pepper, all of the necessities for a good steak. It would satisfy my craving with my favorite food that packs a lot of protein. It would be just as healthy as you cooking a steak for yourself, some people think that steak is healthy because of the protein; some won’t think so because of the cholesterol. My commercial would like to get the point across that even though you don’t have a lot of time to prepare a meal you can still have a steak that you love. I would get someone Tracy Morgan to promote this product, I think that he is ridiculous enough that it would make the product stand out to people and get them to try it.

ideal meal

I really don't have a single minded "ideal meal". There are so many variables such as time of day, mood, level of hunger, time, and level of activity. I realize what you're getting at here so maybe I can generalize with some scenarios that overall reflect the idea of eating a balanced, healthy, fresh meal or snack:

1) Late in day, been exercising and I have time. I'm thinking grilled chicken, fresh green beans or asparagus, pasta salad, caesar salad, and a white wine.

2) Saturday morning - it's probably eggs, bacon, wheat toast, coffee, maybe orange juice with my daughters. Nobody else is up so it's quiet and we splurge on the bacon (not the best thing on a regular basis for health).

3) Lunch time it's going out to Chipotle, Subway, or the local Thai restaurant.

4) Snack - something fresh at work like an apple or bananna if I planned ahead. Otherwise, it's a granola bar.

Here's what is NOT:
High sugar or fat content.
Starchy food such as mac and cheese.
Simple carbohydrates.
Bland.
Meals that omit fruits or vegatables completely. It sounds like I'm a veggie fanatic, but I'm not. Just trying to keep things balanced.

Ideal meal

Usually my snack food choise is not frozen, but fresh food such as apples or bananas. If I did desire to reach for frozen food to warm up, it would be a mix of carrots, broccoli, asparagus and maybe another vegetable. Possibly dip on the side
I would call it The Filling Four.
It would temporarily satisfy mild hunger.
Not sure what it would taste like.
The ingredients would be what I listed above.
It would be ideal because it would fill you up for a little bit and be healthy because it's just vegetables.
It would convey filling you up to keep you going without hurting your health.
I would try to get someone like Lance Armstrong or Micheal Phelps that is an athlete in a physically demanding sport to show that my product is respected by someone who watches their health.

Exercise 3: Ideal Meal

Think about the time of day or what you’re doing when you reach for a snack or type of food you really enjoy eating. Now, imagine you’re the president of your own frozen food company, and you can create a snack especially to enjoy during that time.

• What would it be?
• What would you call it?
• What does it do for you?
• What would it taste like?
• What are the ingredients?
• Why would it be ideal to satisfy your craving?
• Is it healthy? How?
• If you made a commercial to promote your snack, what message would it convey to other men like you?
• Who would you get as a celebrity spokesperson? Why them?

Power Thai Restaurant

The Power Thai Restaurant is a fast food restaurant modelled after Chipolte, but themed along the lines of Thai food. The main concept is good value, fast service, great tasting food. Here's how it works:

Customer enters the restaurant and greeted much like they would at a traditional Thai restaurant. However, instead of being seated they place their order immediately at a kiosk. The choices are limited to ensure quality, speed, and affordability. Select a staple of rice or noodles. Second select meat of pork or chicken. Next, assemble the spices/sauces for a finished product of paad thai, cashew brown sauce, basil red sauce, or green curry. All would include a healthy portion of carrots, brocholi, mini corn cobs, and mushrooms. Lastly comes fire! It's Thai, so it HAS to be hot. In the interest of mass distribution, I'd let customers select mild, medium, hot, or jungle Thai HOT.

That's it! All served within 10 minutes of arrival for dining in or carryout. Tastes great, costs $6 regardless of items selected, healthy balance, and speedy fast service. All with a smile. Credit cards accepted to keep those kiosks cooking.

Customers? They love the concept because they get a high quality, great tasting food, quickly, without killing the budget. Plus, for free they get an endorphine rush with the patented jungle Thai Hot sauce.

Paul's Pasta

Paul's Pasta would sell a healthy variety of pasta dishes, with a few not so healthy when you want to indulge.
The individual portions would be made to order based on spice of sauce, type of noodle and added ingredients. So there would be a basic spaghetti or an involved lasagna or individual pizza. The base sauce (either tomato based red or cream based white) would be the same for the combination. The spice level would be added. The noodles would be steam cooked, ingredients put together then packaged. Imagine a Subway but with pasta.
Ingredients would be eggs, flour, water for the noodles. They would be made and baked, but then dried into individual portions for future steaming upon ordering. Sauces would be the red or white mentioned before. Added ingredients could be cheeses, meats, veggies and spices.
Each would taste differently due to the spices and cheeses the customer adds.
Customers would feel satisfied and happy, they chose what they wanted to go in and they would be helped along the way on knowing what ingredients added what calories/fats/sodium etc.
The nutritional value would depend on what ingredients the customer ordered, but there would be a list of basic, suggested servings (lasagna, spaghetti, pizza) with the lowest combinations as starting points.

Exercise 2: Your Restaurant

Imagine that you are opening a restaurant that sells convenient, tasty food that all your friends would want to come check out because it does it in a different way than other fast food restaurants today. Start by naming the restaurant and describing the concept.

Then, create 3 dishes to put on the menu

• Tell us what the ingredients are
• How would each taste
• How would each leave your customers feeling after they ate it
• What nutritional value would each provide

Exercise response

I wlll cook a frozen pizza about once a week. Usually the Market Day ones. We order about $50 to $100 in frozen meals each month. The ribs, roasts, pizza, potatoes - it's all good stuff. Usually, like Kirk, it's a time crunch. Where & when do I have to get the kids somewhere. During the school year Mondays were my hell days. Dance practices between the two girls meant I had only 1/2 hour to prepare dinner, the girls eat & change clothes between pickup one & drop off the other. I'd do stir fry more, but need more practice.