KANSAS CITY, Mo. — An Olathe woman created her own homemade meal delivery service and it's been a huge success.
"Lazagna Lady," yes, with a Z, started when Nicole Leffel figured she'd start selling a few lasagnas to moms who needed a break from cooking.
She posted the idea in a mom's group on Facebook and received dozens of orders in just a few days.
"70 lasagnas in four days and everyone was in love and I was just cooking and cooking and cooking nonstop," Leffel said. "I was like, okay, people want more. I can make something out of this."
She turned up the gas and now makes nearly 200 portions a week for delivery all over the metro.
Leffel and her husband started a Facebook group, The Lazagna Lady, to handle requests. Eventually the business got it's own LLC.
The success makes sense when you compare her business model to the popularity of other meal delivery services.
Statista shows popular service HelloFresh doubled users in the last few years.
Leffel's own success isn't just making dinner easy though, it's making it good.
"It’s meals that I know that I would want at my dinner table," she said. "People enjoy the fact that it's not processed foods that they don't know what they're getting. It's not small serving sizes. Because I believe in, I want a big plate in front of me."
She's gotten busier, making all those meals, finding new recipes every week, but her coworkers (her husband and daughter) make it worthwhile.
"It's been amazing to be able to be home with our children together, you know. And grow from that together and make this business together. We like to call it a power couple," Leffel said.
After all, that's really what this is about: Bringing people closer together.
"Knowing that my food is at someone's dinner table bringing a family together is my favorite part of it," she said.
It's a labor of love, her secret ingredient.
