(LYONS, NEBRASKA) - Cooking healthy meals can be a long process many of us feel we simply don't have time to do, especially after a long day's work. However, one family started a business to help people cook quicker and eat better.
Rebecka and Allen Fleischman run Soup 'N More in Lyons, Nebraska: a grocery shop just a few miles away from their farm. They never intended to begin a business. Instead, they were looking for a way to save Rebecka's life.
The Fleischmans didn't pay a dime for their grain-grinding machine: a key part to their lifestyle.
Seven years ago, though, their pockets were practically empty when Rebecka Fleischman got sick.
"The doctors were telling me you should be dead. We don't know what to do, but here, take a pill. Ended up on about 122 pills a day," said Rebecka Fleischman, co-owner of Soup 'N More.
A new doctor suggested they look into the chemicals in the foods Rebecka was eating.
"And each chemical I cut out, I kept getting better," said Rebecka. "My husband was like, what did our grandparents do? And I'm like, mine canned. So we upped our garden that year. We started dehydrating, canning. We started milking goats at that time and learned to make your own butter, eggs and cheese, and I just kept getting better and better."
Then, two years ago, she and her husband decided to start their own food making business, hoping to share their get better cure and make quick meals approach.
"We're bringing healthy food to people that we know doesn't have any GMOs in it. It doesn't have any chemicals in it. So it's healthy food. It's something when you eat, you know you're not gonna get sick about it," said Allen Fleischman, Rebecka's husband.
The Fleischmans come out to their garden and pick their green beans. Then, they bring them to the store and in their commercial kitchen, they'll take their green beans and dehydrate them.
"Like our soups. They're designed for the crock-pot. Five minutes in the morning, throw them in. You can add leftover meat or not. Whether you're home at 5, o'clock or 6 o'clock, or 7 o'clock, it's waiting for you," explained Rebecka.
It's a strategy she got from her grandparents: fresh and easy cooking.
"We're going back to the whole grains, the natural. Bread isn't supposed to last three weeks. My bread, within 3 or 4 days this time of year, starts molding. That's what it's supposed to do," said Rebecka.
She thought she was supposed to stay with her accounting job, but like the name, life is Soup 'N More.
"God always has a plan. We don't know what it is and this, he just sent us down this path and I'm ex-corporate. I'm an ex-accountant, and if anyone would've told me 20 years ago I'd be doing this, I'd probably have laughed in their face," said Rebecka.
Their biggest challenge is finding employees. The Fleishmans are looking to hire people to help them with both their store and farm. Go to
www.soupNmore.com or call the store at (402) 687-4149.
