I could take over all the cooking duties at my house, but family members grow weary of my chef’s hat, and I’ve learned a man with my eyebrows really shouldn’t do flambé. The reasons may be different, but a west Lawrence business is betting lots of households are finding that cooking at home doesn’t work as well as it used to.

The Fit Flavor by Optimal Living has opened in the shopping center at Bob Billings and Kasold Drive. For about four years, the business has been operating out of Baldwin City as an online company that delivers ready-to-eat meals to area residents, usually a week at a time.

That system worked well for people who took the time to plan their meals at least a week in advance, but owners Jeremy and Amelia Rodrock found there also were people who not only were too busy to make food, but also had a hard time planning for it as well.

The solution was the business’ first storefront location. While people can still order food online, they also can just drop by the store and pick up some meals. As for the food they’ll find, the menu changes each week, but it always includes a heavy dose of dishes with local ingredients.

Jeremy said some variation of a grass-fed hamburger is always on the menu. Chicken, beef or pork burrito bowls also are popular items, as well as a variety of chicken salads that feature homemade mayonnaise.

Many of the menu items are dairy free, gluten free and processed-sugar free, said Jeremy. That makes sense given the business got started more than four years when Amelia began competing in fitness events. She would spend a lot of time doing meal planning ahead of the events. Fellow competitors took note, and asked if she could make meal plans for them too. Soon, she was selling them a week’s worth of meals.

As a result, the business has long had a lot of athletes as its customers. But now the Lawrence storefront is expected to help the business tap into just ordinary people who are too busy to cook for themselves.

“I think the No. 1 trend is our fast-paced society and people relying on eating out all the time,” said Jeremy, who also is the owner and operator of Lawrence’s Rodrock Chiropractic. “But now people are realizing it is hard to get healthy food at a restaurant. I think we are in a perfect niche, especially in Lawrence because so many people are looking for local food.”

Jeremy said most of their customers sign up for one of the company’s plans that provide a week’s worth of meals at a time. Prices, according to the website, range from $135 for a one-person plan to $255 for a two-person plan.

But the storefront is allowing the company to get into more a la carte sales and to highlight products other than full-blown meals. The company sells cold-pressed juices and cold-pressed coffees. Or, if you like your coffee in a slightly different form, one of the business’ better sellers is something called a Ball of Joe. It is chocolate, coffee and other ingredients that are combined and shaped into what the store calls a “power ball.”

“It is a coffee-based snack, and it it gives you a jolt of energy,” Jeremy said.

The store makes a variety of power ball snacks. They include peanut butter, chocolate almond, and a pumpkin spice version during the holidays, and a cookies-and-cream power ball is in development. Jeremy said those products have taken on a life of their own. He said 37 grocery stores in the region are now carrying the product, which is touted as a healthier snack alternative.

While the the Rodrocks are pleased with their new west Lawrence location, some East Lawrence residents may be sad to hear the news. Optimal Living originally had planned to open a storefront as part of the project that is aiming to revitalize the former Sunrise Garden Center site at 15th and Learnard.

Rodrock, though, said getting approvals for that project was moving too slowly, and the company has abandoned those plans. East Lawrence residents, though, shouldn’t worry. Eat a few Balls of Joe, and you can probably sprint to that side of town in no time.