ruffneck, as eveyone one has said, a reduction in feedings will help lower waste. The reason I am chiming in is to help explain fully why the reduced feedings will help.
The amount of food taken in by the fish is directly proportional to the amount of waste that fish will produce. Right now, with a not-completely-cycled tank, you want as little fish waste produced as possible. So, this is why cutting down your feedings will help keep the levels of pollution low in your tank. Eventually, when cycled you can go back to feeding twice a day -- if you purchase a test kit, you will be able to see what state your cycle is in on your own without having to take your water to the fish store.
The main benefit of the plants is two-fold. Firstly, fish like to have places to hide. The contradictory behavior of fish is that they will tend to come out to be seen in the front of the tank if there are many places to hide. Remember, virtually all our aquarium fish are fairly low on the food chain, so their instinct is to spend most of their lives in constant fear of predation. This is where the hidey holes come in. If the fish knows that there are numerous places to hide in an instant, they will be more willing to come out -- safety is just a few flicks of the tail away.
Secondly, live plants are nitrogen waste uptakers. Plants will take up ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate -- exactly the products of the cycle. So, mainly, live plants will significantly help keep the pollution levels lower in your tank. Some people find keeping live plants tricky, so if you have plastic plants, they will do the hiding places job nicely and you don't have to worry about them dying off. Though obviously, you dont get the pollution control ability with plastic plants.
