<p style="clear: both;"><img src="http://i670.photobucket.com/albums/vv65/ANOTHERNEWSEASON/IMG_7043-1-1.jpg" alt="" width="320" height="263" /></p>
<p style="clear: both;">I must have been excited because I woke up right before my alarm went off on Wednesday morning. I may have been excited, but first things first, I needed coffee. So after my coffee was made I started working.</p>
<p style="clear: both;">I followed the instructions that I printed off of Tricia's site and did my best to follow each step.</p>
<p style="clear: both;">I won't give you the play-by-play because that would take all day but I will list a few of the <strong>highlights</strong>:</p>

<ul>
	<li>I started with Stuffed Pancake Cupcakes (which came out great!) I made these gluten free by using Pamela's Gluten Free Mix.</li>
	<li>I was pretty hesitant making the Beef Empanadas, but we ate them last night and <strong>they were delicious</strong>!</li>
	<li>Using a liner for the crockpots is a great investment, I <strong>saved so much cleanup time</strong> and the meals didnt' burn around the edges, which is a problem I often face when using the crockpot.</li>
	<li>Cutting up all of the vegetables the day before <strong>MUST be done</strong>, it would have been a great <strong>time-saver</strong>!</li>
	<li>I will invest in <strong>reusable containers</strong> so that there is not so much waste,  I do love the aluminum pans but if I do this often that would make for a  lot of expense and waste, something we're trying to reduce.</li>
	<li><strong>WEAR SNEAKERS</strong> IF YOU'RE GOING TO BE ON YOUR FEET ALL DAY! My feet are still aching me, I should have know better!</li>
	<li><strong>Clean as you go, especially the dishes</strong> - this is where a dishwasher would be handy too. (*hint hint sweetie)</li>
	<li><strong>Have a plan for your kids for the day. </strong>Claire our 3 year old was set up at the dining table for a while with playdoh, Caleb was able to spend some time with me in the kitchen in his highchair. I took a few breaks just to read a book or play for a few minute. They also enjoyed a good amount of Sesame Street, Blue's Clues, Dora and Thomas. I was really impressed how content they were all day while I worked, but next time I'll try to arrange a play-date or sitter for the kids so that I can get things done with out distractions.</li>
	<li>Making your own Granola is EASY and so <strong>delicious</strong>!</li>
	<li>Next time I'll <strong>make more breakfast meals.</strong> I skipped the pancakes this time but it would have been really nice to have them in the freezer for a quick breakfast.</li>
	<li>Set up <strong>extra tables</strong> if you need more counter space.</li>
	<li>I used our dining room table and <strong>set up a "packaging area"</strong> where I could package the meals and label them.</li>
	<li>I put food that needed to be cooled outside on our porch ( It was below freezing on Wednesday). This was actually very helpful!</li>
</ul>
I did run into one problem. I wasn't sure how to measure out the cooked ground beef for each recipe. I had a similar problem with the onions.I ended up guessing the amounts which worked out this time but I sent Tricia a message asking her if there was a solution to my problem. She replied (isn't she great!)

I've added a few new items to my AStore  (you can click through to my Amazon Store over in the right sidebar, by doing so I will earn small percentage of every sale.)
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<p style="clear: both;">A special thanks to:</p>
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[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="320" caption="My IPod, you kept me moving!"]<img src="http://i670.photobucket.com/albums/vv65/ANOTHERNEWSEASON/IMG_7047-1.jpg" alt="" width="320" height="240" />
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[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="320" caption="Rebekah, for letting me borrow her Crockpot!"]<img class=" " src="http://i670.photobucket.com/albums/vv65/ANOTHERNEWSEASON/IMG_7050.jpg" alt="" width="320" height="240" />[/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="214" caption="Reynolds Slow Cooker Liners, you made cleanup a breeze!"]<img src="http://i670.photobucket.com/albums/vv65/ANOTHERNEWSEASON/slowcookerliner.jpg" alt="" width="214" height="87" />[/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="240" caption="Coffee, I couldn&#39;t have done this without you!"]<img class=" " src="http://i670.photobucket.com/albums/vv65/ANOTHERNEWSEASON/IMG_7051.jpg" alt="" width="240" height="320" />[/caption]