Last week I met a  friend for coffee.  When I finally got up the nerve, I told her about SweetPotatoMayas.  She literally had tears in her eyes.  How awesome and sweet is she!?  I was floored - what did I do to deserve such a friend??  She was so excited for me, and wanted to know more about how I got it all going; who I contacted, which governmental agencies I went through, what types of laws and regulations there are for a "Domestic Kitchen" License, how I go about getting my kitchen inspected, etc.  So I gave her the quick and dirty version.  Then she told me I needed to share this on the blog.  Huh?

Me: "Who wants to hear me ramble on about how I'm doing this?  It's can't be that interesting."

Friend:  "Some people want to know those things and find it interesting.  It might give someone else the information they need, to follow their dreams.  You must let people join you on this journey."

She's works in PR.  Microsoft is one of her accounts.  Oh ya - that girl knew exactly what she was doing.

There were hugs and kisses, and we ended our - always way too short - coffee date.  Little did I know, that by then she had already worked her magic on me!

So I'm going to write about the steps I've gone through so far, to get SweetPotatoMayas going - for anyone who would like to see :)  And just so you know, I'm not done yet.  My kitchen inspection is next week, and if I fail - no deal.  If I pass the inspection, THEN I can actually apply for the license. 

Today I finalized my 'Nutrition Facts' label (which we're all told to read carefully when purchasing food - but sometimes I just want to bury my head in the sand and eat the damn thing), and the 'Principle Display' label (the main label you see on the top or front of the package, with the name of the product and the net wt., etc).  The inspector who is coming next week, has been reviewing them and pointing out changes and corrections I need to make.  This took about a week of going back and forth.   Now that they're set, I need to figure out how and where I'll get them printed in mass amounts.    

But to get the Nutrition Facts label going, this is what I did.  Since I'm only making one type of food using one recipe, I just need one nutrition fact - I don't want to spend $200 on a software to make nutrition labels.  So I went looking and found some free stuff online.

First, I needed my recipe calculated, to figure out the Nutrition Facts.  I did this here: Super Easy Recipe Calculator

Then, I needed to get the data onto a Nutrition Fact Label template.  And I did that here: Free Nutrition Facts Template

That's it!  If you have your recipe set, this is all you need to create a Nutrition Facts label.  To be honest, trying to get the label just right - making sure I'm following all regulations and guidelines - was not the most creative or exciting part of this process.  I've spent the last year making batches after batches of SweetPotatoMayas, playing with the recipe, having people taste it, and asking for feedback.  That was super fun and gratifying for me.  Then suddenly this week, I was dealing with tweaking  type sizes and obsessing over format requirements on our home computer.  Obviously, I prefer to be peeling, chopping, mixing  - over sitting, squinting, and clicking a mouse.

In a 'oh what the hell' kind of way, I'm honoring my fabulous coffee friend and heeding her advise. And I learned a lot.

I should also mention that the Mr. helped me out A LOT, with the techie aspect of 'label creation' this week.  Thank you so much honey.  I would have been chopping and baking the computer if it hadn't been for you :)