“Family Time, Happy Time”

This is a sponsored post from BlogHer and McDonald’s.

Contest is now over. Congrats to entry # 77, Angel Jacklyn who was chosen by random.org as the winner. Thanks to all who participated!

I loved taking a sneak peek inside the McDonald’s Brand and company during the McDonald’s Family Time Getaway in Oak Brook, IL. The McDonald’s representatives could not have been more accommodating and genuine. McDonald’s invited our entire family on this event, what a treat!

We started our McDonald’s experience with lunch at a local McDonald’s Restaurant then spoke to the company’s top executives. This was one of the highlights of the trip for me. The women of McDonald’s were beautiful, smart and completely down to earth. They told us their history with McDonald’s and the things they love about their job. It was really priceless to hear from these women.

Another highlight of this trip was a tour of the Oak Lawn Ronald McDonald House. What an amazing organization. The House is beautiful and helps so many people in need. I think the whole room was brought to tears listening to the presentation. I feel lucky to have been a part of it all.

 

One of my kids’ favorite activities was the “Taste and Tour Quality at McDonald’s:  A Family Sensory Experience and Look Behind the Counter.” We talked with the quality control team and tasted some yummy breakfast items such as the Egg McMuffin, Apple Dippers and the McGriddle. My kids were in hog heaven as the servers brought out all of these different items from the McDonald’s Breakfast Menu.

Another discussion that I enjoyed was, “Your Food:  From Farm to Restaurant. This discussion was about how we as parents can feel good about the food our family eats at McDonald’s. We talked to the Chicken Doctor who explained that McDonald’s uses only the white meat of quality chicken and also to the McDonald’s Nutritionist who showed us how we can mix and match menu items to equal 600 calories or less. This was a great discussion.

McDonald’s Executive Chef Dan led a discussion about how McDonald’s menu items go from concept to restaurant. It was amazing to learn how long the process is to actually get a new recipe on the menu. There are extensive tests that are done throughout the country. I loved getting a first taste of the fruit smoothies that are coming out soon and their newest menu item in testing…Fruit and Maple Oatmeal. It was INCREDIBLE. I would order it any day of the week!

 

The kids had a ball cooking with McDonald’s Chef Dan. They got their very own Chef Hat, apron and had a chance to roll up their sleeves and make their own fruit kebabs and fruit smoothies. This was a real treat. Chef Dan and the other Chefs could not have been more kind.

 

McDonald’s truly went above and beyond for this event. The entire family loved it. I feel lucky to have been a part to learn more about this incredible brand.

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Be sure to enter the Family Time Happy Time Sweepstake for some fun prizes valued at $100.


One Winner will Win:

  • A Smile Tote Bag
  • $25 AMC Gift Card
  • $20 McDonald’s Gift Card
  • Fleece Blanket
  • McDonald’s Frisbee
  • McDonald’s French Fry Playing Cards
  • Monopoly Junior Board Game
  • Organic Lip Balm
  • McDonald’s Vintage Character T-Shirt
  • McDonald’s Stainless Tumbler
  • McDonald’s Happy Meal Toy Set

To enter, leave a comment here on Picky Palate telling us… What is your favorite thing to do as a family? Vacation, sports, reading books, cooking…anything, we want to hear it.

Eligible entrants can do up to two of the following options:

a)      Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post

b)      Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post

c)      Blog about this promotion and leave  the URL to that post in a comment on this post

d)     Follow one of the links at https://www.blogher.com/family-time-happy-time and provide your email address and your response to the sweepstakes prompt

See Official Sweepstakes Rules HERE

Come see the other Blogger Reviews on the BlogHer Round Up HERE.

Please leave any questions you might have about the trip or McDonald’s here as well. Thanks!!

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184 Responses
  1. Christine W

    I followed the Bonggamom link and answered her question about a memory that I had involving McDonald’s. For my daughter’s third birthday, she wanted us to buy her her own McDonald’s. Debbie always did dream big.

    thank you,

    Christine
    womackcm@sbcglobal.net

  2. Christine W

    Our family loves to have game night complete with popcorn. It is just nice to have a time when we can have conversation as a family and enjoy each other’s company. I never did play games when I was growing up, and so I am making up for lost time.

    Thank you,

    Christine
    womackcm@sbcglobal.net

  3. Erin

    Our favorite thing to do as a family is take long walks. Our triplets are still tiny so we are able to go for long walks together a lot!

  4. Amanda

    We love geocaching as a family…spending the day outside on our own sort of “treasure hunt”. So fun!

  5. Kristi B

    I wish I had known about this tour on our trip from CA to MI. We ate at quite a few McDonalds and it would have been nice to cap it off with something like this.

  6. Jennifer G.

    I love to get my 20 month old in the kitchen with me while I cook. I’ll ask him if he wants to “Bake a Cake” as I call it, and he’ll come running. I’ll give him a bowl and a whisk and he starts “cooking” along side of me! Love it…

  7. Jennifer G.

    I love to get my 20 month old in the kitchen. He likes to “Bake a Cake” as I call it…I’ll give him a bowl and a whisk and he goes to town while I cook!

  8. B Smith

    What a fun adventure! So glad your little cute guys could go along!

    Our family time….we LOVE to play board games! We love to run! We just love being “us 4”!!!

  9. Elisabeth

    We love going on walks to the park and then playing with our one-year-old on the playground and in the grass.

  10. Lisa

    Eating out is always a special treat. We just started doing some family vacations this summer because our daughter is now old enough to appreciate them, and they’ve been a huge success!

  11. Sharon

    I love snuggling up with my daughter and all of us watching a family movie together! Even better when it is one of our favorites from when we were kids, and getting to watch her get as much joy out of it as we did then!

  12. Stephanie Brimhall

    We love playing outside and riding bikes! Going for Ice cream is also a family favorite!

  13. Felicia

    My hubby is a chef so it’s rare that he is home in the evenings. We love having family dinners though they just don’t happen every night with dad. And some nights we will go out to his restaurant to have dinner all together.

  14. Dana j

    We LOVE the RMD charity! We were blessed to stay at the NY RHMD several times during our daughter’s treatment. We could not have done it w/o them!
    As a family we love going blueberry picking each summer. It’s become a tradition to get up early and drive down to pick them! We pick enough to last us all year!!

  15. Rachel S

    We love to travel together and sightsee. It’s fun to share new experiences with those you love best!

  16. Jackie

    Definately the family getaways, they are the only time we can all relax and have a really good time together.

  17. PlethoraOfPinatas

    The nutrition facts of chicken nuggets, are you kidding me? Who cares if they use white meat when they coat them in breading and fry them in oil? How on earth is that healthy?

    How about you take your kids to a farmer’s market or a farm and ask them how food is really grown?

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