This is a sponsored post from BlogHer and McDonald’s.
A couple of months ago I got an invitation from McDonald’s.
At first I was hoping beyond all hope that the invitation was to be a part of some sort of Double Cheeseburger Taste Test Committee (oh, my love for the Mickey D’s double cheeseburger is deep, and it is true), but alas, that was not the case. They were having a Family Time Getaway weekend for some bloggers and their families, and they asked me to be a part of it.
Honestly? I initially had mixed reactions about going. I mean, everybody knows the health concerns that go along with kids and fast food. Everybody knows the health concerns that go along with grown-ups and fast food. And I wasn’t really that interested in dragging my family all the way to Chicago so that I could be a part of what I assumed would be a never-ending focus group. But in the end, my relational side won out. There would be new and interesting people there (I am, as a general rule, a sucker for people), and I’d get to travel to one of my favorite cities with my husband and my son.
As it turned out, it was an absolutely delightful trip. The McDonald’s folks did have some meetings and activities set up for us, but they also gave us time to just hang out and be a family. I can’t even tell you how great that was. In fact, the second day we were there they planned a scavenger hunt on the grounds of the hotel, and our little family of three had the best time. The weather was absolutely gorgeous (I did not get the impressions that Chicagoans are, as a rule, familiar with the same level of humidity that we experience here in the Deep South), and I loved being able to “help” my fellas find the objects on the list while I took lots of pictures of trees.
Trees are my favorite, you know.
It was also great to get some behind-the-scenes perspective from the McDonald’s folks. They were candid, open, warm – and absolutely no topic was off limits. The scope of what they do is absolutely mind-boggling, and they are so passionate about it. What surprised me the most – and I don’t mean to sound like I was Sally Cynical before we met with them, but maybe I was just a little bit – is how much they genuinely care about the kids that they serve and how deeply committed they are to being a help to parents in terms of providing a nutritious alternative to a home-cooked meal (notice that I said alternative – I didn’t hear anybody at McDonald’s headquarters advocating feeding kids fast food five days a week, and I think we can all agree that children need variety in their diets and need to be exposed to a wide range of foods). They would be the first to tell you that they’re not perfect, but they would also tell you – and I would agree – that they’re working hard every single day to get better. As a mama, it was so encouraging to see that side of things.
And as for the Double Cheeseburger Taste Testing, I’m sad to say that it didn’t happen. We did get to sample the oatmeal that they’re testing (it was loaded with fruit, and I was an immediate fan) as well as Egg McMuffins (seriously? did y’all know that they’re made with real eggs? that can be cooked however you’d like them? I HAD NO IDEA). My little man was so taken with the Egg McMuffin that he raised his hand and said, “THIS IS THE MOST DELICIOUS EGG MCMUFFIN THAT I HAVE EVER HAD!”
It was also the first Egg McMuffin he’d ever had. But I think we all know that he’s never really been lacking in enthusiasm.
But here was the biggest thing with me, and it had absolutely nothing to do with the food. The day we were scheduled to leave Chicago, a huge thunderstorm rolled into town. We were waiting in the hotel lobby for our ride to the airport, and all the McDonald’s folks were gone (it was late in the afternoon, and our last official activity that day was at lunch). I was just about to check our flight status on the computer in the lobby, and two of the girls who work with McDonald’s – Heather and Maggie – came running through the lobby doors.
One of them rushed up to me and said, “Are you okay? Is your flight delayed? We were almost home, but when we saw how bad the weather was we thought we’d better come back and check on you!”
Sure enough, our flight was delayed – then cancelled altogether – and they spent the next three hours working to get us home. We ended up having to stay an extra night at the hotel, and they took such unbelievably good care of us. I will never forget how they went out of their way to do that, and it spoke volumes to me about the way McDonald’s does business.
So.
I’m tickled that I get to give away a McDonald’s Family Prize Pack in conjunction with the “Family Time, Happy Time” program. The prize pack includes McDonald’s and AMC gift cards, games, a fleece blanket and other items that are perfect for a fun outing with your family, and the retail value is $100. So if you’d like to be entered to win, all you have to do is answer this question:
What’s your absolute favorite meal to eat for family dinner? Is it something you get from a restaurant? Or is it more of a home-cooked affair?
By the way, our favorite family dinner is country fried steak, mashed potatoes, butterbeans, rolls and homemade chocolate pudding.
We’re terribly sophisticated.
In all seriousness, be sure to visit the other bloggers who are participating in this giveaway (they’re listed over on the BlogHer.com special offers page. And by all means feel free to check out the official rules. This sweepstakes runs from 7/27 until 8/10.
Good luck, everybody – and if you have any questions about what we did or what I learned on the trip, feel free to ask. I’ll do my best to answer!
This giveaway is now closed.
We love, love, love chicken enchilada casserole with corn on the cob on the side. Yum!!!
My favorite meal is roast, mashed potatoes, crowder peas, and rolls. Yum!
Favorite, hands down? Breakfast for dinner. The kids beg for it often (we had it last night, as a matter of fact). Biscuits, sausage, homemade jams/jellies, and scrambled eggs. Why does it just taste so much better when it’s at dinner instead of breakfast?
I love making a taco ring with a nice side salad….everyone loves the taco ring, because it is versatile to everyone’s tastes, you can add salsa or sour cream or tons of other ‘taco’ add-ons to your serving, and best of all, my daughter always gobbles it up so fast!
Our favorite is Spaghetti!
It’s like GOLD in our family!
My husband also makes a yummy recipe (we call it Beefy Mac) that everyone loves!
We’re also sophisticated in that we are addicted to fast food! Especially McD’s!!
We love mashed taters with LeSeur green peas. Usually will have chicken fixed some way with the veggies.
My hubby is a chef so of course his restaurant is our favorite place to eat so anything that dad cooks is our favorite!
Honestly, anything at a restaurant is good for us! It is such a treat to be able to go out to dinner that I will pretty much take whatever!
Home Cooked meal over here and anything Mexican is always a good bet but our go to fav is Carne Asada, Homemade Beans, Guacamole…mmm..getting hungry!!
We are lovers of food at home. Chris’ chicken, tortillas, homeade pico, guac, rice, and cookies. This meal completes us. If I win, I will share the chicken recipe if you want. I am telling you it can save you from boring dry chicken. Amen!
My favorite family dinner is homemade lasagna, because growing up overseas meant good pasta, cheese, and anything Italian was hard to get. I always craved lasagna, and still love it.
My family can all agree on Tacos for dinner and anything we all agree on is for a sure a favorite at our house! We also love to make smoothies with dinner!
We like pizza. Because we’re classy. We also eat spaghetti. When we’re on the road (or on our way home from swimming lessons), McD’s is always a winner. And my word, have you tried the wildberry fruit smoothie? YES PLEASE. We also live by a fayncy McD’s that has things like gelatto. And the shakes are topped with whipped cream & chocolate drizzle. It’s a happy place.
Our favorite meal is home-made tacos! My kids love the black beans!
Ughh, there’s no one favorite family meal right now. Everyone wants different things. My hubby wishes he’d married a top chef, the kids just want sweet italian sausages and plain pasta and me I love salad with all kinds of, as my husband calls them ‘twigs and berries’ in it. One definite crowd pleaser around here is pizza though:-) Answered your question and then some!!
We like chicken cordon bleu, chicken rice and peas.
My family is easy to please…brinner! Pancakes, or eggs & bacon & grits.
favorite meal? Anything involving Mexican food and large quantities of cheese. Because nothing says family fun like cheese.
My favorite meal of all time has got to be bacon mac n cheese with a cheesecake dessert!
My family’s favorite meal is grilled burgers, PW’s mac n’ cheese, and bar-b-que beans.
Thanksgiving dinner – definitely! Yum!
Favorite homecooked family meal is BBQ Korean Kal Bi Ribs, Jasmine Rice, Kim Chee and for the kids Corn on the cob. For favorite go out meal its a toss up between burgers and sushi!
Chicken Fettuchini!
Home cooked Manicotti is what we love!
On a cold winter day, nothing is better than homemade soup and fresh bread. Yum
Various and assorted kinds of take-out pizza. Most of the time, I cook our family meals. But something I didn’t have to make myself that’s also loaded with melted cheese is fabulous!
Our favorite meal is a mexican casserole called Chicken Sopa with a salad and green beans on the side.
Fresh cooked vegetables are our favorite!
That would have to be classic spaghetti and meatballs with a salad and LOTS of garlic bread – Yum!
We love to do “build your own stromboli”
Stir fry.
Our favorite meal is lasagna & salad, especially when my 7 year old son’s Nana (my mom) makes it from scratch. ;)
Runner-up: Mickey D’s Happy Meal (Chicken nuggets/fries/milk) for Ibrahim & either a chicken sandwich or Angus Deluxe (minus mayo) for me. Their coffee drinks and coffee in general have improved recently.
Does oreo cookies and milk count? I love having a special afternoon snack with my family. My son always gets so excited. It is such a treat for us all.
Our favorite family meal is Pad Thai!
We love goulash over brown rice! We have our own goulash recipe and we adore it.
It’s hard to pick one favorite but I love fried catfish, hushpuppies, cole slaw and green beans. Dessert would be blackberry cobbler and vanilla ice cream.
Our favorite family meal is Pizza. Unfortunately, we can’t get that at McDonald’s….sorry
gosh, it would be hard to pick a favorite, but it would definitely be home cooked meal with some type of steak, potato, bread, and a salad.
I think that my family’s favorite meal is when I bake crescent rolls from scratch and serve them with hamburger patties wrapped in bacon.
thank you,
Christine
womackcm@sbcglobal.net
Our favorite family meal is making my grandmother’s home made chicken and dumplings! We would eat this with a a salad and then top it off with ice cream! I remember every year for my birthday she would make it for me. It is an all day process so I only make it about once a year!
frugalmdmom at comcast dot net
Our favorite meal is my own chicken Parmesan. I totally rock at making Italian food but this one meal is our favorite. We have it with spaghetti, garlic bread, a Greek salad (for a twist!) and then are too full for dessert!
My husband is Italian and makes the best homemade pasta sauce. It smells great when we make it when we have a big family dinner or when we have friends over. We try to make all family dinners special with lots of home cooked food!
Crockpot beef stew and homemade rolls – in autumn, of course.
Always a hit!
My fav is home cooked BBQ quesadillas!
Our favorite family meal is spaghetti…everyone loves it and it is pretty quick to prepare too!
shannyiphone(at)gmail(dot)com
I think each person in my family would give a different answer, so I’ll give my own personal favorite. I prefer to cook and hang out at home over eating out (though that’s a close second :) and I think my favorite family meal is west-indian curried chicken and rice. It reminds me of my growing up years; so combined with making current memories with my family now – it’s a winner!
Our favorite meal is a grilled rib-eye with a baked potato and salad. Doesn’t matter if it’s cooked out or at home!
Our absolute favorite meal to eat for family dinner is sweet potato casserole, roasted chicken and sushi, quite an unique combo.
My kids favorite meal at home is noodles and meatballs with alfredo sauce and zuccini. Yummy
wow-I want to come to your house for dinner. I’ve never had butterbeans-just the name sounds good!
My fave family meal is either taco night at home or everyone going to our favorite Mexican restaurant.
We love boiled crawfish! Ok, mostly just me and my daughter….and only if I peel them for her! Lol The whole family loves any type of gumbo, esp during football season! :-)
Our family favorite meal is “surf n turf” steak and shrimp or crab. With a big baked potato. Mmmmmm.
we all like when i make lasagne or stuffed shells for dinner. i dont make it too often so when i do i make a couple and freeze the others for other times.
My favorite meal is lasagna with garlic bread (lots of garlic, please!).
LASAGNE FOR SURE
our favorite family meal is really anything we get to sit down and eat together. we’re pretty happy with most anything at that point, but if we really have to pick, it’d be pancakes and waffles – breakfast for dinner is a wonderful thing.
This is something that I really, really need!
Love Steak or ribs made at home with all the BBQ extra side dishes.
Turkey Burgers and Sweet Potato Fries, is my families favorite. But, my personal favorite is lime chicken fajitias.
Our favorite meal involves fresh summer veggies…tomatoes from the backyard, squash casserole, butter beans, creamed corn…to accompany whatever meat my hubby has smoked or grilled.
Our favorite family dinner is peanut chicken, rice and sweet peas. It is a home cooked meal, and very yummy.
actually we love meals from mcdonald’s! my favorite right now is the bacon and cheddar angus burger
Favorite dinner would have to be Kraft deluxe mac & Cheese, cabbage, grands biscuits, & sauteed prok chops with lots of onions!!!!! Finished up with some chocolate cupcakes!!!
Our fave family meal is spaghetti and garlic bread.
I take my 5 Grandkids to Crackerbarrel for pancakes!
Our absolute favorite meal is a seafood mixture… starting with clams then shrimp then other seafood. (We will make it at home on the grill no matter what time of year)
Our favorite meal is pork chops, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob and cole slaw. Oh- and homemade chocolate cake for dessert!
Our favorite meal is ham, sweet potato casserole, corn & green beans and rolls! YUMMY!
our favorite is Thanksgiving! Turkey,mashed potatoes,stuffing,cranberry sauce…anytime. Even in July!!
Our favorite family dinner would have to be fried venison, twice baked potatoes, green bean casserole, and yeast rolls. Oh, and for dessert…fruit pizza!!!
We love my homemade Shrimp and Pasta Alfredo. Yum! Also a Happy Meal can really hit the spot!
My favorite meal is a hard one because I have so many.. But I’ll go with my family’s favorite home cooked meal which is :
Beef Roast
Homemade noodles
Mashed potatoes & gravy
Fresh Green beans w/bacon & potatoes in them (I smother them in the gravy cuz I’m health conscious like that.. ha)
Homemade Bread
We try to have that meal once a month :)
Chicken enchiladas (extra cheese for me, please!)
Mexican rice & black beans
Spinach salad w/ fresh fruit
And double-chocolate ice cream to finish.
Mouth . . . watering . . . on . . . desk.
I really love making a homemade soup with crusty french bread, especially if it’s on a cold and rainy day.
The favorite meal in our home is Turkey London Broil, mashed potatoes and corn. No gravy please! the kids don’t like it.
Our family’s most favorite meal is Homemade fried chicken, potato salad, biscuits and
apple pie for dessert.
I love eating breakfast together as a family. It’s our favorite meal, and I make the best scrambled eggs on earth!
our favorite meal is a grilled hamburger with good ole summertime tomatoes! Nothing like! having it tonight for supper!
My favorite family meal right now is Chicken Parmesan – my way!
Our favorite family meal is roast beef, mashed potatoes and peas and carrots.
Grilled fish and salad
Cranberry chicken with rice or homemade mashed potatoes! It’s a real crowd pleaser around here….a favorite of the 1-31 year old crowd. :)
Stuffed Cabbage and Garlic/cheese mashed potatoes and Maple cured baked beans
We love to go to Sweet Tomatoes and all get whatever we want :)
Our favorite meals spaghetti and homemade meatballs. The kids love to think of new additions to the meatballs, oatmeal and spinach, or carrots and cheese, we roll them up and bake them. It is a really fun time.
Our favorite meal is a haddock stuffed with seafood stuffing. Even my 3 year old devours it! We pick up the ingredients every time we go grocery shopping as a treat. :)
My family of six loves spaghetti with tons of parmesan cheese on top that we enjoy as a family at home.
Our favorite family meal would have to be chicken and rice. However, a little note about McDonald’s. My daughter has life threatening food allergies, and Mickey D’s in one of very few places where she can eat a convenience meal. We’ve never once had an issue with their food, their nutritional or allergy information or the staff in general. We love McDonald’s!
Any meal that GG pays for :)
And 99% of the time that is Mexican!
We love baked ziti! It’s one dish that the whole family loves and gets excited about. :)
ljatwood at gmail dot com
We love homemade lasagna, salad, garlic bread and brownies topped with chocolate chip cookie dough!
Our favorite family meal is grilled cheeseburgers and homemade potato fries.
Our favorite meal is any meal currently on the table. It could be double cheeseburgers from McDonalds or full on Prime Rib rubbed with a garlic horseradish crust. With teenagers and little boys … all that matters is that they are fed.
Our favorite family meal is lasagna with salad and lots of garlic bread!
Our favorite meal is fried fish, hushpuppies, cole slaw, and french fries,.
Our favorite family meal has to be my husband’s homemade macaroni and cheese, with home-made bread. It is deinitely not the healthiest but the boys all love it and we tend to make sure everyone can sit down and enjoy the meal as a family, catching up and then playing games.
our favority meal is pasta at a local italian/greek restaurant!
My favorite meal with my son is chicken spegetti. He says it is the only meal I can cook. When introduced to my boyfriend Dylan quickly announced that I was only capable of cooking chicken spegetti lol !
My favorite family dinner is tacos. I cook and warm and chop all the ingredients and everybody gets to put in whatever they want. Everyone in my family loves our homemade taco night!
My favorite dinner is one I don’t have to cook.
amandarwest at gmaildotcom