I grew up with Kellogg’s. I’ll never forget my experiences with Corn Flakes, when my mother wasn’t looking… loading them with sugar! I got that little trick from my Nana. But truly, Kellogg’s has been a staple in my home since I can remember, and now being a mother myself, Kellogg’s is part of my home. Frosted Flakes are the “big wig” in my house… my sons love to eat them for both breakfast and a snack after school…

Knowing my love and personal history with Kellogg’s, I jumped at the chance to head to Michigan to visit the Kellogg headquarters,  with some other mom bloggers, to meet some of the Kellogg’s team and learn about the true history of Kellogg’s.

Our trip began with a delicious dinner at W.K. Kellogg’s summer home in Battle Creek, MI where we learned how Kellogg’s itself all began… which was, incidentally enough, almost by accident.

With the discovery of toasted wheat flakes, the process for developing what would become Kellogg’s Corn Flakes® was put into place. In the late 1800s at the Battle Creek Sanatorium, a combination hospital and health spa for the elite and famous, W.K. Kellogg, business manager, and his brother, Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, chief physician, were in the process of cooking some wheat for a type of granola when they were called away. When they returned, the wheat had become stale. They decided to force the tempered grain through the rollers anyway, and, surprisingly, the grain did not come out in long sheets of dough. Instead each wheat berry was flattened and came out as a thin flake. W.K. Kellogg continued with his own experiments, developing the process for flaking corn in 1898.

Pretty amazing, huh?

The grounds of the Kellogg home were phenomenally lovely and we got a chance to tour the entire house and actually see how W.K. Kellogg spent his time there. The serenity of the home, land and outbuildings captured me… and I could picture lovely breakfasts being served there!

There’s nothing I love more than history and tradition. It was absolutely amazing to learn about W.K. Kellogg and that he built his company on this mission: “We are a company of dedicated people making quality products for a healthier world.” He was ahead of his time in creating products that were good for people. It amazed me to see and to hear the passion and love and dedication that Kellogg put into making his cereal. 100+ years later… the Kellogg Company is still bringing their best to families each morning, because a healthy start gets the day moving on the right track.

It was GRRREAT (I had to say it) sharing 2 days with some of my favorite bloggers – Jennifer James, Renee Ross, Robyn Wright (who taught me the coolest iPhone apps!), Liz Thompson, Beth Anderson, Caryn Bailey, Piera Jolly, Dawn Meehan, Denene Miller, Cooper Monroe, Erica Stall, and Sara Thielke.

What was fascinating to me during our day together at the company was hearing some facts about cereal and Kellogg’s and breakfast that I didn’t know. As a mom, I am always tuned into nutrition, but I sat there mesmerized as I listened to Cheryl Dolven, one of Kellogg’s nutritionists explain:

1. Cereal is smart calories.

2. One thing that will never change about Kellogg cereal is that it’s grain-based.

3. 2/3 of Kellogg cereals do not contain high fructose corn syrup.

4. 9 out of 10 children are not eating enough fiber. This is the greatest nutrient deficiency today.

5. What’s so great about cereal? Plant-based. Low fat. Low cholesterol. Shelf stable. Convenient. Tastes great. Helps one remain a healthy body weight if consumed for breakfast every day.

My kids are cereal eaters to begin with, but it really hit home to me to see the amount of vitamins and nutrients they truly are getting from every bite. It’s something that I can feel very good about when they head off to preschool or kindergarten with cereal and milk in their tummies. As a mom, my first thought of the day is… eat up so you’re not hungry by 10 am! Breakfast is about a 15-20 minute window in my home, so cereal really is our best and favorite option.

I must admit… one of the best parts of the trip was creating our very own cereal. I partnered up with Erica, Beth and Piera for this fun project! We all have kids under 5 years old, so we wanted to create a cereal that was educational, but fun. We named it Brainiacs, and had each of the oats shaped like letters and numbers so kids could create words and say the letter aloud as they took bites. We thought it was pretty cool! 🙂

But… when I got home from the trip… the coolest thing for my sons had been seeing this photo –

Ahhh… boys! 🙂

Disclosure: Kellogg Company paid for my travel and I’m a blogger working with them on their Love My Cereal campaign and have been compensated.