If you have ever read my blog, you know how much I love to learn and experience new things. Well, I feel extremely blessed to have been invited to visit the Nestle Headquarters in Los Angeles for a two day blogger event. It is really great to have been invited to be a part of this. I never even realized how many Nestle products I already use. About two year ago I ran out of my normal evaporated milk for my grandmother’s “Sweet Potato Pie”. Which by the way, I only know how to make in batches of 3, lol. I happened to have some Carnation evaporated milk and have been using it ever since! And oh my goodness have you ever tasted the Stouffer’s Meatloaf? Ask my husband how much I love it! It is the only meatloaf I eat and I grab it whenever it is on sale. You get six little loaves in gravy. Add some mashed potatoes and you are good to go! Don’t even get me started on their drumsticks. They have these mini ones that I am not afraid to admit that sometimes eat more than one. The chocolate fudge brownie is sooooo good!

But back to the Nestle Blogger Event. It is a two day event . Tomorrow we get to meet with the CEO who will tell us about the history of Nestle and its brands. I have already been surprised about the brands I already use that are part of the Nestle family. We will also have the opportunity to ask some Nestle experts questions while sampling some new products.

I am looking forward to meeting some bloggers I admire, making some new friends, while learning as much as I can about a company whose products I love.

Now I am off to dinner I am a little nervous but plan on having a good time.

It appears that I am still having problems with my email. Can not figure it out for the life of me. I wonder if it has anything to do with who hosts my blog? I am moving my blog soon anyways. Hopefully that will help.

If you are waiting to hear from me for one reason or another please send me a email at onestopmom(at)gmail.com or you can twitter me I check that constantly

I apologize for this.

This is my birthday week so I am taking it easy over here at 1stopmom. But you will find reviews and giveaways over at 1stopmom Giveaways and Reviews. Come on over and join the fun

I could not wait for the second day at Table Talk. I was not sure what to expect. I had a great time on our dinner cruise the night before, getting to know the other bloggers. It was a great idea that we were able to mingle and talk. For Day 2 we had to be downstairs in the lobby at 7:30 am with our bags. We would be at General Mills for the entire day and leave for the airport from there. The General Mills Headquarters is beautiful and huge.

There is this wall when you first walk in the lobby that is pretty cool I think. You can not help but recognize all of the brand names. I was able to get a nice picture of Kristen from Our Ordinary Life and Amanda from Mommy Mandy

Next we saw a lot on our walk down the halls on our way to breakfast. First of all General Mills has everything inside. I am talking about a bank, hair salon, cafe, fitness room, dentist and more. It is like a small town. While walking to breakfast, we were able to get a look at a lot of displays. It was a great way to see the changes throughout the years. I got a kick out of seeing all the Cheerios stuff. My 11 year old would be super happy if she could eat them all day every day. I had no idea they were not always called Cheerios.

Those are some pretty big cakes, I don’t think mine have ever been that big!

Before we had breakfast we got a peek at the Betty Crocker Kitchen. Check out the view!

General Mills had a nice breakfast laid out for us. There was fruit, donuts, juice, water, yogurt, smoothies and more. After breakfast the discussion began about nutrition and value. What it means for the mom of today. It was nice to be in a room with other moms who had different ideas for how to make a good meal while sticking to your budget. I got tons of ideas.

One of the fun parts of the morning was the food sampling. It was a great opportunity to taste some food I might not have tried otherwise. What surprised me was the Immunity Blend from Green Giant. When I look at the box, I do not see something I would reach for at the store. It has dried cranberries, cauliflower, white and orange carrots. I did not think it would taste good. I was so wrong! It turned out to be my favorite. It was really tasty. I also like that I can steam it right in the bag.

Time went by really fast. Next thing I know it is time to cook in the Betty Crocker Kitchen. We were broken up into smaller groups. Each group was given a recipe. It was so cool that I was able to cook with one of my favorite products, Hamburger Helper!! You will always find some in my kitchen. My favorite is Cheeseburger Hamburger Helper with some American Cheese mixed in.

My group was making Garden Fresh Lasagna.

Jeri, Lisa, Me and Jennifer

We made it with a twist. We added tomato, bell pepper, zucchini and mozzarella cheese. And guess what? I had another first. Yep, I have never had zucchini before. It tried it raw and in the lasagna. I like it when it is cooked. It added a totally different flavor which was good.I am not a big fan of bell peppers though. I would leave it out if I made it at home.

We were able to try some of what ever group made. I was stuffed by the time we were finished! I definitely got some new meal ideas. Who knew I would love fish tacos? After lunch, (not that I had room) we had a discussion about how to add more fun to meals. If your family has kids, a little fun makes a big difference during meal time.

As you can probably tell, I had a wonderful time during Table Talk. Not only did I get the chance to meet some great bloggers and make some new friends but I learned a lot. Especially about making meal time a little easier. But I was already on the right track. Betty Crocker has an app for iPod and I forgot I had it! It is one of the first apps I downloaded. I have so many I tend to forget about some of them. I definitely am going to use it more. It puts thousands of recipes at your fingertips. Did I mention it is free? You don’t even have to have a wireless connection!