Some days it’s just fun to be a mom blogger and get to work on campaigns that you would otherwise have no access to. It’s also a treat to be able to bring this information first-hand to you. That’s why I was thrilled when Kellogg’s sent a box with their four new 2013 cereals for my family to try before they hit the shelves this year. Not only that, but Kellogg is also giving one of you the chance to win a package with these four spanking-new cereals and get a chance to boast you were one of the first in the U.S. to try them!

Check them out …

Kellogg’s Scooby-Doo cereal was the first one my girl wanted to try, of course! She loved the fact that the cereal was shaped like dog bones because she’s obsessed with anything canine right now. The taste was right up her alley since she’s used to being served the less sugary kind of simples and we lean towards simple grains. This one packs 50 percent of the recommended amount of whole grain and 6 grams of sugar per serving; all that and a vanilla flavor to boot! I can totally see this one making the rounds in the snack bags.

I was all over Kellogg’s Mini-Wheats Crunch because I’ve been a fan of Mini-Wheats my whole life — it’s actually my mom’s fault because that’s her staple breakfast! The first one that’s not of the shredded variety, it packs the same fiber and whole grain as regular Mini-Wheats but with a delicious crunch that didn’t go soggy while I munched on it. I love to add blueberries and strawberries to my cereal and this one was made for it.

Kellogg’s Special K Chocolatey Strawberry is actually a limited edition cereal. I see this one more as a treat than a regular breakfast cereal in my cupboard because of the chocolate chunks. Don’t get me wrong, I adore the chocolatey goodness of this cereal and the mix of flavors with the strawberries is right up my alley! It actually only packs 150 calories per serving with skim milk.

Kellogg’s Brown Sugar Cinnamon Jacks cereal combines two of my favorite flavors: cinnamon and brown sugar. I tend to stay away from cereals with too many colors, but we had a treat tasting this one and the flavor combination with milk is a real hit.

Now it’s time for one of you to get a first taste at each of these four cereals. Just tell us which one of the four new Kellogg’s cereals you’re the most excited to try by entering using the Rafflecopter widget below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Kellogg’s Froot Loops are not only a yummy breakfast or snack, they’re also a lot of fun to play with! We realized that they are ideal to use in busy bags or activities because the round shape and size are so easy for little hands to handle, plus the rainbow colors give you so many possibilities. Busy bags usually include simple materials to keep our kids imaginations flowing as they make up their own fun on rainy days.

Below are three simple and educational busy bag activities for toddlers and preschoolers that incorporate Spanish vocabulary and math. The best part is that you can create these activities with only five materials you most likely already have around the house.

Materials:

• color markers
• egg carton
• string
• scissors
• a box of Kellogg’s Froot Loops

Color Sorting Activity

 1. Cut your egg carton in half so it looks like a half dozen carton. Save the other half for the next activity.

2. With a black marker write the word in Spanish for the six different colors in a Froot Loops box: naranja, violeta o morado, azul, verde, rojo, amarillo.

3. For younger kids write the words in the corresponding color to help them match the Froot Loops, or color in each pocket with the corresponding color.

4. Have your niños match a handful of Froot Loops with the word in Spanish for each color.

Egg Carton Math Activity

 1. Take the other half of your egg carton and write the numbers 1-6 in the pockets.

2. Spell out the number in Spanish above each pocket.

3. Have your child put in the corresponding amount of Froot Loops in each pocket.

4. For older kids you can put one Froot Loop in, close the carton, shake it up, and have your child identify the number. For more advanced math you can put in two Froot Loops, shake the carton and have them add the two numbers the Froot Loops land on or even multiply them! Can they say that number in Spanish?

Froot Loops Rainbow Necklace

This idea is simple but has many possibilities.

1. Take a piece of string and string the Froot Loops through it.

2. You can also grab the sorted Froot Loops from the “color sorting” activity and create patterns in your necklace.

3. Or create a rainbow effect by sorting your Froot Loops by color and number, then loop them into your necklace!

We invite you to check out more Froot Loops busy bag ideas on Pinterest and Tumblr or to share your own in the comments below and we’ll pin them to our Pinterest board!

Disclosure: We are proud to be part of the Kellogg´s Champions of Great Starts bloggers and grateful to have Kellogg’s as a SpanglishBaby sponsor.

We all know how important it is to start off the day with a good breakfast. Sending our kids well fed to school makes a difference in how will perform in school that day.  But how often do we think about families who cannot send their kids to school with a good breakfast? That would actually be 1 in 5 children in the U.S. that go to school without breakfast everyday.

In reaction to this need, Kellog’s announced today a partnership with celebrity dad Taye Diggs to help share one million breakfasts with kids in need. You can visit the Share Your Breakfast website and you will find a very special video featuring Taye Diggs that we encourage you to share with your friends through social media because each time you watch, tweet, like or share the PSA with friends Kellogg’s will share a breakfast to a child in need. Kellogg’s has the same ambitious goal as last year’s campaign – each “share” helps get them one step closer to the goal of sharing one million breakfasts with kids across the country who might otherwise go without.  

That’s definitely a very easy way to support and provide a much-needed meal to a child. In fact, let’s get started now and just click on the video below and make it count! Then click over to ShareBreakfast.com in English or Spanish and find out other ways you can participate in the Share Breakfast movement!

It doesn’t end there, you can find even more ways to get involved on the Share Breakfast Facebook page and on Twitter by following and using the #ShareBreakfast hashtag. And again, each “share” will help Kellogg’s reach the goal of sharing one million breakfasts with kids across the country who need them.

Disclosure: We are proud to be part of the Kellogg´s Champions of Great Starts bloggers and grateful to have Kellogg’s as a SpanglishBaby sponsor.

As much as I’d love to believe that my quesadillas rock (they do!), I know I have to move beyond that and also find a way to make dinner fun so that my daughter can be a part of the process. Cue in the cereal boxes!

Yes, cereal for dinner! Honestly, I never even thought of using the Kellogg’s cereal I grew up with as an ingredient in recipes. For me the phrase “Breakfast for dinner” just meant we’d be grabbing a bowl, adding cereal and milk and eating in front of the TV. But that’s not what this is about.

When I received Kellog’s Breakfast for Dinner Recipe Book I was happy to see many nutritious and creative options being offered.  All of the recipes include one of Kellog’s cereals in a mouth-watering recipe that can be served at dinner! Check out my family’s three favorite recipes below and download the book with 13 full recipes for free! Oh, and scroll all the way down to enter to win a year’s supply of Kellogg’s cereal to always have a box at hand for brinnertime!

For a printable version of the full Breakfast for Dinner recipe ebook click here!

The Giveaway!

To help you make these delicious recipes we are giving away a one-year supply of Kellog’s cereals — that’s equal to 26 boxes! Just leave us a comment letting us know which Kellogg’s breakfast for dinner recipe you’d like to try or your own favorite breakfast for dinner recipe. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: We are proud to be part of the  Kellogg´s Champions of Great Starts bloggers and grateful to have Kellogg’s as a SpanglishBaby sponsor.

It was one of those days…. I was missing my Tio who passed away 3 years ago.  With Dia de Muertos / Day of the Dead (Nov.2nd) around the corner, I decided to start building an alter in his name.  I put on his favorite song “Miss You” by the Rolling Stones and played it loud on repeat.  Choked up with tears stuck in my throat, I tried my best to belt it out and get to the rest of the song without a complete break down.  The title “Miss you” seemed perfectly appropriate.  My Tio loved Kellogg’s Rice Krispies, he use to eat them all the time.  He also loved his caramel, so why not combine the two to make the perfect treat.  My family has always observed Dia de Los Muertos but it takes on a completely different meaning when you are honoring a close family member dearly missed.  I dedicate this recipe to him and hope that where ever he is now, he’s eating his favorite foods with his friends having the best time.

Ingredients for Chocolate Caramel Almond Dia de Muertos Rice Krispies Treat:

Non-Stick cooking spray

1 – stick butter (melted)

6 – cups mini marshmallows

2 – tablespoons milk

50 – caramel candies (plastic wrapper off)

1 – box of Kellogg’s Rice Krispies cereal (12 oz.)

1 1/4 – cups whole almonds

2 – cups milk chocolate chips (melted)

I decorated my calavera with the following items:

Royal icing

sugar cookies

smarties

mini marshmallows

raspberry gummies

Kellogg’s Fruit Loops

edible metallic decorative balls

colored sprinkles

pepitas (pumpkin seeds)

Spray a 9×13 pyrex glass baking dish, one pot, a big mixing bowl, and mixing utensil with non-stick cooking spray.  Set to the side.

1. In the sprayed pot over a medium flame add butter and marshmallows.  Mix until marshmallows are completely melted and smooth.
2. In another pot add milk and caramel over a low flame and mix until melted and smooth.
3. Then take both mixtures and pour into the big sprayed mixing bowl. Mix until combined.
4. Next pour Kellogg’s Rice Krispies and almonds into the marshmallow caramel mixture.

1. Mix until completely combined.  Then pour mixture into 9×13 sprayed pyrex dish and press to make mixture even. Allow to cool completely in baking dish.
2. Once cool, flip over onto a cutting board.
3. I drew a big calavera (skeleton head) on a piece of wax paper, then cut it out and used it as my stencil.  Place stencil on top of rice krispie slab and cut around it.
4. Remove excess pieces and either eat or use later for decoration.  That’s up to you.
5. Once you have cut the calavera, leave the wax paper on it and flip it onto a different cutting board with the wax paper facing the cutting board.
6. Then take the melted chocolate and brush the entire calavera with the chocolate and along the sides as well.  Allow the chocolate to harden for at least 4 hours.

Decorate!

Once the chocolate is completely dried, take a small knife and run it along the edges to detach it from the cutting board.  Then flip it over and remove the wax paper.  Chocolate surface down, exposed Rice Krispies on top.  Then decorate as you wish.  Pull inspiration from my photo or anything else that makes you happy. To you and your loved ones departed or living this Dia de Muertos.

Disclosure: We are one of the Kellogg’s Champions of Great Starts bloggers and proud to have Kellogg’s as a SpanglishBaby sponsor.

One of the things that concerns me the most is making sure my girl actually has breakfast before heading out to school because I’m just not sure how much of her snack and lunch she’s eating during the day. Since she stays in after school as well, I need to make sure she’s feeding herself, and, from the looks of her lunchbox lately, she prefers to play and socialize than actually eat. This makes breakfast even more important to make sure she’s got the calories and nutrients to keep her going and energized all day.

According to Dayle Hayles, an award-winning author, educator and nutrition coach from the Kellogg’s Breakfast Council, it’s important that kids have breakfast to start out their day in the best possible way, even more so because “when students haven’t had breakfast, they’re listening to their stomachs, not the teachers.”

Not only that, but for my family of three with the crazy schedules, breakfast has become probably the best time for us to eat together, albeit not the most serene moment, but even if it’s only for 15 minutes, it happens a lot more often than dinner does. Plus, it’s not only a good habit for my girl, but also for my husband and I since research shows that people who eat breakfast tend to have healthier weight .

Now, how do we actually make sure that we get in the four essential nutrients we need — calcium, potassium, vitamin D and dietary fiber — every day for breakfast? Yes, a simple bowl of cereal with fruit does provide those four nutrients, but how do we make sure we add variety to every morning while making breakfast easy and simple?

5 Ideas to Make Breakfast Easy

1. Set the table night before and have one less thing to worry about during the morning rush. Seeing the table ready also encourages the little ones to sit and feel it’s part of a comforting routine.

2. Keep fruits like berries, mangoes and even unpeeled bananas frozen and ready to pop into a blender for a nutritious smoothie anytime.

3. Make pancake and waffle batter and freeze it in small batches. We love crepes, and they are so easy to make and even perfect for on-the-go!

4. Make hard boiled eggs in advance. My girl loves helping to peel and put salt on them. They’re also easy to grab and go for those mornings when sitting down at the table just isn’t an option.

5. Have a stock of nutritious cereals in the pantry and serve a bowl with berries and/or slices of bananas.

Would love for you to share in the comments below how you make breakfast happen at your house during the school year?

{Photo by goforchris on flickr}

Disclosure: We are  one of the  Kellogg’s Champions of Great Starts bloggers and proud to have Kellogg’s as a SpanglishBaby sponsor.

One of the conferences I attended last year for the first time is called evo (The Evolution of Women in Social Media). This was my first trip to Park City, Utah and I was happily impressed by the whole experience. I was also one of the few Latina bloggers there and since then have been promoting this particular conference like crazy amongst my bloguera friends because it´s on my definite list of must-attend.

So, I´m back for more evo this year from July 12-14 and I want one of you to come with me! Rice Krispies is generously giving us one full-access evo conference pass to giveaway here (valued at $399). Yay!

If you´re a seasoned blogger, this is perfect for you. If you´re a newish blogger, this is perfect for you. If you´re seriously  thinking about blogging, this is perfect for you, too!

Check out all the fabulous evo ’12sessions, workshops and events your full-access pass will open up for you. Plus, you´ll find a new tribe that will stay with you for a while.

Before you check out the giveaway and enter, we invite you to share your Snap, Crackle & Pop moments on Facebook and get the chance to have your picture posted as the brand’s weekly cover photo. Super cute!

The Giveaway!

SpanglishBaby and Kellogg’s® Rice Krispies® are giving away one full-access pass to attend evo ’12. (Note: transportation, accommodations and additional expenses to attend are not covered.)

To enter, all you have to do is visit the Rice Krispies website, check out their recipes and come back here to tell us which one you think your family would love and why.

That’s all you have to do to enter this giveaway. If you want to up your chances at winning, then this is how you can get additional entries (only after you’ve completed the step above):

**Please leave a separate comment for each so we can count them and avoid mistakes.

1. Subscribe to receive blog updates and subscriber-only content via email and leave us an extra comment letting us know you did so or that you’re already a subscriber. Make sure to leave the comment using the same email you subscribed with.

2. Follow us on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway including a link to the post http://bit.ly/LXLO62 and @SpanglishBaby, #RiceKrispies and #evoconf hashtag Copy the link to the tweet in an additional comment on the giveaway’s post.

Click to Tweet Ex: @SpanglishBaby & Kellogg’s #RiceKrispies are giving away 1 full-access pass to attend #evoconf click here for details: http://bit.ly/LXLO62

3. Like SpanglishBaby on Facebook and join a thriving community of parents.

This giveaway ends Sunday, July 1st at 11:59 p.m. EST and is open to everyone with a U.S. mailing address over 18 years of age. Check out the Giveaway Rules.

Disclosure: Kellogg’s Rice Krispies has provided us with a 2012 EVO conference pass to conduct a reader giveaway. However, our opinions on the product are entirely our own and we have not been paid to publish positive sentiments towards Kellogg’s or their products.