I < 3 Beef

No, I don’t think I am less than three, or that there is something greater than beef. I “heart” beef. As in, I love beef. Which is especially convenient this first day of February, since today marks the beginning of Heart Health Month.

I “heart” beef because I love ranchers, I love cattle, I love the beef industry, and I love a heart-healthy diet of lean beef. And I love that the Beef Checkoff thinks of catchy promo campaigns like this:

So tonight, after an hour of flailing around in ZUMBA!, my new roomie and our friend are having a winter-time grill-out. Roomie just brought our Certified Angus Beef® flat iron steak (only the best will do) off the grill. YUM! We made a delicious concoction of diced potatoes, onions, garlic and jalapenos and piled it into some tin foil and threw it on the grill, too.

And now it’s time for me to eat this tasty little feast.

Oh. My. Delicious.

Did I mention beef is a great source of lean protein and an important part of a heart-healthy diet? Well it is. More than 80 percent of registered dietitians surveyed agree that lean beef can fit in a healthy diet (Technomic, 2007). In addition, a 3-ounce serving of lean beef offers the most protein with the fewest calories when compared to plant proteins such as peanut butter, black beans and tofu. AND, a 3-ounce serving of lean beef is about180 calories. You would have to eat 670 calories of peanut butter (more than 7 tablespoons) to get the same amount of protein (beefitswhatsfordinner.com).

Thanks for joining me for a lesson of Beef Nutrition 101. Rest assured, I will share more on that topic in the future.

Back to the task at hand. This is what is still to come in our evening meal:

It's right out of the box from the freezor section. So what. We're grilling with snow on the deck. I dance to Shakira songs at the YMCA. Crazier things have happened. Key Lime pie is amazing, anyway you serve it up.

But again, I digress. You know why else I heart beef? Because I love working for the beef industry. Once we demolish that key-lime pie and properly digest our steak dinner, I’ll start telling you about my week in San Antonio!