When The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association approached me about taking part in their new Lean Cut Match-up how could I say no? Of course, the timing was hysterical since they approached me days before my daughter (who loves steak) decided to go vegetarian.

Now, it should be known that I’m a big fan of red meat. Yes, I know it isn’t the healthiest thing on the planet, but few things make me as happy as a perfectly cooked steak. Whenever I’m in a new town, I love to go to the local “best steakhouse” and trying it out.

As our family has been getting into healthier routines we have been choosing leaner cuts of beef which is what this whole outreach program is about. I’m sure they’ve been getting beat up lately, so this approach focusing on leaner cuts of beef is a smart one. They’ve even got a Healthy Beef Cookbook that I might add to my wish list since I can never have enough cookbooks in my house (although Laura would disagree).

The first part of the project involved me taking a personality quiz to match me up with my perfect cut of lean beef. The concept of this gave me a giggle, you can also take the Lean Beef Personality Matchup Survey for yourself to see what cut of beef is right for you. The quiz told me that mine was Strip Steak.

I’ve talked about it before that I do all the grocery shopping in our household, so going through the meat case to pick out good cuts of meat has never been something hard for me.

But, because it can be confusing there is even an “interactive meat case” that you can go to online to help you with the shopping process. One bit of advice for you is that if you are at the grocery store and feel overwhelmed, don’t be afraid to ask for help. Most people who work behind the meat counter will be more than happy to give you advice and to help you find what you are looking for. I’ve learned a lot over the years from talking to them about all kinds of meat.

As part of working with the Beef Association, I’ve agreed to try one assigned recipe and then pick another one on my own to try out. They’ve assigned me Tender Pepper-Rubbed Strip Steaks with Grilled Vegetable Trio and I’ll be making it and sharing my experience with everyone here later this week. I’m still not sure what my second recipe will be since they’ve got so many to choose from and I haven’t picked one yet. They all look so damn yummy. But, whatever I choose you can be sure to see some yummy photos here shortly.

Of course besides drooling over the yummy steaks I’ll be cooking, I get to share the fun with you as well. Read the upcoming recipe posts to find out how you can win a Beef gift pack including a reusable shopping bag, apron and a $100 gift card to help you go shopping for your own personal lean beef adventure.

Happy eating!

Disclosure: I’ve been given a gift card to pay for the groceries used in these blog posts and of course the give aways have also been provided to me by the Beef Council and their PR Agency. If the recipes suck, you can blame them since they also provided those to me. *laugh*  http://cmp.ly/3