Healthy Beef Mondays: ZIP

Go ahead feast on your favorite cut of red meat-you'll body will thank you! I'm trying to make every Monday pertain to a healthy beef diet. Whether it be sharing family recipes, providing you with nutritional information or commenting on news articles that tell how the industry reflects our (the consumers) bodies and lifestyle. I think it's best to start out basic, so I'll go over exactly what I had tonight for dinner. After a long day at the office and a workout at the YMCA the last thing I felt like doing when walking in the door tonight was making a blown-out meal! My body needed to be recharged after my workout. I resulted in a meal that with provide me with the most amount of vitamins and minerals in a smaller portion. After throwing a 3 ounce tenderloin in the oven I started onto my veggies (a complete well balanced meal is the best way to go!). I decided on a spinach salad with mushrooms, cherry tomatoes and green/yellow/red peppers topped with my family recipe of house dressing. Checking on the internal temperature of your meat is very important while this is the consumers preference. Please note the following temperatures and descriptions. Preference Temperature Description Rare 120-125* F Center is bright pink, pinkish toward the exterior portion Medium Rare 130-135* F Center is very pink, slightly brown toward the exterior portion Medium 140-145* F Center is light pink, outer portion is brown Medium Well 150-155* F Not Pink Well Done 160-165* Steak is uniformly brown throughout Ground Beef 165* F No longer pink, uniformly brown throughout I prefer my meat cooked at medium, so after 145* appeared on my thermometer I removed and enjoyed a simple well balanced meal. Calorie wise I really did get the most bang for my buck by choosing beef. ZIP is a popular technique used to educate consumers, that's because of the massive amounts of Zinc, Iron and Protein contained in a portion. By enjoying beef in tonight's meal my body received 30% of the daily value for Zinc, 9% of the daily value for Iron, and drum roll please..... 50% of the daily value for PROTEIN! If it weren't for the Zinc I would not get anything done in the office, it boosts my mental and physical development while controlling appetite. Iron carries oxygen to body cells and tissue and make new red blood cells. Protein is what keeps the energizer bunny moving! Several different areas in our body depend on protein to make hormones, keep us strong and motivated, work with our immune system , and support growth & maintenance of tissue. Now if only I could figure how what food group this glass of wine fits into? Fruit? If you know please share. I always thought a glass a day was good for your heart, am I correct? Please share! So tomorrow when pondering what to make on your drive home from the office or gym consider choosing a meal that your taste buds and body will enjoy. Make sure you had your ZIP (ZINC, Iron and Protein) for the day. PS-Don't forget to vote, the countdown it on! How about that Superbowl??? Go Packers! N.Starr