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Thank You,
Banignfood JP and FP

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Sunday Dinner!

We haven't had a bangin Sunday dinner in a looong time! I felt the need to give my family something good today.

I felt my family deserved a well cooked feast. I asked JP earlier in the day what were some of the things his Grandma used to make on Sundays. My Grandma used to cook us up some good things. Actually, most of the people on my side of the family have always cooked up some good eats. JP told me that his Grandma used to make Pot roast, macaroni and cheese, collards, and rice. It sounded great! So, I decided to make my own version. So here is what we had! Yum yum!




Pot roast cooked down in red wine and a beef consomme. I sauted some onions first in a tiny bit of olive oil. Then browned the meat. I seasoned the meat with a little bit of sea salt, pepper, and garlic salt. I threw everything in a dutch oven and cooked for several hours. It was nice and tender! Very flavorful as well!




I also cooked up some fresh string beans. I fried a few pieces of bacon. Chopped it up and threw it in a pot with the beans and a whole medium onion. Added a bit of salt and pepper for a little more seasoning.I cooked them down until they were very tender.



And for the star of the show! If you are on a diet, or are slightly afraid of gaining a few pounds, then this is definitely not the mac for you! LOL My three cheese macaroni. There is about, half block of velveeta cheese, sharp cheddar, mozzerella, egg, butter, and a bit of milk. Baked to a godlen bubbly perfection. It was sooo good, I could feel the inches adding onto my waist!


To round things off, we had some cornbread(Jiffy, wasn't in the mood for going all the way homemade!) and some rice. I love the sounds of "Mmmmm" at the dinner table. We all enjoyed the dinner and ate waaay more than we should have. I hope your Sunday dinners are as pleasureable as ours!

Enjoy!
Feather

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Bison Burgers

Hi all! It's been a long time. JP and I, continue on our healthy eating journey. Last night we had bison burgers with turkey bacon Brussels sprouts. Yum yum!

We have definitely been trying to incorporate healthier meats into our diet. Organic vegetable fed animals, no hormones, steroids, and all that jazz. I have been so blessed to be able to find these meats for decent prices at my local grocery store. Let's face it, it's a lot cheaper to get food off of a dollar menu. Organic foods just cost more. Which is just insane in my opinion.

This last grocery trip I decided to get some ground bison. I've had it in the past and really enjoyed it. But, at 5.99 for 1lb of meat it's not something I can get all the time.

If you can afford to get it, I highly suggest you try it. Bison is a very lean meat. The one I purchased was 90/10. It's a very good source of protein and it tastes just like ground beef. You can use bison in place of ground beef in any dish. This Bison was 200 calories per 4 ounces, which isn't to bad. Also, Bison takes less time to cook than ground beef. I decided on bison burgers. So here we go...




Ingredients:

1 package ground bison
Mediterranean sea salt and ground black pepper
1 egg
Arnold Sandwich Thins
Any Mixed Greens
Laughing Cow Garlic and Herb Wedges


Place ground bison in a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle a good helping of sea salt and pepper on your meat. Crack one egg over meat and mix well with your hand or a spoon. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Form bison into patties with your hand. Or if you own one of those fancy burger shapers use that! I was able to make four decent size patties. Cook patties in your pan until done. Juices should run clear. Or you can use a kitchen thermometer to check the internal temperature. 160 degrees is a temperature. I made mine well done.

You can assemble your burgers anyway you like. I personally like using the sandwich thins, because they are only 100 calories. I place my burger on the sandwich thin, top with one wedge of laughing cow cheese and mixed greens. You may certainly add any garnishments you want. This combo works for me, because it's still pretty low calorie. JP wrapped his in mixed greens and topped his burger with one wedge of laughing cow cheese. We enjoyed these with a side of turkey bacon Brussels. Sweet potato fries is another great and healthy side idea. I have a recipe for those too!

Hope you enjoy! Stay tuned for more upcoming healthy recipes.

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It's Finally Here!!!

Chipotle has finally opened it's doors in Columbia,SC! You know we were there to get in all the action!

We have been waiting a looong time for this day! Chipotle opened up here officially on January 15th. They did however, have a sneak peek on the 13th. JP and a co-worker went to the sneak peek, and quickly left! There were so many people there it was just crazy! I'm sure it had something to do with FREE burritos! LOL We did manage to make it out the official grand opening (family in tow). They were giving away t-shirts and cards for free burritos to the first 100 people. Our friend Kris was actually the first one there. He saved a spot for us too! :)

Here we are waiting in line for our t-shirt and burritos! Don't the kids look excited??? Ha!


The t-shirt give away started at 3, and this it what the line looked like as time got closer.

We made it in! Burrito time!

Our free shirt and gift card. They made the t-shirt look like a burrito! Cute!

JP Enjoying his burrito!

Arial shot of our favorite burrito the Barbacoa!


Me enjoying my burrito. Check out our friend Kris in the background! LOL

All Pau! It was well worth it! We stood in line for about an hour. I'm sure glad they finally came to our town. We were driving an hour away to get our fix! Moes better watch out! Moes also had the nerve to try and give away free burritos on Chipotle's grand opening! How dare they! lol Other friends of ours went to the new Chipotle a couple days after the grand opening and said there were still long lines! Sounds like they are off to a good start! Good times! :)

~JP and Feather

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Happy Birthday Banginfood!!!

I know I haven't posted in ions and ions. lol I guess I've been in a cooking rut. But hey, guess what??? Today is Banginfood's 2nd birthday!!! Yay! Hopefully 2010 will be bring new cooking inspiritation. Thanks to everyone who support us and read our little blog. We appreciate it. Since it's our birthday, check out the post that started it all!

http://www.banginfood.com/2008_01_01_archive.html

Thanks,
JP and Feather Banginfood

Type rest of the post here
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Recipe of The Day: Grilled Flat Iron Steak

I am a person who enjoys a good steak, and sometimes I can't afford to get a good steak. This is a relatively cheap and easy way to get your steak fix.

I have only recently become familiar with Flat Iron Steak. We all know that steak can be very expensive and usually not something you eat often. I recently found some on sale at my local grocery store. I was willing to try something new so I grabbed some. I called my Mother for some suggestions on how to prepare this cut of meat. She suggested a marinade. But I wanted to try something instead of a marinade. So, I just went for more of a rub kind of thing. The results were very tasty! So now every time I see this cut of meat on sale I scoop it up. My kids love this steak and we never have leftovers every time I make it. So here we go...


Prep-Time: 5 minutes to season a few hours to chill in the fridge
Cook Time: 30-40 minutes (or longer depending how well you like your steak)
Serving Size: 4-6 people

Ingredients:
1 flat iron steak
garlic salt
ground black pepper
McCormick Mesquite Grill Mates


The first thing you want to do is generously season your steak like so. Cover that bad boy on both sides!



Then you want to either place the steak in a zip lock bag or do like I did and wrap well in saran wrap. I ran out of bags. Place the meat in the fridge and let it chill for a few hours. 1 hour minimum. You want to let those seasonings really sink in.



Okay, once your meat is done chilling. You want to prepare your grill for cooking. I let my meat chill for about 5 hours. I am using a gas grill, because that's what I own. I know some people don't like them, but that's what I'm working with. I preheat and clean my grill before cooking. I let the grill get up to about 400 degrees. I keep the burners set to high during the preheating.



When the grill is ready, I turn the burners down to low. Then you can throw your meat on. I let it cook for about 5-10 minutes, and then I turn. Then I wait another 10 minutes and turn again. I do this about 3 or 4 times, pretty much do this until the steak looks done. If you like your steak more well done then leave it on longer. I like my meat almost pink and juicy. Also, if you take it off and it is not done enough you can throw it under the broiler to get it how you want it.



Once you are done grilling. Remove steak from heat and plate. Do NOT, I repeat...DO NOT cut! You need to let the steak rest for about 10 minutes. Once you have given steak the proper time to rest, you can proceed with the cutting.



You should now have a well rested flavorful juicy piece of meat. You can now begin cutting. You want to cut this steak very thin and at a diagonal. A sharp knife will be very useful.



Once you have finished cutting the whole steak you can plate and serve. You will love the tenderness of this cut of meat. Who says you can't have good cheap steak? I am thinking about using this for burritos one day. Fajitas would be good too! Enjoy!





~Feather
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