It’s What’s For Lunch.

There’s nothing better than lunch.

There’s nothing better than lunch with beef.

There’s nothing better than lunch with beef and some awesome bloggers.

And that’s how I had the pleasure of spending my Friday.

I co-hosted an event with the Texas Beef Council called Appetite for Inspiration. It was a day of learning, lunching and networking.

Texas Beef Council headquarters are literally 5 minutes from my house. They have a beautiful facility.

First up on our agenda was an intro from Erin Johnston, who introduced the event.

Next up was Stacey Bates, nutritionist for the Texas Beef Council. She dispelled some myths about beef and nutrition, and gave great tips on how to encourage healthy eating. One thing that stuck with me: “You’d never call your kid a slow reader – don’t call him a picky eater.” A great takeaway!

Then celebrity chef Richard Chamberlain was in the spotlight. He did an awesome cooking demo – making a beef salad with heirloom tomatoes, arugula and a balsamic syrup. Chef is awesome – funny, handsome and great to watch.

It was delicious. OMG good. We were supposed to get tasting portions? And we all got a full plate of this yumminess.

Chef also made some amazing tandoori skewers with couscous that I loved as well.

After that, we broke out into groups of 4-5 bloggers each and we made a bunch of different dishes – Sweet Hawaiian mini burgers, chipotle sloppy joes, beef kabobs and more. It was so much fun. The Texas Beef Council people were so hospitable, helpful and fun. We had a great time.

After our interactive cooking session, we all retired to the lovely outdoor patio for a fab lunch.

The TBC people and the folks from Nolan Ryan Beef were fabulous…and generous with their swag. We all received adorable I Heart Lean Beef aprons, plus H-E-B gift cards, Nolan Ryan Beef gift cards, a meat thermometer, a measuring spoon, a recyclable tote bag, a baseball cap, a kiddie apron…and my favorite thing: the Healthy Beef Cookbook, authored and signed by Chef Chamberlain.

Many thanks to the Texas Beef Council and Nolan Ryan Beef for organizing such a fab event. I was honored to be a part of it and to have the opportunity to invite a wonderful group of Austin-area bloggers. We have so many great ladies here and it was such a fun opportunity to connect with my old bloggy friends and meet some new ones.

In the end, it’s not about the swag, or the food - even though it was all fabulous! It was about friendship, fellowship and connections. I now have some great friends at Texas Beef Council and some new blogger friends too. For that, I am grateful to be a part of the blogging community!

If you are an attendee of Appetite for Inspiration, and you’re writing a post about it, leave the link in your comment and I’ll add it to a list below!

Holly (June Cleaver Nirvana)’s Post

I was compensated by Texas Beef to host this event. All opinions about the event are mine!

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Tagged as: Appetite for Inspiration Event, Blogging Event, Nolan Ryan Beef, Texas Beef Council