Last weekend my family and I were able to take a little break from the normal hassle of finding some place to grab a quick meal between baseball practices, baseball games, sleep-overs at friend’s houses, band practice and all of those other normal life duties that pepper our week as families.
I participated in a campaign on behalf of Dad Central Consulting for LongHorn Steakhouse. I received a gift card to facilitate my review and a promotional item as a thank-you for participating. As part of my review we were able to enjoy a great meal out as a family and I got to experience a little Father’s Day bliss ahead of the normally scheduled day.
My family and I have been fans of LongHorn Steakhouse for awhile and probably visit a few times a year. It’s normally our choice when we feel like enjoying a nice meal out where the steaks and other entrees are a bit of a cut above the other steak house locations around town. I normally don’t make a big deal about Father’s Day for myself. I do my best to provide for the family and take care of things and continue to fail work hard at being the best dad and husband I can be. I’m normally the thrifty dad that doesn’t treat himself to too much when it comes to meals out with the family. I usually order water with lemon as my drink and look for the best deal on an entree I can find that I enjoy. Sometimes I don’t order a meal because I know I’ll find myself finishing off something on my kid’s plates or my wife’s. This evening was going to be different though, I was going to splurge and get myself a great steak! I couldn’t wait!
My family started off our meal with a couple of appetizers. My wife opted for something a little healthier and chose the Firecracker Chicken Wraps. These things were delicious, I snagged a couple for myself, thankful that my daughter decided she didn’t want any of them herself. I love fresh vegetables, so I even was sure to grab as much of the chopped peppers and tomatoes and really get a full bite. There was also this Avocado-Lime dipping sauce that was the perfect complement to little bit of spicy heat from the chicken. It was so good I ended up scraping the left over fresh veggies and dipping sauce into my house salad before my meal.
My son and I decided to go the normal “guy” route and chose the Western Cheese Fries loaded with cheese and bacon. I got plenty of jalapeno pepper slices left on the side for my own love for the spicy side of food. As you can see from the photos, these guys were loaded with bacon and cheese, but what you can’t tell is that there were two separate kinds of cheese. First melted Monterrey jack on top, but they also had a melted cheddar cheese sauce buried beneath on a couple of layers of fries. My son didn’t want the all-beef chili poured over the fries (Boo!), so I got it on the side and just dipped my own fries in it. Just what we needed to get the stomach engine prepped for the meal!
Honestly, I can’t remember what the rest of my family ordered for their meals. I believe my son got a cheeseburger, daughter picked up some chicken tenders. I was focused on my steak, I was on a “Steakcation” after all. My steak destination ended up being the White Cheddar & Bacon Stuffed filet. Yep! More bacon! I always get my steaks cooked medium and this one was grilled perfectly. The combination of rich, white cheddar cheese and bacon added to the great taste of the grilled filet. It was a nice splurge for myself for being the dad.
As usual, our family all enjoyed our meal, we’ll be back to LongHorn for sure in the future. Between now and then though, there will always be the next summer cookout.
I LOVE to grill. Something about some good slab of protein being cooked over an open flame that I just enjoy more than many other meals. Whenever we grill, or even if we’re invited over to a friend’s house for a meal or cookout, I somehow try to squeeze my way into grill duty.
The next time we enjoy a good, grilled meal at home, we’ll also be able to take advantage of the steak knives I received as part of this promotion. Let me tell you, these are some quality knives. I was thinking as I handled them that this is about as close to must of us somewhat domesticated men these days get to wielding a sword for battle. These knives have some solid heft to them, which I enjoy. I hate using utensils that feel like someone misplaced my real silverware with something from my daughter’s Barbie playset. I haven’t used them yet for cutting through a piece of meat, but I can tell you after doing the required “slice-through-a-sheet-of-paper” test you see on TV, I’m sure these boys will do just fine!