When you hear the word Smithfield, what is the first thing that pops into your head?

Smithfield ham? Smithfield Virginia?

Well, if you said either, you would be right.

I had the amazing oppurtunity to spend a few days in Smithfield, Virginia learning alllll about Smithfield Products.

I was joined by two very awesome people, Michelle Ragussis (from the Next Food Newwork Star) and Simon Majumdar (also from The Food Network, Iron Chef judge).

You see all that room they have to dance around? They just like to be close.

This is an injection syringe. Wooza, thats big. Imagine one of those commin’ at ya.

So next time you are eating that hamburger or filet, stop and think about where it may have come from. It’s a very interesting journey.

~ The Hungry Housewife

From left to right we have, Darla from Bakingdom, Kristan from Confessions of a Cookbook Queen, Shelly from Cookies and Cups and me.

We had a blast. Truly love those girls.

It always amazes me how different a city can look in the daytime compared to the night.

I took these photos from one of the many parties we attended. The day photos, I took at the Dole and Johnsonville parties hosted by Susan at Doughmesstic and Paula from Bell’alimento. And the nighttime photos I took during the Cameron Hughes Wine party hosted by the same great ladies. I sadly didn’t take any photos of the Zip List party hosted by Maria and Lori. I had been up for 24 hours at that point and thought I was dying.

Speaking of the Dole party, the fabulous Chef Ben Ford cooked for us. It was pretty awesome.

Doesn’t he look like his Dad, Harrison Ford?

And based on some Facebook recommendations, we ate at the Pink Door.
I had the best chicken panini there. The restaurant was so cozy.

Anytime you go to Seattle, Pikes Market is a must.

If you want to be in Mac and Cheese heaven, Beecher’s is the place to go. Ohhhhh my, it was divine.

Oh and when 4 girls are hungry, the only thing to do is to go to Top Pot Doughnuts and get a dozen doughnuts. We gave it the ol collage try, but we only seemed to put a dent in them.

We ate cupcakes like it was nobodies business….We stopped at Yellow Leaf Cupcakes and gorged.

We also had a little Pj-Cupcake party in our room one night. In attendance was Amanda from Kevin and Amanda (she tortured us with all the cupcakes) Lori from Recipe Girl and Recipe Boy, Jenny from Picky Palate, Maria and family from Two Peas , Shaina from Food for my Family , Tara from Unsophisticook and of course my sweet roommates.

So there you have it. I think I gained 9 pounds.

~ The Hungry Housewife

The Walmart choice Steak Challenge presented by Kingsford® Charcoal and Coca-Cola.
Two local chefs, Chef Eric Lackey of FlameStone American Grill and Chef Chad Johnson of SideBern’s, went head to head in a cut throat competition grilling the new Choice Steak over Kingsford® Charcoal.
The winner of the competition will get to go onto New York on May 22nd for the main competition.

Chef Lackey, Chad from 94.9, Chef Johnson

The two got their Kingsford® Charcoal ready to go.

Did you know that in 2011, Americans purchased more than 1 BILLION pounds of charcoal???? That’s 2,222 times the weight of the Statue of Liberty.
I am embarrassed to say that I have never cooked on charcoal. I know, it’s sad, isn’t it? If anyone wants to donate The Big Green Egg to me, I would much appreciate it..you know, for recipe development and all.

And the steaks came out. Are they not BEAUTIFUL? I mean, look at that perfect marbling! Only one in five steaks are good enough to call Walmart Choice Premium Beef, which has been certified by the USDA for quality. Shoppers who are not 100% satisfied with their steaks can bring back their receipts for a complete refund!!!

And the grilling began!

Can you taste the delicious-ness? My mouth is watering thinking about both competitors steaks!

When each chef was done, the steaks were cut and color coordinated by tooth picks. Everyone got to sample both steaks. Whichever steak you liked the best, you threw that colored toothpick into a container.
And the votes, were counted…very scientifically

And the winner was BLUE and that was Chef Lackey of FlameStone

He did bring quite a very large entourage…just saying’

For more information on more upcoming Walmart Choice Steak Challenges, go to WWW.grilling.com

~ The Hungry Housewife

I love the warm welcome you get every time you step into a Moe’s Southwest Grill.
Have you been to Moe’s? Yes, well then you know the deliciousness that awaits you as you walk in the door.
No? Well hop on over to Moe’s and see if there is one in your area..then run run run and go get yourself a homewrecker!

I had the wonderful opportunity to travel to Moe’s Southwest grill in Atlanta and hang out with the Moe’s crew and 8 other bloggers.

You might go to a restaurant and love the food, but lets be honest, do you really research the history or what lengths the company goes through to have a successful restaurant?? Nah, Probably not.

I love when companies care about the consumer, and that is Moe’s all the way around.
After hanging out with some Moe’s Big wigs, I realized that they not only serve delicious, high quality food, but they are good people. Like really cool, laid back people..my kind of people I like to hang with.
For instance, lets take the music they play in all the stores, take a listen next time you stop in to Moe’s. They only play music of dead artists. That’s pretty cool in my opinion.
Oh, and try to find a microwave in a Moe’s, nope, you won’t find one. They don’t believe in nuking fresh food.
Moe’s believes in “delicious simplicity”, it’s their way of being committed to serving on the highest quality ingredients 100% of the time at 100% of their locations!
The chicken they use is all natural, cage free, breast meat. The pork is steroid free, grain fed pulled pork(my fav). Their tender meat is 100% grass fed ground sirloin. And if you are of the vegetarian variety, they even have organic tofu.
No trans fats will be found and the next one is a biggie for me..NO MSG( a huge migraine trigger for me).

Moe’s made these custom chefs jackets for us. Loved them!

We got the opportunity to try some of the food they are testing as new menu items.
OH.MY.GOD. I can’t begin to tell you how AMAZINGLY amazing (yes, I went to school) the Cuban Quesadilla is.
The photo does not do the Cuban Quesadilla justice.

Fun was also had by all. We were split up into groups and had a salsa showdown!

And we also go the chance to get behind the line and make and roll our own burritos. Let me tell ya, that’s hard work.

We also got to have some non Moe’s related fun.
They whisked us off to The World of Coca-Cola.

I had been there a few years ago, but they completely re did the whole facility.

Below are the lovely ladies I got to meet.

Courtney Heath- Crunchy Beach Mama
Jennifer Bullock- Mommy B Knows Best
Jennifer Houck Spink- One Mom’s World
Karen Hartzell- In the Kitchen with KP
Mandi Holcombe- Cumming Local
Mishelle Lane- Secret Agent Mama
Sami Cone- Sami Cone
Stacie Connerty- the Divine Miss Mommy 

A HUGE shout out to Jessica and Melissa at Finn Partners for all of their planning and hard work.

I suppose now that you know all about Moe’s Southwest Grill you want to know about the giveaway?
Moe’s gave each of us a customized iPod. Well you see, everyone in my house already has one, so I thought I would give it to one of you. Yeah, I’m nice.

GIVEAWAY

One winner will win the following (shown above)

iPod SHUFFLE

GIVEAWAY RULES      CONTEST ENDED

Contest ends Thursday April 5th 2012 at 8:15 am EST.
Winner will be chosen by Random Org.com
Contest open to US residents only.

Main Entry
(Required)

1.) Have you ever been to Moe’s Southwest Grill?

(For EACH additional entry, you must leave a SEPARATE comment for EACH ADDITIONAL entry)

2.) Like THE HUNGRY HOUSEWIFE on Facebook
3.) Follow THE HUNGRY HOUSEWIFE on Twitter
4.) Tweet using this..Go visit http://tinyurl.com/7zq7jbz for a iPod giveaway from @hungryhousewife
5.) Post about this giveaway on your Facebook Page using this tag… Go visit http://tinyurl.com/7zq7jbz for an iPod giveaway
6.) Subscribe to THE HUNGRY HOUSEWIFE via email.
7.) Like Moe’s on Facebook
8.)Like Moe’s on Twitter

And there you have it, a total of 8 entries for you.
Good Luck

**** Travel expenses were provided by Moe’s Southwest Grill. The opinions in this post are 100% mine****

~ The Hungry Housewife