This is a fabulous recipe with so many flavors coming together to leave you wanting more.  It's simple, quick, and delicious.  We LOVED it.  It was so good, we will have to indulge again soon, very soon.  


Ingredients:

3 tablespoons cornstarch, divided
water
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 lb boneless round steak, cut into thin 3-inch strips
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
3 broccoli crowns, cut up
1 sweet onion, cut into wedges
8 oz. fresh mushrooms, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground ginger or minced ginger from a jar
dash sesame oil, optional
hot cooked rice

Directions:

1.  In a bowl, combine 2 T. cornstarch, 2 T. water and garlic powder until smooth.
2.  Add beef and toss.
3.  In a large skillet or wok over medium high heat, stir-fry beef in 1 T. oil until beef reaches desired doneness; set aside.
4.  Stir-fry broccoli, onion, mushrooms, and garlic in 1 T. oil for 5-7 minutes.
5.  Return beef to pan.  Add sesame oil, if using.
6.  Combine soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger, 1 T. cornstarch, and 1/2 cup water until smooth; add to the pan.
7.  Cook and stir for 2-3 minutes or until heated through.
8.  Serve over rice.

Adapted from Food.com.

Congratulations to entry #1690 Nick.  







You can still enter these giveaways:

Sumo Sultan Bean Bag Giveaway

Dial Kids Body Wash Review and Giveaway

Manhattan Toy Motorworks

Congratulations to entry #401 Wendy for winning the Manhattan Toy "imagine i CAN" giveaway.


Other giveaways you can still enter:  

Sumo Sultan Bean Bag Giveaway

Chick-fil-A Prize Pack Giveaway

                                  Dial Kids Body Wash Review and Giveaway

Motorworks from Manhattan Toy developed a line of toy cars with interchangeable parts that will provide hours of fun.  No batteries needed, only your child's imagination.  

Our boys were thrilled to receive their new Motorworks cars and accessories kit.  I let them pick them out themselves.  They were so excited when the box arrived and couldn't wait to open it.  

A proud new car owner.

The boys busy at work changing the accessories on their new cars.  

They chose:

• "STS Stealth Police Cruiser" from the Speed Series.
  
• "STX Patriot Dragster" from the Extreme Series
  
• Ground Effects wheels and trim 
  

The MOTORWORKS Collection includes three different trim levels; the Street Series, Speed Series and Extreme Series.  The accessory pieces are interchangeable across all three series and snap easily into the beech wood bodies.  

Our boys love changing the accessories.  They are easy to change and well made.  The pieces are sturdy and fit easily together.   

STX Patriot Dragster

See how easy it is to change the look of a Motorworks vehicle.  

Here is a quick video of my son playing with the STS Stealth Police Cruiser.  

Our boys love their new Motorworks toy cars.  You can enter to win one too.  Win a vehicle package plus one accessory pack (total retail value $18.98 to $31.98, depending on selection, winner’s choice).  U.S.-only giveaway  Enter on the rafflecopter form.  

Disclosure:  I received products for review purposes, however, any opinions are honest and are my own.  

To celebrate their 110th birthday, the 8 original crayons are throwing a birthday bash at the new fun-omenal Crayola Experience, the world's only interactive Crayola family attraction. 

How can you join in on the fun?  You can FOLLOW the crayons on their adventure, LEARN more about each color and enter to WIN a trip for 4 to celebrate their birthday and the Grand Opening of the all new Crayola Experience this coming May, 2013!

Visit the Crayola Facebook page and click "enter now" for your chance to be first in line when the Crayola Experience reopens.

The new Crayola Experience features four floors of new interactive exhibits and one-of-a-kind attractions that will bring the magic of color and your child's creativity to life!  The winner will be among the first to experience the fun, along with a three- night, all-expenses paid stay.  It's an experience your kids will never forget - and neither will you!


Disclosure:  Crayola provided me with this information.

Tomorrow is Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day!

The 20th anniversary of Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day is tomorrow (April 25), and there’s no better time for families to talk about endless future possibilities than over lunch or dinner!  

In honor of the day, Olive Garden is offering one free children’s menu item (children under 12) for every adult entrée purchased.


Are any of you taking your son or daughter to work?  This would be a fun way to break for lunch or end the day.  

It’s Prom Season!

·         A Special Offer: Prom planning is gearing up, and with all the excitement for the big night often comes empty wallets for teens and families.  As the ultimate pre-prom dinner destination, Olive Garden offers prom goers a great meal at an affordable price, and now through June 2, every couple who orders pre-prom dinner will also receive dessert on the house—just come dressed for the dance and mention “prom!”


·         Picture-Perfect Prom Instagram Contest: Olive Garden is hosting its Picture-Perfect Prom photo-sharing contest on Instagram with a weekly grand prize of a $500 prepaid credit card.  Every week of the contest, Olive Garden will also give away five restaurant e-gift cards each valued at $50.  Guests can enter now through May 14 by sharing their prom-themed photos on Instagram with #OGProm and following @OfficialOliveGarden.  Rules: OfficialOliveGardenRules.com.



Disclosure:  I was provided with a promotional item, however any opinions are honest and are my own.  

Here are some ideas for another delicious week.  

Monday:  Sausage gravy and biscuits, Pan seared asparagus, oranges
Tuesday:  Beef in Red Wine and Mushroom sauce, Egg noodles, green beans, sliced tomatoes
Wednesday:  BBQ pork, potato salad, baked beans
Thursday:  leftover BBQ on homemade slider rolls, roasted asparagus
Friday:  Split pea and ham soup
Saturday:  Leftover soup, Italian bread sandwiches
Sunday:  Leftovers

I am thrilled to announce that I wrote a guest post that was published at Money Saving Mom.  I am so excited to welcome new readers from Money Saving Mom.  Stop by, stay a while and enjoy some great recipes, menu plans, and giveaways.  

Congrats to the latest Purex winners.  

#860 Jamie
#294 Diana
#785 Elizabeth

You can still enter these giveaways:

Sumo Sultan Bean Bag Giveaway

Chick-fil-A Prize Pack Giveaway

I received the infinite scarf to review in black and beige.  I like the beige color the best.  In fact, I love the color.  It is neutral and goes with almost everything and it has a subtle shine.  The infinite scarf is versatile in that it stretches to the size of a tube dress and then back down to a scarf again just by stretching the fabric.  

In this picture, I am wearing it as a warmer.  I stretched the tube out and slipped it over my head.  It is really easy to do and goes back to a regular scarf by pulling and stretching it long again.  This would have been really warm under a coat, but I wanted you to see the scarf in the picture.  As soon as we walked out the door to take the picture, a snow storm came through and it was really cold.  

You can watch a video on the infinite scarf site to see all the ways to wear it.  You can wear it in 20+ ways including as a muffler, jacket, sweater, shawl, vest, warmer, hood, cowl, kerchief, cape, stole, tube top, skirt, halter top, strapless dress, and off the shoulder.  I wasn't adventurous enough to wear it in all of these versatile styles, but I do like wearing it as a scarf.  It is really soft and machine washable which is always a plus.  

Check out the infinite scarf site for more info.  You can get two infinite scarves for the price of one with coupon code "CODE101".  


Disclosure:  I received products for review purposes.  All opinions are honest and are my own.