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.

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.  

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.  

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.  

It has been a teary eyed morning for me as I have been doing my housework with the TV on and seeing the images from the bombing at the Boston marathon.  My heart weeps for the victims and their families.  I just learned that an 8 year old boy passed away who had gone to see his father run and I can't help but feel such deep sadness for his family.  

I read a good post this morning and thought I would share.  The thing to do now is to pray.  Pray for the victims and their families.  Pray for those helping them to recover.  Pray for our President and leaders and those involved in the investigation.  

I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2:1-4 (NIV)

Potato skins = Yum.  These take a little work to put together, but the effort is worth the end result.  Save the potato insides for a quick potato salad later in the week.  The cooked potato insides will stay good in the fridge for a couple of days until you have time to throw together a potato salad.  Feel free to change up the potato skin toppings to your liking.  We love them with a dolop of sour cream.  

Ingredients:

9 russet potatoes
bacon, cooked and crumbled
olive oil
butter
salt
shredded cheese

1.  Wash and prick potatoes with a fork.  Rub with a little olive oil.  Bake at 400 degrees F for 45 minutes or more until tender.  

2.  Slice potatoes in half and scoop out insides leaving some potato around edges for stability.  A grapefruit spoon works well for scooping.  Save the potato insides to make potato salad later.  

3.  Brush outside of potatoes with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt.  Bake about 5 minutes potato side down.  

4.  Flip potatoes over and place a small piece of butter in each potato skin.  

5.  Sprinkle with sea salt, cheese, and bacon.  

6.  Bake another 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.  Serve warm with a dollop of sour cream.  

We love steamed artichokes for a Spring treat.  If you've never tried them you should, plus you can find them on sale this time of year.  

1.  In a large stock pot, place a couple of lemon slices, a clove of garlic, and a bay leaf with enough water to just reach the bottom of a steamer basket.  (a couple of inches of water)

2.  Wash artichokes.  Cut about an inch off of the stem.

3.  Use kitchen shears to trim the sharp edges off the leaves.

4.  Slice off about an inch off the top of the artichoke.

5.  Cover the artichokes and steam them until the leaves are tender and easily peel off, about 30-45 minutes.  I forgot to take a picture of the artichokes after they had cooked.  They will look more tender than these.  

Melt some butter and dip each petal in before eating.  To eat the petal scrape the inside fleshy part against your teeth.  Remove all of the petals and eat them this way.  Sounds weird, but it is delicious.  After removing the petals, scrape out and discard the inedible fuzzy covering over the artichoke heart.  Once you get to the artichoke heart, you can cut it into smaller pieces and dip into butter and enjoy.  

We love this salad.  The boys love it too.  Delicious and fresh, the lime juice gives it so much flavor.  This will be a regular addition to our summer meals.  

Ingredients:

•   1 12-16oz bag of frozen corn, thawed
  
•   1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
  
•   2 tomatoes, diced
  
•   1 sweet onion, diced
  
•   1 zucchini, diced
•   juice from 1-3 limes
  
•   salt and pepper to taste
  

Directions:
Toss all items together in a large bowl and add lime juice, salt & pepper as needed.