Category Archives: Giveaway

Giveaway: Lone Star Steakhouse

This is my second holiday giveaway. Don’t forget to enter my Tuttorosso prize pack giveaway as well! You have until this weekend when I pick a winner!

It’s no secret that Kevin and I love steaks. We’re always up for trying out new steakhouses so when Lone Star Steakhouse reached out to us to give them a try and to give two of our readers a try as well (details at the end), we were definitely game! I have to admit that we had never been to Lone Star before, and we went in expecting a typical chain restaurant steakhouse.

We ended up being very pleasantly surprised. First of the all, the atmosphere is very welcoming. The service was great from the people at the host station to our server. The restaurant wasn’t overly formal nor was it too casual. It’s a great middle of the road atmosphere where you could take your family for an evening out.

I started out with their raspberry lemonade, which was very refreshing and had a little bit of fizz added. They also brought out warm yeast rolls, which were served with cinnamon honey butter.

Lone Star Steakhouse-Raspberry Lemonade

Lone Star Steakhouse-Yeast Rolls

The rolls were nice and doughy, and the butter made them taste like Christmas.

For appetizers, we started with coconut shrimp, their newest appetizer, and the Taste of Texas sampler.

Lone Star Steakhouse-Coconut Shrimp with Sweet Pepper Dipping Sauce

The coconut shrimp was excellent. The coconut flavor really came out and paired well with the sweet pepper sauce.

Lone Star Steakhouse-Taste of Texas Sampler

The sampler, which came with buffalo chicken tenders, fried green beans and loaded potato skins, was also a hit. What was surprising was how light all the fried items were. Nothing was greasy. My favorite item in the platter was the fried green beans. They were addicting. Kevin loved the buffalo tenders.

Then it was on to the main event. Lone Star hand cuts all of their steaks, which isn’t always the case with chain steakhouses. Their steaks and other proteins are seasoned and grilled over mesquite wood and served with two sides.

I ordered the bacon-wrapped filet mignon with steamed spinach and garlic mashed potatoes.

Lone Star Steakhouse-Five Star Filet Mignon

Lone Star Steakhouse-Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Kevin ordered the peppercorn ribeye with steamed broccoli and steak fries.

Lone Star Steakhouse-Peppercorn Ribeye

Lone Star Steakhouse-Steak Fries

We also ordered a side of sautéed onions and mushrooms to accompany our steaks.

Lone Star Steakhouse-Sauteed Onions and Mushrooms

We were really surprised by the quality of steaks we were served. They had a lot of natural flavor and weren’t cooked in a ton of oil and butter. The true flavor of the steaks and cooking method really came through. The mushrooms were also amazing. I could eat a bowl of the sautéed mushrooms by themselves.

As a grand finale, we ordered their New York-style cheesecake with strawberry sauce.

Lone Star Steakhouse-New York-Style Cheesecake

The cheesecake was the perfect sweet ending to our filling meal. The strawberry sauce was very fresh with sliced strawberries and wasn’t overly syrupy. I’m so excited that we got to try Lone Star. It’s located in west Orlando near the outlets and I-Drive. I hope more people stumble upon it during their holiday shopping.

For those of you in Orlando, if you happen to visit, be sure to tell them Sushi and Sit-Ups sent you!

Giveaway

I have two $20 gift cards to Lone Star Steakhouse for two readers so you can give their menu a try. You can check out their locations here. 

You have two chances to win:

  1. Leave a comment below with your favorite dish involving beef.
  2. Tweet (be sure to leave a second comment with your Twitter handle saying you tweeted): I just entered to win a Lone Star Steakhouse gift card through @sushiandsitups http://bit.ly/tKlXT7

You have until this weekend to enter. I’ll announce the winner of this giveaway and the Tuttorosso prize pack this weekend just in time for Christmas!

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Giveaway: Tuttorosso Prize Pack

With the holidays coming up quickly, I thought it would be fun to do a couple giveaways as my gift to you. This is the first of two I have planned.

Tuttorosso is owned by Red Gold, a family-owned company focused on creating great-tasting tomato products through growing local in the Midwest, which has ideal conditions for tomato growing. Every day on Tuttorosso’s Facebook page, you can enter to win daily prizes until Dec. 22. The prizes include Rachael Ray stock pots, Wustof knives and Good Grips garlic presses.

Tuttorosso sent me a prize pack of some of their products and cooking accessories, and offered a pack to one of you. Details are at the end of this post. I was really excited to try their products and whipped up a couple easy weekday recipes using their products.

Spaghetti with Mozzarella and Basil

Spaghetti with Mozzarella and Basil

I really wanted to try simple recipes that brought out the favor of the tomatoes. Because this recipe is so simple and requires so few ingredients, it’s important to get fresh ingredients for the most flavor.

Basil

Fresh Mozzarella

Ingredients:

  • 1 pound spaghetti
  • 1 can Tuttorosso tomato sauce (29 ounces)
  • 2 ounces of fresh mozzarella, cubed
  • 1 cup fresh basil, chopped into confetti
  • Salt

Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add a generous amount of salt to season. It’s important to really salt the water. Since fresh mozzarella has less salt than packaged mozzarella, the salt in the pasta water seasons the spaghetti and rest of the dish nicely. Add spaghetti and cook to al dente.

Drain the spaghetti and add back to empty pot. Pour the tomato sauce into the pot and over the pasta and heat over low heat until sauce is heated. Transfer to a serving bowl. Fold in most of the mozzarella cubes and basil (set aside some of both to garnish). The mozzarella will melt from the heat of the pasta, and the basil will wilt slightly.

Garnish with remaining mozzarella and basil.

Spaghetti with Mozzarella and Basil 2

The tomato sauce is pretty simple and provides an easy base for pretty much any pasta dish. It’s easily dressed up with the fresh mozzarella and fresh basil. This dish reheats really well. The sauce soaks into the pasta, and fresh mozzarella melts so nicely, even upon reheating.

Baked Chicken with Crushed Tomatoes and Vegetables

Ingredients:

  • 2 chicken breasts (about 1 pound)
  • 1 can Tuttorosso crushed tomatoes with basil (15 ounces)
  • 1 ear of sweet corn with kernels cut from cob
  • 1 small yellow squash, diced
  • 1 small zucchini, diced

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Mix together corn, squash and zucchini. I highly recommend using a fresh ear of sweet corn for the best flavor and texture.

Vegetables

Add crushed tomatoes and stir to incorporate.

Line a small baking dish with part of the vegetable and tomato mixture to create a thin base layer. Place chicken on top of layer then spoon over the rest of the tomato and vegetable mixture.

Bake in over for approximately 30 to 45 minutes (depending on how packed your baking dish is) until chicken is cooked through.

Bake

Baked Chicken in Crushed Tomatoes and Veggies

The crushed tomatoes are nice and thick and well seasoned thanks to the basil already incorporated. It pairs well with hearty vegetables. While baking, the chicken soaks up all the juices making it incredibly moist. You could really swap out any vegetables you want in this dish.

Giveaway

Tuttorosso Prize Pack

Don’t forget to visit Tuttorosso’s Facebook page to enter their daily giveaway. In addition, enter to win your own Tuttorosso prize pack full of tomato products and cooking accessories here. You have two chances to win:

  1. Leave a comment below with your favorite dish that has tomatoes
  2. Tweet (be sure to leave a second comment with your Twitter handle saying you tweeted): I just entered to win a Tuttorosso prize pack through @sushiandsitups http://bit.ly/tKlXT7

You have until this weekend to enter. I’ll pick a winner next weekend right before Christmas! And don’t forget to come back soon for my second holiday giveaway!

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Greens, Goddess…and a GIVEAWAY

Tuesdays are always the roughest day of the week for me. Although I dread Mondays when the weekend is coming to an end, I feel like I’m always far more exhausted on Tuesdays and reach the apex of longing for the weekend again. Does anyone else have a rough time waking up on Tuesdays? Well hopefully I can brighten yours with my blog’s first-ever giveaway! But first you have to read about my recent eats.

Since Kevin’s late-night working has continued into this week, I needed another go-to dinner for one. I’ve been hankering for a giant salad that would keep me full. Although I’m a meat-eater, this salad happens to be vegetarian. I try to go meatless for some meals to help balance the meat I do eat.

salad

I layered on my plate:

And then topped it with Annie’s Goddess salad dressing.

Annie's

Holy deliciousness. It was yummy and filling. The Morningstar “chicken” goes really well with the Goddess dressing. I love a hearty salad.

Giveaway

It is no secret that I love OpenSky. If you’ve never heard of it, it’s what they call “Twitter for shopping.” You can follow celebrity curators, which gives you access to their favorite things on sale. Blog superstars Kath, Tina and Gina are all curators, and so are various actors, models, etc. I scored a great deal on BIC Bands through OpenSky and recently bought my newest obsession: stainless steel straws.

straw

Drinking through a straw is just more fun. Through OpenSky and curator Lulu Powers, I bought a bundle of eight stainless steel straws and a cleaner made by Stainless Cups. They’re great for the environment and make your drink taste even colder. I especially love them for summertime cocktails, iced coffee and motivating me to drink more water.

About two weeks after I received my shipment from OpenSky, I received a second shipment from them. I opened it to see what it was and realized it was my exact same order again. I called OpenSky to tell them they had shipped it to me twice, and they told me not to worry about shipping it back, so I decided that I am going to pass it on to one of you! OpenSky has awesome customer service, so I wanted to make sure to share that.

What you get:

  • 4-9.5” long straws
  • 4-7” long straws
  • 1-straw cleaning brush

laid out straws

According to Stainless Cups’ website, this is a $22 value. The straws are made of stainless steel so they won’t rust and are dishwasher safe.

To enter:

Leave a comment on this post with what your favorite drink would be to use the straw for. This giveaway will be open for one week until next Tuesday, August 30 at midnight eastern daylight time. I’ll use Random.org to select a winner. That’s it!

Note: Each straw and cleaner is individually wrapped, but the paper bag they all came in is open from when I was investigating what came in the mail. Also, this is only open to U.S. residents.

P.S. If you want to sign up for OpenSky, feel free to do so through this link, which gives me credit for referring you.

I hope you’re as excited about this giveaway as I am!

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Filed under Giveaway, Vegetarian