M.I.A. and Salad How To

Hi folks. I am here. I know I've dropped off the planet. Been lots going on. Then needed a mental break from blogging. Hard to explain, might be best not to share what reduced this silly girl to tears. I am okay, moving onwards and upwards.

So here's some scoop for you. My bro is here again. Now before you start jumping up and down like I did, he did not, I repeat, did NOT bring his camera this time. Yah, I know right. There may have been a few f bombs dropped when I found out. I may have locked him out of the house screaming "and don't come back without a rebel you #@$*@%^, but that's just speculation. He can't prove a thing right, there's no camera!!! No proof= it didn't happen. So I may just not feed him while he's here. That's his punishment. Oh Scott look at this ice cream= NONE FOR YOU! Ah Scott look at your favourite, mom's apple crisp, hm where's your camera Scott, NONE FOR YOU! I tell ya, some people's brother's right. I think you should all mass email him with your complaints immediately. Tell him how mad you are. You can reach him at....

lol, seriously I would never do that. Well I might, but maybe once he gets home so he can't pile drive me one. Although I think I could take him now. Strong like bull!

Okay so if you are still reading and have not run off screaming here's some other news pertaining to Mr. Scott I am so cool I left my camera at home. He is here with his lovely partner in crime Donna, who I adore and do not hold responsible for Scott's careless leaving his camera behind ways. So they are here visiting until Monday. Which is going to be a blast. So just letting my fellow bloggers know that I shall not be my normal commentaholic self until they are gone. I shall pop on occasionally when I can. Hope you understand, but I get so little time with them and they are here a short while. So don't take my absence from your blogs to heart. I shall be back to drool and oh and ah.

So this is a quickie as I  need to get up early. One of our adorable little kitties is having a minor health crisis. So luckily our friends are vets and are fitting him in asap tomorrow morning. Nothing life threatening as far as I can tell. He's our oldest one and not very friendly as far as ragdolls go so should be an interesting visit. I think they are expecting another Castiel who loves all people and purrs even after surgery. They are in for a rude awakening when they meet the Spikinator, My Spiker Dude, the Spikster. He is a handful and whines like a little girl who had her camera taken away.

So I pictured this salad as a teaser the other day. It rocked. It not only rocked, it rolled. So good I could barely stand it. It was super hard to make. I mean this salad is time consuming as all get out. It's got lettuce and walnuts and dried cranberries and apple pieces. It has a raspberry poppyseed dressing, I mean how amazing is that right. So it is really difficult to make. You have to dice apples and tear lettuce. You have to dry cranberries, and smash up walnuts. Then the task of making the amazing dressing. I mean raspberries are wild enough, but raspberry poppy seed. That is just taking it to a whole new level. So make sure you set aside some time to hole up in the kitchen to do this one. So you ready for the how to. Making your mouth water am I? Are you craving a nice big salad with walnuts, apples, and dried cranberries now? Okay so here's what you gotta do.

Go to the store and buy a kit called "fresh attitude spring mix". Yup you heard me right. You buy it in the produce aisle just like you would ingredients. So you pick up the spring mix with toppings and the stuff is already cut up and ready to go. Like magic. Like little fairies helping you in the kitchen. The dressing is in there too. So wham, bam, salad, ma'am, you are all set to pretend you made a great salad. I know, I know, the horror right. She bought a *gasp* store bought salad. Actually no I did not, hubs brought it home from work and I did not want to hurt his feelings so I put it together for the man. I did add some extra romaine lettuce though so I can officially say I "made" it. Here's a little secret folks, even us foodies, us food bloggers sometimes cheat. Sometimes you  just want to cut some corners, shave some time off dinner, spend time elsewhere. So I wanted to post this for those who think we always cook like lunatics and are super cooks. Yes even we get busy, or enjoy something we did not make. And it's okay. The world will not stop spinning because you bought a salad instead of making it. Maybe this day is the day you watch a movie with your family instead of cooking. Maybe today is the day you sit and do a puzzle with your kids instead of roasting over the stove. It's okay, cheat. And do it without guilt or remorse. Some days it's just not worth the effort. Embrace those days and don't feel bad.

Okay so now that I have stunned and dazzled you with my awesomeness I must run off to bed. Well, that's not entirely true. I am going to sort of meander if you must really know. I am still full from a lovely chinese food dinner with the family tonight. So running is not an option. Waddling maybe, shuffling sure, but running not so much.

See you soon. If I get time tomorrow I promise to post this:

I also might let you in on a Lunatic secret involving this:

So enjoy your weekends. Do not panic if you don't see me commenting. I have not stopped following or loving you. I just need a weekend with the family. Also will put together the lunatic links and farm fresh friday soon. Hopefully I can squeeze in time tomorrow. They are all picked I just need to put the post together. Talk soon my friends.

Toodles and smoochies. xx