A Little On The Lighter Side

Since I've been a Zinger/Twinkie making, cake baking fool lately, I've decided to lighten it up just a bit and post about a salad I made the other day - it was so yummy and so guilt free. I was inspired by a Cashew Chicken Salad offered by Milwaukee Burger Company that I recently had the pleasure of experiencing. A risk is not something I usually take when it comes to salad. I'm more of a purist - lettuce, tomato, cucumber, dressing = salad. Once I ordered a salad and they had put strawberries on it. I remember looking at the plate and thinking, "What kind of new-fangled idiocy is this?! Can't I just order a salad and get a SALAD?!" I bit my tongue, not literally, forged ahead with the salad anyway. Not gonna lie, it was gross. Since then I totally turned off the whole "experimental salad" switch and left it at that.
In recent years, however, I've noticed that (for reasons unknown to me) my taste buds are craving new and different, more flavorful things, so back into the quagmire of salad fixins I went. There have been some good, some really good, and some really bad experiences along the way, but for the most part I'll step out of my comfort zone to try a new-fangled idiotic salad.
Which brings us to this:

Chicken Almond Apple Salad

It may not look like a professionally assembled salad, but it was really, really good and bonus: It was good for me, too.
Two handfuls of washed spinach; one cooked chicken breast, cut up; three tablespoons slivered almonds; one green onion, diced; one Roma tomato, diced; 1/4 c. craisins; 1/4 Washington apple, diced, two tablespoons fat free balsamic vinaigrette. Simple, yummy, light. I'm having another one for lunch tomorrow, because after those Flingers, I need to lighten up!

Cake Day - I Love Cake Day!

So the day has been filled with cleaning, prepping, and baking. And I'm not anywhere near done for the day and I love it. Just sayin'.

It's almost time to go grab the kiddies from school, but I wanted to hop on and at least post the pics from today's baking adventures. I've decorated cakes for many years now, and these are by no means decorated in the fashion I usually do but then again, they are just everyday cakes - nothing special . . . . until you taste them. Oh my dears, you have got to try what I have dubbed the "Double Chocolate Fudge" cake. 

I found this recipe online some time ago and it is the most requested cake flavor to date. Once you taste it, you will completely understand why. Believe me, I will be posting the recipe soon!

And then there's this little beauty of a surprise:

 

 This cake came about because my Mother In Law gave me a can of applesauce that she had in her cupboard and thought that the kids would probably eat. Well, being the supermom that I am I decided that plying them with sugary desserts would be a better option than giving them something nutritious like plain ol' applesauce, so to work I set. This is an Applesauce Spice Cake and it will make  you think you've died and gone to the best sale at Khol's with a million dollars in your pocket and a 50% off coupon! O.k., maybe not that stupendous, but it is wonderful. And yes, I will be posting this recipe as well. I must go get the children now and ply them with sugar.