Birthday Reminiscence

As Liam's 3rd Birthday is fast approaching I have been thinking about a lot of things.  I have been going through many things from the past 3 years and looking back on the amazing journey that we have already had together.  I would never known such an amazing love as the love that he has shown to me and brought into my life.  I am so blessed with the opportunity to guide him and walk by his side in this lifetime.  I don't know where the time goes, flying by before your eyes one moment they are aren't even able to hold their own head up.  Then they are exploring the world around and crawling, before you know it they are walking.  And the talking and becoming independent and actually thinking about how things work, and how to break and recreate things.  How to tell right from wrong, and stranger from friend.  How to tell a difference in humor and situational humor.  All of this journey has been more that I could have ever imagined thus far.

With that being said I wanted to share some of Liam's awesome videos as a flashback to his amazing little self.  Enjoy!

Beef Stroganoff with Loaded Mashed Red Potatoes

This evening I created a beef stroganoff dish with a side of loaded mashed red potatoes.  I normally start out with a recipe for inspiration and then go from there.  This is my step by step version exactly as I made it.  Turned out quite delicious. 

Recipe for the Beef Stroganoff

Ingredients:

1 package Stew Meat

3 oz butter

8 oz egg noodles (wide works best)

2-4 tsp Salt & pepper (can substitute Alpine Touch)

2 tsp Mediterranean Oregano (reg can be used but I prefer the taste of Mediterranean)

8 oz pack of Mushrooms tops diced (whichever you prefer I used Monterey for this recipe)

½ Zucchini peeled and diced

8 oz package of cream cheese

½ cup Orange Liquor (I used Gran Gala)

1 Cup Sour Cream

1 tsp Parsley

Directions:

Melt 2 oz of butter in heavy bottom skillet.  Add stew meat, 2 tsp Salt& Pepper,  & 2 tsp Oregano and brown the meat, this should take about 6-8 minutes total.  While stew meat is being browned boil water in a separate pan for the noodles.  Add noodles and boil until al dente.  Drain and set aside the noodles once complete.  Once browned remove the steak from the pan (I store in the microwave to keep warm).  Don’t clean out the pan to ensure maximum flavor.  Add the final oz of butter to the pan and add the diced mushrooms & zucchinis cook until softened about 2-3 minutes.  Once softened add the cream cheese and the orange liquor, simmer for about 5 minutes.  Add the sour cream and the remaining Alpine Touch as well as the Parsley and simmer for about minute or two to mix.  Add the steak back into the sauce and stir until thoroughly mixed and warmed.  Serve by pouring sauce over the noodles when ready to eat.  Enjoy!

Recipe for Loaded Mashed Red Potatoes

Ingredients:

5-6 red potatoes

1 Cup 2% Milk or Half & half

1-2 oz butter

2TBsp Sour Cream

1-2 cloves garlic chopped

2 green onion stalks chopped

¾ cup shredded cheese ( I used colby jack)

2 tsp Salt & Pepper ( I use Alpine Touch)

2 tsp Basil (I use Mediterranean)

Directions:

Quarter the red potatoes, I leave the skin on for added flavor.  Put into a pan and almost cover with water.  Boil until potatoes begin to soften (you should be able to mash them easily with a cooking spoon).  Empty any excess water.  Turn the heat to Low.  Add the milk and butter.  If you do not want lumps in your potatoes now would be the best time to use the whisk to eliminate any lumps in the potatoes.  Add the remaining ingredients mix and turn to Simmer until the cheese is thoroughly melted.  The potatoes should not be ready to eat.  You can add a dash of Basil on top when served to taste.   

 *Pictures are in chronological order

Brown the stew meat & boil the potatoes

Soften mushrooms, continue boiling potatoes

Soften mushrooms & zucchinis, continue boiling potatoes

Add cream cheese & orange liquor to the sauce, potatoes should be softened from boiling

Add sour cream to the sauce and the remaining potato ingredients

Add the meat back into the sauce and ensure cheese is melted in the potatoes

Serve & Enjoy!

Never Meant To Be

Never Meant To Be
By: Brittany Lynne McCann
April 13, 2010

You and me
Were never meant to be
It was just an idea
That didn’t realize reality
Couldn’t grasp it’s own depth
From that second glance
We both fell into it
Eyes wide open
Hearts slammed shut
Somewhere along the way
Things happened right beneath our feet
Not as controllable
As you and I thought
Hearts leaping with joy
Yet still not feeling right
Everything was somehow wrong
The universe felt off
The deeper I fall
The more detached I seem to feel
The less it all seems real
I want to give my all
To someone willing to receive
From day one
There were no disillusions
I knew you were not the one
But I also knew I deserved some fun
My life had become so mundane
It threatened to drive me insane
Where do we go from here
I want my affections to go
To someone who wants them
You would rather feel nothing for me
To escape this contradictory
That drives us apart each day
And somehow closer still the next
Your company I crave
Yet wishing I cannot help
That in your place was someone else
Someone with open arms and heart
To appreciate and give in return
Someone deserving of me now
Not so far into the future
Someone who will not realize it once I’m gone
But who can realize it when it’s there
I do not want to lose you as a friend
Yet I feel it coming to an end
If we don’t act fast
It could end disastrous
Leaving us worse off than before
As our hearts hit the floor
Torn bare from our chests
In this battle of wills
While your touch still gives me chills
But your mind captivates
Not I moment I will regret
Many times I will never forget
How much longer can we masquerade
As we play at this charade
Of never letting go
Both stubborn as the bull
Which one of us will give in first
This time I feel the turn is mine
Allowing yourself to love would be divine
Yet I cannot continue to waste time
Waiting around for you to mature
I know what I deserve
Far more than you can give right now
Your friendship is irreplaceable
I will be sad to see you go
Yet I know we are meant to part ways
Already we have spent too many days
In this relationship contradictory
After all, you and me
We were never meant to be

*This is a very private poem that I did not share with very many people.  It was written in regards to the father of my son.  This was at the end of things between us and 2-3 months before I found out that I had been pregnant since March.....

Dear Unconditional Love

Dear Unconditional Love

No matter what happens, I seem to figure things out on my own. I grow older and wiser with each passing moment. I have so many amazing things that I have yet to experience in life. So many ups and downs, challenges and triumphs. Each day always creating an even better and more refined version of myself, even when there are days that feel like I am going in reverse. Eventually it is merely making me stronger and more appreciative of the future and the now. I keep moving forward somehow, always moving no matter how slowly, when there are days when getting out of bed is all that can be mentally accomplished. I continue to do what I can to give my all to each day, even when my all is more on some days than others. I try to be brave and to feel no fear, to be sure to conquer the fear that makes it through. The last couple years have pushed me more than I ever knew possible. Given me so many days that I had nothing left to offer but laughter at the irony of life, the ridiculousness of the situation, and the realization that no matter how bad things seem they can always be worse. I do not sit here vindicated I sit here thankful and rejuvenated with the things that I have been allowed to overcome and to grow from. Everything is a blessing, a new opportunity to learn from in the classroom of life. I have been incredibly fortunate with those in my life whose love has been my rock, my strength when I no longer had anything to give. No matter what capacity it came in I will NEVER forget, and I only hope to come close for anyone in life to try to repay back this miracle of love to the universe.
Yet it has all been bittersweet because you have not been here to share it with me. You have not been here to grow with me, to laugh with me, to cry with me, and to merely LIVE life with me. To me this is the most unacceptable thing of all. I know you are somewhere, so close and yet so far away, but what are you waiting for? I have never been very good with patience and I cannot find a valid way to justify each day gone without you in my life. In searching I am afraid that we may have gotten lost along the way, that we somehow missed what was there. So I will sit here becoming the best I can be for you and more importantly for me each and every day. I will not close my eyes to whatever way it is that you have chosen to reveal yourself to me this time. I don't want to live with regrets and each day wasted without you is a waste of time that could have been OURS. Time that can go by in the blink of an eye if we are not careful. I'm no longer afraid, so why should you be? Stop making excuses, stop postponing life. Stop being afraid of the end before a beginning is ever allowed to happen. There is no reason to postpone the ultimate in shared happiness. I am here telling you that I am not running, I'm here and I am ready. So what are you waiting for? Come and get me.

Your Soulmate


*This is a letter I wrote in February of 2010 as I was feeling very open to welcome new and wonderful experiences into my life. 

Welcome

Good evening new readers,

My son Liam & I :)

Me

I would like to take this time to welcome you to my blog.  This is my initial attempt at blogging and hoping for the best.  I needed an avenue to get back into writing on a regular basis and would love to see this inspire me to accomplish great things as an author.   Let me share with you a smidgen of myself.   I am a single mother of an amazing 2 and a half year old son and 5 year old Keeshond puppy.  I am an aspiring poet, and novelist.  I love to cooking, reading, writing, listening to music, making my son smile and inspiring him to learn new things.  I love sharing life with those who've an aptitude for finding LIFE in our surroundings.  I look forward to sharing many works with you all.  Those in progress, completed, or just beginning.  Many pictures videos, and other parts of my amazing life that I am so thankful to have been blessed with.  I have an open heart, and an even more open mind.  Thank you for taking the time to become acquainted with myself and the words and thoughts that flow through me.  

My son Liam

My Kiribear