Seasons of change

Well of course lots of things have happened in the past month and a bit and adjustments have been difficult yet liberating.  Luckily lately Adam's health has been holding up.  There has been some days here and there with chest pains, crankiness and one with sore legs so I will take it.  I was nervous for his last echo due to him not doing well at all and now that we have changed his medication and he is no longer on Bosenten it is like having a different child.  I am looking forward to his echo this month especially after his Cath in February showed positive changes.  While his health is doing well at the moment his emotions have leveled off from his Dad and I separating.  It has been just over a month since I have separated from my husband and it has been a hard road especially since I made the decision to go our separate ways.  Things have started to adjust here, life is going on a straight road and it feels good.  My heart is lighter and I am moving forward not backwards on my journey.  I have been able to do things that I absolutely love and hear no judgement and the best part is that even if there is I don't care.  It feels good that when certain people try to put me down or make fun of me for the things I love that  it has no affect on my mood or my life.  I am embracing my inner geek, enjoying my time alone, watching ridiculous shows, staying in on weekends and connecting with my son.  I just get to breath, be myself and enjoy my life.  It is literally so hard to put into words how lifted and bright life looks.  There has been a lot of tears to get here, lots of inner questioning and anxiety and now it is nice to just start to let it all go.  Life is to be enjoyed and not wasted and I will do whatever I can to do that.  One thing about being a single Mom is trying to find balance for it all.  Having no family here really makes it hard to balance Momdem and Shannon though I am finding my way even if it is stealing time here and there for an hour at night.  The biggest thing is that I have to accept that I can't do it all and this house does fall apart because time with my boy and time to unwind is soooo important.  Watching Adam grow up so far has been amazing.  To see him counting is great, doing his letters and when he gets upset with something hearing him say Oh for goodness sake makes me laugh every time.  He is such a little adult already, 3 going on 18 that kid.  All I know is that if Adam and I keep travelling this road life will be good no matter the direction it turns in.  Time to look for swimming lessons because he keeps telling me that he is such a good swimmer from the last time we went lol. Watching him pop around in his life jacket makes me laugh still cause there he would be on his back screaming for help and I would have to turn him so he was face first in the water.... and then he would pop back onto his back and scream for help again and I was laughing cause it looked awful if someone didn't know he wanted to kick and blow bubbles hahaha Oh the things kids do, I promise I was not trying to drown him I fight far too hard to keep him alive to give up now :)

Lazy Chicken Leftovers!

Soo this is a new one to me and is beyond super easy.  Not the healthiest due to the sodium content so I recommend following up with a nice fresh fruit dessert.  This is for those days when you are lost and need something quick.

What you need
Left Over Chicken, anything at all
1/2 package of mini New Potatoes
1 package of Onion Soup Mix low sodium
1 large Carrot or a handful of baby carrots
1 cup water

In a baking dish mix the onion soup mix and 1 cup of water and shred the chicken in and mix well.  It doesn't matter how much chicken you use.
Cut up your potatoes, you can add as many as you like, Peanut and I only need 1/2 package
Add to the mixture and stir, do the same with the carrots.
Cover and bake at 375 for 30 mins.  Uncover so that the soup thickens to more of a gravy and your carrots and potatoes are tender.

Time to serve and enjoy :)

Chili Recipe FINALLY

Ok so this is quite late but here it is my Chili Recipe!!  I made this in my crock pot on Sunday and it was soooooo good.

What you will need
1x796ml  large can of Diced Tomatoes
2x 398ml cans of Tomato Sauce
1 can of Maple Beans
1 can Kidney Beans
1 can Black Beans
1 can of Corn
1 Red Pepper chopped into cubes
2 Celery Stalks finely chopped
2 Garlic Cloves pressed
1/2 Onion finely chopped
3 TBSP Brown Sugar
1/2 Tsp Celery Salt
1/2 Tsp Garlic Salt
6 TBSP Chili Powder
12 Mushrooms sliced
3 strips of cooked Bacon chopped up
1lb Grown Beef or Chicken
1tsp oil

Preparation

In a large frying pan brown the ground beef with onions, garlic, oil and a small sprinkle of garlic salt and chili powder for flavoring. Keep warm on a low heat once fully cooked

While the beef is cooking combine all the other ingredients except the bacon in a large pot or slow cooker and stir well.  Turn onto a low-medium heat.  Once the beef/chicken is cooked add to the mixture and cook for approximately 2 hours covered.  Cook uncovered for approximately 30 minutes or until the chili thickens a bit.

Add Chili to bowls and sprinkle the bacon pieces on top.  Chicken or Turkey bacon is very delicious as well. To mix it up add a dollop of sour cream, cheese and then add the bacon.  A side of garlic bread or corn bread finishes it up extremely nice.

Egg Salad with a twist

So I know this was supposed to be posted last night but I ran out of time.  A friend asked that I start slow with some of my own recipes so here ya go with Egg Salad Sandwiches.

Shannon's Egg Salad Sandwiches
3 Eggs (Hard Boiled)
2 Tbsp Mayo or Whipped Dressing
1 Celery stock very finely chopped
1/2 Tbsp Yellow Mustard
Celery Salt to taste
Bread
Cream Cheese

First hard boil your eggs approx 8 mins, cool, peel and slice up into a bowl.
Add your mayo, celery, mustard and celery salt
Toast your bread and spread on a layer of Cream Cheese on one piece of bread leaving the other side with nothing
Add you Egg Salad in between 2 piece of toast.
For fun for the kids slice into fingers or use cookie cutters in fun shapes :)

I like to serve mine with carrot sticks thus you have a lunch with all the food groups then

Changing up my blog

Well since life has changes and the only way to go is up I have a lot of hope, happiness and positive thinking in my heart.  Yes things are still tough  but separations are hard on everyone involved.  I have decided that since things have changed my blog is going to have a new aspect to it.  My Friday nights now I geek it up and have a date night with my son instead of going out so I have decided that after he goes to bed every Friday will be a blog on a recipe I do that is quick and easy that pretty much anyone can do.  I love to cook, have some tricks as I go and I think this will be a fun venture. I will have to actually break out my measuring spoons when I cook, write them down and then share my love in the kitchen with all of you.  I am a single Mom who works so I understand needing things to be quick, still tasty and have healthy aspects.  Not all my recipes will be low in calories.... Some are just too sinful to change around though having them once in a while is a good thing for everyone.  Having restraint and enjoying those things sometimes in life will bring me much joy.  I look forward to feed back, possible requests and hopefully some of you try them and share! I will still discuss my road of life, having this new venture of single hood and being a parent of a child with a chronic illness.  Life lately has been tough but I don't have a heavy heart, my head is held high and I am taking each day one step at a time.  I am having fun with Adam and weekly we will have a small adventure and once a month a bigger one.  It is now that we get to go and have fun, nothing is holding us back and life is right there for the taking. Camping this year here we come, Wish Trip in the end of September beginning of October of this year for Peanut, Calgary Zoo this Summer and hopefully take in Drumhellar as well!  2012 is a year of change and balance and so far it feels pretty good.

Onto the weekend

I am sitting here drinking a glass of wine watching Eat Pray Love again.  Right now in my life if there was no Adam I so would go on an adventure like this as my marriage completely fails.  So my internal question is what kind of adventure and life lessons can I do with Peanut.  Life is going to change drastically from here on out.  Aaron and I have been together for almost 8 years, since we were kids really and married for almost 6 and now we will venture off on our own.  I will still have to be responsible for taking care of Adam, making sure his health is number one as well as everything around me while the other gets to walk or move away.  I have gone into much regarding the failure of things here and I am definitely not innocent in this.  Things have been bad for 3 years and I honestly poured everything I had into this only to then run dry.  I am no longer accepting, trusting, happy, relaxed and welcoming in most aspects of my life and especially to the now ex.  That is a big part of my role and I will have to bear the burden and learn to move on and up from here.  It will be a long time before this ice heart of mine melts and that my walls come down because the only thing I can count on for sure is myself.  With all that has happened my eyes and heart have opened even more to family.  They are truly so important and show so much love.  It is nice to talk to my brother almost every day, see pictures of my niece, talk with my step mom, soon visit with my Dad and still be a part of my in laws life.  2012 is a year of change and reconnecting with what is important to me and family.  Adam needs extra love with everything that he has to go through, when I look at him I see so much light and hope with darkness and fear in the background because his little body is already tested so much.  I will always love Adam, he has always been welcome in my life and will be treasured until the day that him and I can no longer walk this earth together.  Today brought heart ache when you said you never wanted him... you won't spend time with him because you don't care and yet you won't move from this house until YOU are set up with a another new job.... Right now this isn't about us, it is about that precious boy that didn't ask to be born but certainly deserves love.  I will continue to love him with my heart, guide him the best I can and keep my head up through this journey.  We can only go up from here even if this road has a lot of pot holes to deal with first

Times are changing

It is Valentines Day and after spending the evening with my boy I am sitting here alone.  There has been a lot of joy and pain in the past few days that it is amazing that I can continue to hold my head up.  Adam and I were on the news to promote a fantastic event for Children't Wish and then we were apart of the fundraiser as well.  His amazing team Royal Park Realty included us in all the events they could and we had a truly wonderful time.  My heart feels so good seeing people do such amazing things to help a child they have never met.  Our tribe did a great job, raised a ton of money and we are able to have Adam's wish happen this year! The dinner was nice, the entire event was life changing.  That night changed a lot between Aaron and I though.  It was really hard but this weekend we know that we can not stay together.  We are separating as it is not healthy for us to stay together.  The things that have happened are crazy and usually not all of them happen in a marriage, even one of the insane things tends to make a marriage crumble.  It has been 3 years of me pouring my heart and soul into my marriage to have it all taken away and thus things have failed. It is a scary thing to go through as we have been together for almost 8 years going on 6 married. We have a beautiful child  who has major health issue, appointments, medications and needs constant care though is a hyper active turkey too.  I haven't dated in like 8 years and am now in my 30's.... there is a lot to take in and try and deal with and yet I can still go with my head held high.