SENIOR MOMENT 4 WOMEN
Tuesday, April 1, 2025
SENIOR LADY: STACK PLANTER TRYOUT!
Tuesday, March 25, 2025
SENIOR LADY: PENCIL CACTUS PROJECT!
I fell in love with the pencil cactus several years
ago. I was shopping at a garden center. I saw a large
red pot with a plant that looked like green sticks.
The pot had a tag on it, which read, fire stick cactus.
The sales clerk said the the sticks turn orange during
the fall season. Sure enough, the cactus turned a
beautiful shade of orange. I placed the cactus in my
greenhouse during the winter. It stayed alive until the
winter temp dropped below 20. My greenhouse was
heated; however, fifty percent of the cactus died.
Now, I keep my pencil cactus in my house during
the winter months. I had two planters with pencil
cactus that are two feet and four feet. I gave the four
feet pencil cactus to my son. I am keeping the two feet
cactus plant for myself.
My cactus project involves separating my two feet
plant into two cuttings. I didn't realize that splitting
the cactus would be hard to do. The main stem was
very hard and thick. I needed a sharper knife. I finally
got the cactus separated after 10 minutes of struggling.
I kept the two cuttings in a recycled Christmas bucket,
until I could buy cactus soil.
I used to put my succulents in all purpose potting
soil. I added perlite to the soil. They did grew fine
in this soil. I was shopping at a garden center, when
I saw a special soil for succulents, cactus, and palm
trees. I discovered that this soil mix had better
drainage. My plants did look healthier. This store
only had small bags of this soil. The cost might seem
high, if you had large volume of succulents and cactus.
Two large light blue planters were purchased to put
the cuttings in. I used a wood burning pen to make
three holes in the bottom of the planters.
I may have to put stakes on the cactus. They are "top
heavy" and seem to lean a little.
They will be placed in sunny locations in
my front yard. I am looking forward to
seeing the pencil cactus turn orange in the
fall. My friends and neighbors marvel at this
color changing cactus.
Thursday, March 6, 2025
SENIOR LADY: LEFTOVER GRILLED STEAK MAGIC!
We were experiencing a warm spell last week
in the south. The temperatures were in the
sixties and seventies. I love to cook on the grill
and I had to take advantage of those warm days.
I grilled hamburgers and kielbasa sausage on
Saturday. I shared them with my nextdoor neighbor.
The charcoals were still hot, so I decided to add a steak
on the grill. My family was full from eating burgers,
sausages, and baked beans. No one wanted to eat
steak. The steak was added to my leftovers.
I cut a small piece of the steak to see whether it
was tender. I didn't marinate it before putting it
on the grill. This two pound steak was not very
tender. I decided to finely chop it up in the food
processor. It would be more palatable when
I added it to a recipe. I wondered how this steak
would taste in a Mexican recipe. Tacos, burritos,
and quesadillas are quick and easy to make for
weeknight meal.
GRILLED STEAK QUESADILLAS
2 cups Chopped Grilled Steak
1 Teaspoon Mexican Taco Seasoning
2 cups Shredded Colby Jack Cheeses
1/2 Teaspoon Pickled Jalapenos, Chopped
1/4 Teaspoon Pickled Jalapenos Juice
Butter for Browning Quesadillas
4 ( 6 inch ) Chipotle Tortillas
4 ( 6 inch) Flour Tortillas
DIRECTIONS:
Season the chopped steak with Taco seasoning.
Add a little water if needed.
Heat skillet on medium high heat. Melt 1-2 pats
of butter.
Add one tortilla in skillet. Place cheese
on tortilla. Add steak on top of the cheese.
Place cheese on top of the on top of steak.
Place another tortilla on top of cheese.
Use metal or wooden spatula to flip quesadillas
over after 1-2 minutes. Brown on both sides.
Place quesadillas on plate. Cut into wedges.
Serve with salsa and tortilla chips, if desired.
TIPS:
**Oil can substituted for butter.
** Don't over stuff quesadillas, in
order to avoid spillage when flipping over.
** Quesadillas can be folded in half
when assembling. Just place meat
& cheese on one side of tortilla
before folding over.
* Any chopped meat can be used;
great way to use up leftovers.
* Green Chilies & other chopped
veggies can be added to steak.
** Jalapenos can be omitted if
dislike spicy food.
** Monterey Jack or Mozzarella
Cheese are good also.
** Several quesadillas can be placed
on greased sheet pan & baked if cooking
for a crowd.
Monday, March 3, 2025
SENIOR LADY: BANANA COOK OFF! #2
SENIOR LADY: BANANA COOK OFF!
My cousin dropped by yesterday. She gave me
a large bunch of organic bananas. I thanked
her for this wonderful gift. My dilemma was
going to be how to use them up before they
perished. My Mom could slice some over her
morning bowl of cereal. I could bake banana
bread and muffins. No other recipes came to
mind.
I went into my pantry and looked around the
shelves. I saw an unopened box of vanilla
wafers, canned fruit, coconut, cake mix,
and a 4-pack of vanilla pudding.
I spent the rest of the night looking online
for recipe ideas. I decided to use the bananas
for banana pudding, Island inspired banana
bread, and banana peanut butter muffins.
The rest of the bananas will be put in the
freezer. This week I'm preparing:
Easy Weeknight Banana Pudding
Need:
Box Vanilla Wafers
4-pack vanilla pudding
Large banana
8 oz Whipped Topping, thawed
Directions:
Slice banana and sprinkle with a little lemon juice
or white vinegar to prevent browning. In a 8 inch
round glass dish, layer vanilla wafers on the bottom
of the dish. Next layer half of the sliced bananas
on top of the wafers. Open all of the cups of pudding.
Spread contents from 2 cups of pudding over the
bananas. Repeat the process for the second layer,
using wafers, rest of bananas, & pudding. Spread
whipped topping over entire surface of banana
pudding. Garnish top of banana pudding with
crushed vanilla wafers. Chill in fridge for at
least 2 hours before serving.
The rest of the banana recipes will be shared in
BANANA COOK OFF! Part 2
TIPS:
** 2 Small bananas can be used.
** Any brand of vanilla wafers
can be used. Store brand are thicker
and don't get mushy quickly.
** Pineapple tidbits or chunks can
be substituted for banana.
Wednesday, February 19, 2025
SENIOR LADY: SHRINK FLATION BANANA BREAD!
I was preparing to bake banana bread for breakfast.
The cake mix box felt lighter when I got it out of the
cabinet. I was suspicious of package size and content
shrinking again! I had been anticipating further
manipulation of consumer products. Food prices at
the grocery stores had been increasing since the
Pandemic. I was finally getting used to the cake
mix in the box shrinking from 18 oz to 15.25 oz.
Now most brands of cake mix size is 14.25 oz.
I developed a plan to combat the Shrinkflation/
Shrinknation cake mix dilemma. I started buying
extra boxes of vanilla and chocolate cake mixes
when they were on sale. I used the extra box of cake
mix for portion control. Measurements of 1/3 cup -
1/2 cup of cake mix was added to my bowl of dry cake
mix, when I baked. The amount of cake mix I added
depended on whether I was baking cookies, muffins,
or breads. I was upset when food companies shrunk
cake mix size by almost 4 ounces and didn't change
the instructions on the box. The texture and taste of
the cake, muffins, and breads may be altered. Altered
taste and texture are not to important to me when
baking my weekday desserts. However, I want my
baked goods to taste great for pot luck and holiday
gatherings. Exact measurements are crucial when
you are baking pound cakes from scratch. Pound cake
lovers are very picky about the texture and taste of
their pound cakes.
The price of eggs were increasing also. I only use two
extra large eggs when baking. This action has not
dramatically affected the taste and texture of my
baked goods.
My Shrinkflation Banana Bread recipe below reflect
changes I had to make due to today's economy.
SHRINKFLATION/SHRINKNATION BANANA BREAD:
14.25 oz white cake mix
1 large ripe banana
2 extra large eggs
⅓ cup oil
⅓ cup cake mix
1 tsp vanilla
⅔ cup semisweet chocolate chips, divided
⅓ cup chopped nuts
INSTRUCTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 temp. Grease 8 or 9 inch loaf pan.
In large bowl use mixing fork to mash banana. Add egg, oil, vanilla and mix well. Combine cake mix, nuts, and half of the chocolate chips into wet ingredients. Pour
batter into loaf pan. Bake 45 minutes or until center
feels firm to touch. Let cool 15 minutes before
serving.
TIPS:
** Any neutral cooking oil can be used.
Avoid oils with strong flavor since can
alter taste.
** Can add more bananas & chocolate
chips. I used what I had on hand.
** Nuts are optional. Walnuts or pecans ok.
** 1/3 cup Biscuit mix can be used. Add
sugar to taste if desired.
** Store sliced bread in plastic container
with tight lid. 3 days room temp. Freezes well.
Friday, February 7, 2025
SENIOR LADY: MORE EGG SERVINGS-COPY CAT!
Years ago, I had to learn to stretch my budget.
I was the only female in a house full of hungry
teenaged boys and my husband. They really
loved breakfast and sometime I served it
as the dinner meal.
I had to figure out how to make my eggs last all
week long. I wanted to avoid grocery shopping after
work.
The noticed how the eggs looked on my fast food
breakfast sandwich. The egg was folded over. It
reminded me of the eggs I had at college. A food
service worker told me they were liquid eggs which
came in a large carton. The eggs were cooked on a
griddle and sliced into single sized portions. Her
comments made me wonder if this method was the
answer to my egg problem. I experimented with this
method and tweaked it also. I realized that I could
almost double my egg servings.
COPY CAT STYLE EGGS
4 Extra large eggs
1 Tablespoons milk
2-3 Tablespoons Butter
Salt & Pepper, to taste
INSTRUCTIONS:
Heat 9-10 inch skillet on medium low. While skillet
heating prepare eggs. Crack eggs into bowl. Add
in milk, salt and pepper. Whisk eggs until they are
fluffy. Melt butter in skillet and make sure surface
of skillet completely covered. Add half of egg batter
into skillet. Swirl egg batter so surface of skillet is
completely covered. Let edges of eggs set. Make small
slits in center of eggs if they are too runny & you want
well done eggs. Use spatula to flip one side of egg over
other side. Place folded egg on platter. Cut into 3 or 4
triangle edges. Repeat process using remainder of eggs batter.
Arrange wedges on platter & cover with foil too keep warm. Serve immediately. Yield: 6-8 wedges.
TIPS:
**Adjust eggs to suit your family's size.
**Eggs can be cooked & folded over on griddle.
**Serve immediately since reheating wedges will overcook them.
**Shredded cheese, finely chopped vegetables,
& cooked meat can be added to egg batter.
**Oil can be substituted for u butter.
**Egg wedges great on breakfast sandwich
or hamburger.
SENIOR LADY: STACK PLANTER TRYOUT!
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