SENIOR LADY: MAILBOX OR BIRD SANCTUARY!

I enjoy watching the fall leaves change to beautiful

 shades of orange and yellow. However, this means

 winter is coming soon. It'll soon  be too cold for me 

and my Mom to sit on the porch. Sitting on the porch

 in the afternoon is one of our favorite pastimes.

Finally, the weather was warm enough for us to sit 

outside on the porch.  A tiny brown bird flew out of

the bottom of the mailbox. Then, I noticed some straw

protruding out of the bottom of the mailbox. So, I

 surmised that this bird was building a messy nest. 

I've seen some birds make neat round nest. This 

nest had straw and leaves sticking out of the front

and back of the mailbox. Apparently, this bird had

decided that Mom's mailbox was her new home.

I was leery about getting mail out of the

 mailbox. A bird flew out of the bottom when

 Mom got the mail Saturday.  We don't know if

 she has laid eggs yet. I'll warn the mail carrier

 to be careful.

My head got pecked a few years ago. I was

 peeping inside one of my mini birdhouses. 

The eggs looked so cute!   But, I stayed away

 from that birdhouse. The mother bird kept

 watch. She was perching in a  shrub in my

 neighbor's front yard. People got pecked 

if they got near the birdhouse.

I was thinking that the name of this small brown

bird was a "House Finch".  My online research 

showed that she was a "Carolina Wren." The

small brown bird on my ramp had a stripe near 

the eye and the tail pointed upward. These two

features fit the Carolina Wren mentioned on the

 bird lover's website.

I would love to take a picture of the inside of my

mailbox. It might show the Wren sitting on her

nest. However, this isn't possible. She suddenly 

flies outside whenever we touch the mailbox.  

She goes back inside whenever I move away. 

Maybe she's protecting her eggs. Mom and I 

are enjoying the bird watching.

 

SENIOR LADY: STACK PLANTER TRYOUT!

I have been experimenting with gardening 

for several years. I became alarmed after

our local grocery stores had a lettuce recall.

So I tried growing lettuce in 2000.  I read an

online article about growing lettuce in dish

 pans. The Black Simpson lettuce was plentiful

 in my dollar store dish pans.

The following year I experimented with

 growing veggies in totes and grow bags.

 I had a very good yield. I harvested veggies

 until the first frost arrived.

This year I moved to new city. There was 

only enough space for a small garden.

 

I watched several videos about gardening 

in small spaces. I settled on stack garden

planters. Some of these planters were too

expensive for my budget. I was shopping

at a dollar store and saw stack planters.

They were stackable 3- tier planters 

available in terra cotta, blue, and beige

 colors. The planters were a nice size.

I figured I could grow herbs and mini

sized veggies in them.

My stackable planters contain:

Swiss chard, oregano, thyme, green romaine

and purple romaine lettuces, flat leaf & curly leaf 

Parsley, and sweet basil

Advice from online stackable users suggested using 

quality potting soil. The planters are small so soil 

with nutrients and good soil mixture are essential.

The soil should provide air flow and moisture 

retention.  I reviewed videos that showed stack

 planters on rolling plant stands.  The garden center 

I shopped at,  sold clear vinyl and black metal 

rolling plant stands.  The vinyl plant stands

were less than $20, so I bought the last two 

on the shelf. The plant stand rollers are a

 convenient way to move planters to another

 location. Some videos also showed stackable 

 planters loaded on metal and PVC poles. Holes

 were made in the middle of the planters, so the each

 3 tier planter could be stacked on the poles.  The more

expensive stackable planters  already come with a

plant stand and holes in the bottom and the middle.

I saved money by using a wood burning pen to make the

 holes in bottom  of my planters.

  The poles prevented the planters from toppling over

 during windy or stormy weather. I saved money on my 

poles. My local dollar store sold metal dust mop

 handles. So, I bought three to mount some of my

 planters on.  

There were unused bricks available, so I placed two on

 the middle section of my top  planters.  I'll remove

 them when the wind gusts have subsided.

I'm enjoying my 3-tier stackable planters. I placed

two holes and coffee filters in the bottoms of them.

I was hoping that these tricks would keep the soil moist 

longer. I guess it helped a little. I water my plants every

 two days.  My every three week fertilizer application

 seems to be working.  The planters look healthy.

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. 

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.

SENIOR LADY: BANANA COOK OFF! #2

 

My friends enjoyed the banana pudding.

The rest of the organic bananas needed to

be used up or frozen. They were getting 

to ripe.

I looked online for varieties of banana

bread. I found a couple of recipes for

"Hawaiian Banana Bread" with pineapple 

and coconut. I had never heard of this

recipe.  It sounded interesting and might 

taste good. I decided to give one of these 

recipes a try. I would have to tweak this

recipe since I would be using cake mix.  

LYDIA'S HAWAIIAN BANANA BREAD:

15.25 oz White Cake Mix

1/2 cup butter, soft

2 eggs

8 oz can crushed pineapple, DO NOT DRAIN!

1/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut

1 large banana, mashed 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven 325 temp. Grease 9 inch loaf pan.

In a large bowl, add all of the ingredients. Mix well 

with a hand held mixer or mixing fork. Pour the

batter into the loaf pan.

Bake bread for 40 minutes or until the middle of the

bread is firm to touch. Let bread cool before serving.

TIPS:

** Vanilla or Yellow Cake mix ok.

** If only 14 oz cake mix available, 

add 1/4 cup extra cake mix or biscuit mix

to ingredients.

** Pineapple tidbits or slices can be

crushed in a food processor.

I still had shredded coconut, bananas, and 

pineapple left in the pantry.

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.

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.

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.