Another week, another couple of boxes of ugly discarded produce we hauled home because nobody wanted to pay full price for them at the supermarket. This week Mr. Produce Guy stuffed our reclaimed boxes full of all sorts of goodies for our backyard flock of chickens. There were practically 2 boxes filled with just greens! Which was totally awesome because chickens love lettuce, cabbage and pretty much anything else with a crunch.
Do chickens love bananas? Not so much. And to tell you the truth, I’m running out of ideas on how to use up all the bruised bananas we get for free each week from Mr. Produce Guy. A girl can only drink so many smoothies you know. 😉
Those radishes and sweet potatoes will come in handy this Thanksgiving.
Here’s the final tally:
- 10 million pounds of bananas
- 4 bunches of radishes
- 4 jalapeno peppers
- 3 yams
- 1 orange pepper
- 1 pound mushrooms
- 3-pack of Romaine lettuce
- 2 bunches of cilantro
Not bad for free if you ask me. 🙂
Do you have any good banana recipes? I think I could use a few more ideas on how to use up all those ripe bananas this week.
Have a great day everyone,
~Mavis
Would you like to see what else we have brought home over the past year?
Head on over HERE to read all the past stories and to see all the pictures.
If you have just stumbled upon this series and are wondering how I got all this food for free, you’ll want to read this story first.
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Ashley says
Here’s a ‘cookie’ recipe:
http://www.skinnytaste.com/2013/09/chewy-chocolate-chip-oatmeal-breakfast.html
They’re not sugary sweet cookies, they’re pretty healthy. Sometimes I add peanut butter. My little guy and I love them, my husband and daughter…not so much. But there’s only a couple ingredients, so they’re worth a try.
Mavis Butterfield says
Totally making those!! Thanks.
jessica says
YOU can make banana bread!!!! and give it away! how do you get these I would love to know and see if i can …..Thanks
Kristi Bodin says
Freeze ’em for later – http://frugalliving.about.com/od/freezingfoods/qt/How-To-Freeze-Bananas.htm
The link also includes recipes!
Loving your blog!
Catherine says
Freeze slices dipped in chocolate! Or banana froyo! Or banana chips! I’m allergic, so I’m always super jealous of all the fun things you can do with bananas.
Elizabeth says
Slice the bananas. Dip them in pancake batter and make banana pancake bites.
Shannon says
Peanut butter banana stuffed French toast. It’s me and the kiddos favorite!
queen of string says
Have you tried banana split in a jar yet? It gets rave reviews on the canning group I belong to. http://chickensintheroad.com/farm-bell-recipes/banana-split-in-a-jar/
Might make a nice gift or bartering chip maybe?
Chris C. says
My boyfriend LOVES it when I make these banana cupcakes with peanut butter frosting. http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/banana-cupcakes-with-peanut-butter-frosting
Paula says
FYI, the tubers we buy in the United States are *all* sweet potatoes, even the ones marked as yams. American sweet potatoes are part of the morning glory family. Yams are in a completely different family. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yam_(vegetable)
Something you may not have noticed, if you look at the label on a can of “yams” it will say somewhere “cut sweet potatoes” or “sweet potato product” or something similar. The manufacturers have to do this to comply with truth in labeling laws.
I’m sorry to bring this up, but I can’t seem to control my inner OCD gardener this morning.
Mavis Butterfield says
Awesome! 🙂
katherine slate says
have you tried frying the bananas? it brings out the sweetness. add to pancakes, ice cream, or puddings. you can add bananas and chocolate chips to yellow cake batter to make a delicious cake.
Cynthia Skelton says
Wow, that sounds incredible. I just bought some clearance bananas. I may have to fry some up.
Violet says
Freeze the bananas in chunks…..wait for it…..Yonana
The little machine that turns frozen banana chunks into the most wonderful and fresh icecream. Totally LOVE it…..Hard to find but I found mine on sale at Target. OR
Lorri says
I am so with you. I love my Yonanas and bananas are the best base for many different flavors. The website has lots of ideas. Only “ice cream” I eat.
Maelynn says
We love banana ice cream. We just use the food processor, coconut milk and a dash of vanilla. Vegan ice cream!! I love it with peanut butter added in.
Cynthia Skelton says
I’m mildly lactose intolerant, so banana “milkshakes” are the only kind I can have. And my, aren’t they good.
Dianna says
Have you tried this recipe for banana bread? It uses up insane amounts of bananas:
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/banana-banana-bread/
Alicia says
Don’t forget that you can dehydrate them.
Grazina says
How about banana jam? This is a recipe I keep on my “to try” list, pretty good reviews: http://www.food.com/recipe/jamaica-banana-jam-46287
Sami says
I second the banana jam idea! I made some from a different recipe years ago that had brown sugar and cinnamon in it, and it made everything taste like banana bread in a really lovely way!
~:)
Rosaleen says
Extra or overripe bananas?
Banana bread/cake/muffins and smoothies (of course!)
Banana pudding/banana creme pie
Banana ice cream
Banana oatmeal and banana oatmeal cookies
Banana leather, cut with applesauce so it isn’t TOO sweet
Banana chips for trail mix
Dried or frozen bananas for later use in banana bread, etc.
There have to be even more uses out there!
cynthia says
Frozen bananas and frozen yogurt pureed in blender is a sublime frozen dessert.
Katie @ Life Lived Intentionally says
You could bake some banana bread or cookies and do your barter table in your driveway again. Maybe throw some veggies out there too if you still have any you want to part with??
Cecily says
Crumb Topped Banana Muffins. Recipe #43509 on food.com. I don’t really like bananas but I love these!
becky says
Hello – we freeze our bananas and when they start overwhelming me and fall out and break my toes every time I open the freezer – I just take them out and let them defrost in a bowl. And then I make a massive batch of banana sour cream chocolate chip muffins (just cut off end of banana and squeeze the defrosted banana out – there will be lots of banana juice that makes the muffins super moist)…and once everything is cooked, I wrap and freeze them for busy school mornings when there is no time for breakfast.
Janet says
Give a loaf of banana bread to your Thanksgiving guests. Call and see if a senior citizen home, senior center, food bank, etc., could accept banana bread.
Emily says
For your bananans: 2 ingredient cookies (3 ingredients with chocolate chips).
http://www.theburlapbag.com/2012/07/2-ingredient-cookies-plus-the-mix-ins-of-your-choice/
You’ll want the chocolate chips. I’ve made these before and they would be pretty bland without the chocolate.
Cynthia Skelton says
I make banana chips in the dehydrator. If they are riper, they are a lot sweeter. They’ll take longer to dry than less-ripe ones, but are very delicious. They’ll be flexible but dry when done.
Julia says
I LOVE dried bananas! So yummy:)
Beth says
My chickens LOVE bananas. I slice them on an aluminum pie tin ( no peels) and give it to them. Nine chickens can devour 2 bananas in about 15 seconds.
Tracy says
My hubby loves banana cake/bread/muffins made with a ton o bananas. You can use a scratch reciepe, but the couponer in me still buys cheap white cake mix. I add up to 15 bananas to 1 mix. They are heavy suckers but moist, yummy, and more fruit than cake.
Catherine says
You can mix a mashed banana with an egg and it makes a nice pancake batter. Very healthy! Add a touch of vanilla if you want. I’m pretty sure that you could use a frozen banana thawed in the microwave for this. Never tried it, but it seems like it would work.
Carol says
I have a banana chocolate chip biscotti recipe – it is in my Betty Crocker cookbook (old one and new one). Would you like it?
Mavis Butterfield says
Sure, I’d love to try it.
Cynthia Skelton says
I forgot about this until just now. At the bakery I work at, we made bananas foster bread pudding. It was incredible, one of the best bread puddings I’ve had.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/bananas-foster-bread-pudding-with-vanilla-ice-cream-and-caramel-sauce-recipe/index.html
Melanie says
Here’s a great recipe for Banana muffins that uses 5 bananas for each batch. It comes from Virginia Hospitality by the Junior League of Hampton Roads, Inc. I regularly use Whole Wheat flour and thawed bananas. These are scrumptious!
5 large bananas, mashed
1 egg
1/2 t. salt
1 t. baking soda
1 t. baking powder
1 c. sugar
1/4 c. butter or margarine, softened
1 c. pecans or walnuts, chopped (optional)
1 1/2 c. flour
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Mix all ingredients except flour. Gradually add flour, stirring lightly. Pour into greased muffin tins and bake 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Yields 2 dozen large muffins.