The Banana

The banana is one of my favorite fruits-it's easy to eat, it doesn't get stuck in your teeth, and it requires absolutely no preparation. I enjoy one almost daily. Most of the time I enjoy them plain but sometimes I like to add some Nutella or peanut butter for added flavor. I'm not usually too picky about the ripeness; I'll eat a banana that's still a little green and maybe a little crunchier than normal (the only way Mom chooses to consume a plain banana), or until it's a little brown and spotty. Usually I try to give the spotty ones a try before discarding them and I can usually make it about 3/4 of the way before the gag reflex kicks in. Once the reflex kicks in, there's no finishing that banana and it must be thrown away.

I've been teased for my banana-consumption style and I'm not quite sure why. I think it makes a lot of sense. To me, a banana is an on-the-go food. This means you can take care of the garbage portion before leaving and not have to worry about any clean up. So I peel my bananas completely (I attribute this habit to Dad, for this is the only way I remember ever seeing him eat a banana) and try to only get my fingertips gooey. Once the banana is gone then I wipe the remainder on my pants. Once I feel banana gunk on my pants then I know it's time for them to be laundered. What is so weird about this method? I don't have to worry about throwing a peel away or throwing a peel out the window, and I get a reminder to do my laundry!

The correct form of banana consumption

Since I try to consume a banana a day, I tend to buy a bunch (usually 5-6) each week at the store. Some weeks the bananas are riper than usual and won't last me an entire week, so they reach the brown stage faster than I can consume them all. Some days I forget to take a banana to work with me (if I don't eat them around breakfast time then I forget they're there and they don't get eaten once I get home from work) so they don't all get eaten before they reach a point of no longer being consumable in their natural state. That's when I throw them in the freezer and tell myself I'll make banana bread some day.

Well, Lacee and I reached a point where our freezer became so full of rotten bananas that we joked about banana bread being our form of food storage. As long as we have the ingredients to make banana bread then we'll be good to go. Our freezer reached the point where the shelves on the door could no longer contain our rotten bananas and were starting to spill over into the main portion of the freezer. So today I decided to make some banana bread. I pulled out 8 bananas this morning in order to make 2 loaves and there are still about 20 bananas left (about enough to make five more loaves).

Our remaining food storage

Well, time to go remove my second loaf from the oven and enjoy a slice or two from the first loaf. I dare you to try my method of banana consumption. Let me know how that goes for you, for once you start there'll be no turning back. You'll be hooked!