When life gives you free bananas ...

Slowly, but surely, I’ve been buying into business apps, you know, the apps that give you a free taco or a pizza, 20 cents off a gallon of gas or a free bottle of ketchup or salad dressing. 

I have several of our local business apps downloaded on my phone.

But I’m also a fan of good deals that I spy in the various inserts mailed out in the Brandon Valley Trader and Journal each week. It was a week ago that I spied a “freebie” from Kwik Star: 1 free pound of onions, baking potatoes or bananas.

My first choice was onions. Unfortunately, their supply of onions was depleted, so I opted for a bunch of bananas.

I like bananas, just not in their current state, but in breads, bars, cakes and pudding. I’m the same way with tomatoes, too. No matter how scrumptious a juicy, ripe red tomato out of the garden looks, my taste buds just haven’t tuned into them. But I do like ketchup, tomato soup and juice, and even stewed tomatoes.

I know, I’m weird that way.

So, when life gives me free bananas, you can bet I’ll be baking something with bananas listed as an ingredient. Trouble is, I typically have to wait a week before the bananas lose their vibrant yellow color in exchange for the brown hue that indicates it’s about as ripe as it can get. That was the case last week. As each day passed, I became another day closer to hauling out the mixer and the other ingredients needed to turn mashed bananas into a tasty treat of some sort.

That moment came late Sunday afternoon.

I found a recipe online – one that required ingredients that I had on hand – and within an hour, I had a freshly-baked jelly roll pan of banana bars that were surely tempting me.

I’ll be honest – I ate two that night, then filled a container to share with the staff, a second bound for the freezer, and another that’s taken up residency on the kitchen counter.

I like free stuff. I’m sure many of you do, too. And when life gives me bananas, well, you just got to take them, put on the counter for a week and then get to baking.

Speaking of free things, I’d like to encourage you to share any free non-perishables that you may not prefer with the Brandon Area Food Pantry. Oftentimes, the Sunshine Foods app offers free ketchup or salad dressing, for example, and if I don’t have a need, I pluck it off the shelf and drop it in the Food Pantry donation box in the store’s entry.

While at the Food Pantry last week to take a photo of the donation from CHS’s Harvest for Hunger campaign, I took notice that the shelves were bare in some areas, like breakfast cereal. When your budget allows or there are free bananas to be had, remember the ongoing need for donations to the Food Pantry and the people – who could possibly be your friends or neighbors – that may just need a hand up.