The Little Things.

Alright, this is definitely not all that deep or thought-provoking of a post (assuming the others are, ahem), but I made a sweet score during my Safeway shop yesterday and I thought I would share it. Not sure if this is just limited to our local Safeway, or perhaps Safeway in general, but grocery stores that sell ripe bananas at a reduced cost...seriously brilliant!

I've had my eyes peeled for another batch of ripe bananas every time I've gone into Safeway lately. It had been about a month since they last had them, so when I saw four bags filled to the brim I scooted right over. I grabbed three, and just as I was thinking, I better grab all four, a lady pounced and beat me to it. Oh well, three bags is plenty. For now.

And how much did these three bags, totaling 31 bananas, enough to make multiple smoothies and numerous loaves of banana bread cost me? A "whopping" $6.20!
Seriously. That is a steal, and the bananas are barely bruised, not that I care either way. Their sole purpose is to be added to fruit smoothies or to make banana bread. The way my son eats bananas, we never have any leftovers in the house to actually get overripe, so banana bread is a true treat around these parts. So I cut each banana in half and put them into three large Ziploc bags to freeze and use as required.
Every few days the kids and I share a smoothie, usually as a part of our lunch. Its like a Nepper staple. Abbi learned to drink through a straw at probably 12 months and she's been drinking them ever since. Same with Gabe. I buy the 1.81 kg package of frozen berry mix from Costco ($11.69). Your standard non-fat Vanilla yogurt. I switch between orange and apple juice. Add half a frozen banana, pop it into a blender or use a hand blender, and voila...a smoothie comparable to Booster Juice, but probably for a third of a price.

I usually do it all by sight, but the ingredient list would read something like this...
1/2 C. Frozen Berries/Fruit
1/2 C. Non-Fat Vanilla Yogurt
1/2 C. Fruit Juice (Apple or Orange)
1/2 Half a Frozen Banana

Optional: Add 2 Tablespoons of ground flax seed

Smoothie goodness. Yum.