I'm Bananas

Tonight Steven and I went to the grocery store to pick up something for Thing 2 to donate to her class's "not really a Valentine's Day Party" since you cant send home baked goods anymore (! How odd!) We were just shopping around, not really needing anything and just enjoying being out of the house and away from the kiddos. And I found something that made me so happy it was rediculus. I mean really.

These teeny tiny little bananas. They are soooo cute. And perfect since the Little Man only eats a few bites at a time. I was giddy with glee at these little baby bananas. Then I tasted one (I had to eat one right?) They are sweet and the texture is smoother than bigger bananas. They have a kind of apple-ish flavor and they leave a spicy aftertaste. I realize that I am discussing bananas not unlike you would a fine wine.. but seriously they are soo yummy.

So anyway, I got home and started thinking about bananas and looked them up. There is yards and yards of information on them... here is some of what I found.

Among the banana plant’s most remarkable features is that, despite its average height of 30 feet (about 9 meters), it is actually a perennial herb related to the orchid and lily. It bears huge, podlike purple flowers, and its individual long, slender fruits, or fingers, are technically berries. The banana is believed to have originated in Malaysia. India’s Islamic culture names it as the famed fruit of knowledge and in that version of the story it is said Adam and Eve covered themselves with banana, not fig, leaves. Today, the world’s greatest producers of bananas include Costa Rica, Panama, Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico, India, Brazil, Ecuador, the Philippines, and Indonesia.In many Latin American and Asian countries, banana leaves are used in place of plates. The leaves work well as wrappers in place of aluminum foil for holding and steaming foods. In Malaysia, the banana flower is cooked and eaten; in Africa, a beer is brewed from bananas.Because bananas emit a gas that promotes ripening, placing an unripe banana in a paper bag or breathable container with other produce will encourage the produce to ripen more quickly.



Banana, 1 medium
Calories: 108
Protein: 1.2g
Carbohydrate: 27.6g
Total Fat: 0.56g
Fiber: 2.83g
*Good source of: Potassium (467mg)