Friday 13 July 2007

GOING BANANAS

I had a lovely stroll round the market yesterday but I had to hold back...with the prices being so much cheaper than the supermarket it's easy to buy more than you need....or at least more than you can EAT! I mean look at all these bananas I got for just £1........ it's not as though they were cheap because the were past their best...some are still ripening. Unless I'm going on a "banana only" diet I know I won't eat them all but luckily Manda & co took some off my hands and if any get over ripe.....well I do make a smashing Banana Bread! You may wonder....why didn't I just buy fewer bananas...well therein lies the rub....it's CHEAPER to buy MORE!!!!
Shopping for one is really expensive........and now I don't have regular weekend visitors to feed I'm having to look at my shopping habits differently. But I'm finding that LESS is costing MORE! Let me explain with a few examples I found at a local supermarket;
Warburtons Medium Sliced Loaf
800g loaf....cost £1
400g loaf....cost 68p
Own brand tinned Baked beans
420g....25p
220g....20p
Nescafe Original Coffee
300g....£5.37
100g....£1.94
Chicken Breasts
pack of 2 Chicken breasts.......equates to £9.64 per kg
bulk pack chicken breasts.......equates to £5.00 per kg
WHOLE chicken.......................equates to £1.79 per kg
Well it doesn't take a degree in higher mathematics to work out that the BIGGER the pack of anything I buy the LESS per kilogram I'm paying; something that worked in my favour when there were more mouths to feed. ....................
but when you're on a limited income every penny counts. Now don't get me wrong, there are bargains to be had and own brand products are often cheaper...and I've got a freezer so it's no hassle to buy a whole chicken, joint it and freeze some...but wouldn't it be nice if sometimes instead of the "BOGOF" (buy one get one free) offers they could have some BUY HALF AND PAY HALF instead!.....after all have you ever tried to freeze a fresh banana...it's not the same when it's defrosted.....LOL
While we're on the subject of food...do you any vanilla pods or essence?.......quickly go and fetch it and while you're looking at the next photo and have a sniff .......................

Clematis Rubromarginata...........hundreds of tiny flowers and the most heavenly scent.

I love this time of year as hardly a day goes by without something coming into flower or bud. The Turks Cap Lily buds are really starting to turn yellow; won't be long before they're in flower.

My Rose of the moment....Rose Nostalgie.....I just love the colouring........................

the gladioli are starting to flower.......................... and so is the Echinacea...................

and my Blue Penstemon is coming to it's peak........................
Now what shall I have for breakfast?...................I think maybe I'll have a banana................
Plenty to spare

23 comments:

Chrissie said...

:-) Well they are very good for you, lots of potassium! And you can put the skins in the compost or at the bottom of your garden pots:-) Enjoy. We all love bananas! Great garden pics again :-)

Scarecrow said...

Enjoy those bananas Ruth!
Beautiful flower photos especially that rose!

RUTH said...

That's right Chris...I always throw my skins around the base of my roses.

Auntie Noo said...

I've lived alone for more years than I care to think about, and shopping for one is extraordinarily expensive - drives me mad. I tend to buy for 2 weeks, cook for 2 or 4 and freeze meals - then i get to have lazy days too, but it doesn't compensate for the fact that it shouldn't be more expensive to live alone! Frozen bananas are great in smoothies - and also a home made "healthy choc-ice" - freeze the banana, take it out and cover in melted chocolate and re-freeze! haven't forgotten about the poppy seeds but they don't seem to be ready yet :( Hope to be able to send them soon.

Katya said...

Ruth, yes! We have had this discussion many times at our house! Mark likes buying "bulk", whereas I would rather buy smaller quantities of higher quality goods.It usually ends with a remark from him, calling me "Mrs Moneybags!" Ah well....The bananas look good. How about dehydrating some? I love banana chips!
Your flowers are stunning! Have you ever counted how many different varieties you grow? I think if I had such a garden, I would *live* there!!!!

RUTH said...

Auntie Noo and Katya; thanks for those banana ideas :o)
Auntie Noo; the longer you leave the poopy heads the better as it will allow them to ripen; thanks for remembering.
Katya I did a few years ago but things have changed in the garden since....I may try and have a recount!

RUTH said...

oops; I did mean POPPY heads.....POOPY heads don't sound nice at all...lol

CG said...

Hope you enjoyed the banana!! Wow, that is a beautiful rose. What is it??

talj said...

Beautiful flower photos Ruth!! :o) such lovely colours! My Mum has the clematis you mention in her garden, we were talking about it yesterday and she said to me that it smells just like vanilla!

Hope you have a nice weekend {(HUGS}} xx

Gledwood said...

that ecinacea's wonderful-looking!

thanxx for putting me right on the Queen story. I've posted up the youtube link to the BBC news report and your name and linkback to here are included

RUTH said...

Talj; your Mum's got good taste
Gleds; thanks...hope you're behaving ;o)
CG; it's Rose Nostalgie; forgot to put it's name on my blog...I'll put that right now.

dot said...

Ruth, I love this post! Your flowers are so pretty. I'm seeing whose photos I like best and trying to find out what kind of camera they use. Please tell me what u use?
When I was single I bought in bulk as much as possible, repackaged and frozen. Fruit was a problem and is even now. I have to run to the store often when things like peaches are fresh as they go bad so quickly.

RUTH said...

I use a Nikon Coolpix L5.
That's the problem with buying fresh produce in bulk...and if I freeze it I'm defeating the object of buying FRESH produce. Glad you like the photos Dot.

Dirty Fingernails said...

Thanks for the banana bread recipe.. I was just wondering what to do with my ripe bananas.. That rose is to die for what is it's name??? As for the Queen story, as an American don't know her as well, is she cranky or is it the press??

RUTH said...

Dirtyfingernails; the Rose is called Nostalgie...as for the Queen...well I think it's a case of the press and BBC TV making a mountain out of a molehill.

Anonymous said...

I'm sorry to hear that shopping for one is costly. When I was single I would cook meals for 2 or more and then freeze the rest to make easy meals. Now that I am married we still try to cook extra so that when we are both busy with work we can just get a home made frozen meal out for tea.
Your rose is just beautiful. I love the colours too.
Sara from farmingfriends

Audrey said...

Beautiful pictures Ruth..Its very true what you write about the shopping. I went through a spell of buying ready meals at one point but not too healthy and not the same as home cooked

Anonymous said...

wow...u have such beautiful green fingers..i can imagine yr garden must be a wonderful place to relax n relieve stress in

Claire said...

Ok there i was ready to write something good and now because of your poopy comment i cant remember what!

Shaz said...

My favourite banana is one with a flake in the middle, baked in the oven or BBQ served hot with cream MMmmmmmmm x x x

RUTH said...

Oh Shaz; I can hear the calories screaming at me; I'm having enough of a job resisting the smell coming from the Fish & Chip shop & Chinese Takeaway across the road!

RUTH said...

Claire; I thought about deleting my comment with the mis spelling in it but knew you'd be by at some point and get a laugh out of it.

Anonymous said...

I freeze bananas in half portions. They make lovely smoothies from frozen. In a blender with milk or yoghurt. You can either wait for it to soften a bit before blending, or zap it briefly in the m'wave first.
lilymarlene (site wouldn't accept me for some reason!)

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