Go Bananas
by Beth Klarreich Corwin

Usually the first thing people notice when they walk into our house is our banana bowl. It’s not the design of the bowl they comment on . It’s the quantity of bananas. “Do you guys have monkeys?” they ask jokingly. Well only if two boys ages five and seven qualify for monkeys.

We do order twenty five pounds of bananas weekly which is approximately ninety bananas! Do they all get eaten? Yes in fact on Wednesday the day our food delivery comes we are usually rationing bananas. On that day we can each only have two instead of our usual four or sometimes even five. Why bananas and why so many? Well, we are an all vegan household which means we do not eat any meat , fish or dairy products. Fruit comprises most of what we eat and to me bananas are one of the most perfect packages from nature. Neatly wrapped, easy to eat , no sticky mess and filled with great satisfying nutrition . They can be eaten anytime , anywhere and in many different ways.

Our oldest son, Spencer, likes to create recipes and his favorite is called Banana Mash which he makes as follows - Three ripe to almost over ripe mashable bananas , a spoonful or he might say glob of honey, a spoonful of almond butter, three medjool dates pitted and bit (by him) into small pieces, and depending on his mood sometimes he may add a dash of cinnamon. He uses a potato masher and first mashes the bananas and then adds the other ingredients in order in an unorderly fashion! This is one of those times when bananas are messy but still truly delicious. I love to watch him make this and have seen him proudly prepare it for his younger brother Buddy upon request.

Another unusual banana treat are our banana sandwiches. You take a banana and slice it lengthwise and on one side spread almond butter and on the other spread honey then sprinkle both sides with raisins and adhere them together. The boys love this and still feel as though they are eating a sandwich.

Bananas are also delicious frozen. We just freeze them whole and the boys like to cut them up. For a special treat you can also dip the frozen pieces into carob or sprinkle with cinnamon.

People often ask us if we find the vegan diet limiting. It actually works in reverse. When you are working with less materials it just means that you have to be more creative with the process which keeps the fun in and the monotony out. I love the challenge and so does my husband which makes the journey so enjoyable.

When I think back on my childhood I remember having the same things for dinner over and over on a weekly basis. It was comforting and familiar. Our family is not much different now just the choices are healthier . Sometimes the boys request an all fruit dinner and I make a “person “ plate. A kiwi sliced in half become the eyes, strawberries become the teeth, a half of a cucumber placed upside down becomes a nose , cantaloupe pieces become the hair and apple slices become the ears. The meal is often spent commenting on which part they should eat last and their process is very imaginative. In fact one day when they ate the eyes first we had a long discussion about what it would be like to be blind and ended up taking a book about Helen Keller out of the library the next day.

Eating is such a major part of our lives. We plan our day around it and most social gatherings are centered around eating. So why not have it be a healthful and creative experience? Go bananas and have fun with them!!