Wowie Zowie it was a great week in the free food department! Lot’s of peaches, apricots and pears for our spoiled chickens and oodles of bananas for us. I’m not sure what to make of all the bananas we’ve been getting in the produce boxes lately, but we’ll take them, that’s for sure.
Do you think people purchase fewer bananas in the summer because there is a better selection of fruit to choose from? Do spotted bananas just not sell? Even if marked down?ย Inquiring minds want to know.
Poor little broccoli head. He was tossed because one of his florets got smashed. ๐ But you know what they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
This white nectarine was deemed unfit for sale because it had a small nick near it’s stem.
And these banana chips? Who knows why they were tossed, but I’ll take them!
Here is all the food we were able to reclaim from the boxes of “scrap produce” we picked up this week from Mr. Produce Guy. It’s hard to believe that we’ve been collecting these scrap boxes for over almost a year and a half now and without fail, each week we are able to not only pull fruits and veggies for our family to eat, but plenty more for our flock of backyard chickens.
Free, nutritious food is out there, you just have to look {and ask} for it. Pretty stinkin’ cool if you ask me.
Peace Out Girl Scouts, have a great day.
~Mavis
Amazon has the Hultzer Banana Slicer back in stock! Please, I’m begging you, go read the reviews on the Banana Slicer. It will make your day! ๐
Would you like to see what else we have brought home over the past year?
Head on overย HEREย to read all the past stories and toย see all the pictures.
If you have just stumbled upon this series and are wondering how I got all this food for free, you’ll want to read this story first.
Leanna says
I have found that bananas ripen sooner in the summer time. Maybe that is why. My family prefers them with no brown spots so I buy as green as I can get. ๐
Jamie says
I never post comments on any website, but I had to thank you for suggesting I read the comments on the banana slicer. I needed a laugh today and those comments provided it and more. So thank you so much for making my day! ๐
Mavis Butterfield says
They make me laugh every time I read them!! ๐
aurelie says
Totally hilarious! Thanks for sharing!
Lisa says
Leanna’s comment is exactly what I was going to say! My house has no AC, and gets quite (“very”) hot, so bananas don’t stand a chance during the summer.
I did buy some yesterday to dehydrate in my new dehydrator! It’s the one you recommended! The banana chips will be for our rats and Guinea pig. The banana chips in the pet stores are expensive, and the ones in Winco bins have added sugar.
gardenpat says
It always shocks me that even I spotted bananas that are “singles” get put on the discount rack as well!!! I had about 15 lbs of Royal Anne cherries that I dried in my dehydrator as well as 3 flats of strawberries that I froze that we’re “discards” from our local grocery store! Whoo hoo!
Dale Ann says
All of the flaws that your produce man culls is what we always find as normal on produce in many of our local stores. One would have to look very very hard to find perfect produce in the chain food stores here…not impossible to find…but not normal.
I was actually stunned when one day this spring I saw all of the celery brown and slimy sitting in their bags on the shelf in one produce dept waiting for a buyer…far far far from edible! A few weeks later all of the strawberries in nearly every store were half rotten!
Lisa says
You always get the best variety of produce! Finally got back into picking up the reclaimed produce this summer. Yesterday it was slim pickins’, but still think it was about $30 worth: 9 bags of salad, 14 tomatoes (diced & froze some and made salsa with the rest), 7 pears (made your vanilla pear cake) and 2 big bags of red grapes (some to eat fresh and froze the rest).
Janet says
I was laughing out loud about the banana slicer, my HH (I have one too!) calls out to me, “what are you laughing about, are you reading Mavis again?”
Thanks for sharing, you’re the best!!
Onilee says
I’d be freezing those bananas for smoothies. Yummo! I always have frozen bananas in the freezer, makes for a super quick smoothie breakfast and you don’ t need to use as much ice.
Robin says
Oh my word!!!!! I love amazon. http://www.amazon.co.uk/BIC-For-Amber-Medium-Ballpoint/dp/B004FTGJUW/ …I was first introduced to amazon comments with this item. I couldn’t stop crying.
nicky says
You should invest in a yonanas machine. I just got one for my boyfriend. All you need is frozen bananas (spotty works best) and some other frozen fruit and you can make delicious ‘ice cream’. It’s good fun too. It would be ideal for all your excess produce. Love the blog by the way.