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Banana Tours Mungo…Twice!

A War against Waste : An Australian “Banana Bread” Story

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A real life account...

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Once upon a time Banana went on a trip to Mungo National Park, part of one of the most significant World Heritage Listed Sites of Australia. Banana was to join part of the healthy catering options of the day, it traveled safely inside a nice cool esky*. Banana was excited, Banana had heard about the many stories shared and wonderful sights he would view on this day tour. The road seemed a bit bumpy at times but Banana kept a stiff upper lip and took it like a real grown-up banana. At lunch time Banana was placed gently on the table along with lots of other different kinds of seasonal fruits, but to his surprise no-one chose Banana to eat for lunch.

Perhaps these adventure travelers just didn’t fancy a banana. Feeling a bit bruised emotionally & physically from not being chosen Banana was placed back in the esky for the return journey back into Mildura. Unbeknown to Banana there were grand plans for Banana to return to Mungo National Park, NSW, Australia.

You see Banana was not the only one who had made this journey, there had been others like Banana before. It was actually a very regular occurrence and once three bananas were in the same Banana Boat their Waste Warrior knew just what to do. A banana bread recipe idea was forming. A few years back the world paused just so home cooks could take stock of the important things in life like how to go about baking the perfect Banana Bread. A Banana Bread recipe which appeared in a supermarket catalogue was tweaked and with a little bit of added local ingredients Waste Warrior set about setting about changing the culinary world with this new version of baking in her own cooking kitchen.

Tours do cater for special dietary requirements and our policy is that we respect your privacy so these matters are handled discretely.

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Australian Made Banana Bread Loaf

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My Easy Quick Recipe, great for the budget too!

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Dry & Wet (or moist) ingredients : 

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• Smoosh three ripe well traveled bananas in a bowl until creamy
• Add ⅓ cup milk, waste warrior uses the returned milk from tours
• 2 tablespoons of good olive oil (Aussie Made, locally produced Australian Olive Oil is some of the best in the world!)
• 1 egg at room temperature (free range of course)
• Give wet ingredients a good mix up with a wooden spoon
• In another bowl sift 1 cup of SR Flour; 
• Add ½ cup blended Rolled Oats, don’t overdo the blending;
• ½ cup Brown Sugar, sift for lumps;
• 1 teaspoon Bicarb Soda;
• 1 teaspoon Cinnamon or other spice of choice; 
• ½ cup chopped Walnuts (we use ones bought from the local farmer's market, aussie products are so fresh & tasty!)
  
• Give dry ingredients a good mix up too.

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Recipes can be varied so take your time to explore other options to make your it your own special recipe to be proud of. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix well. Place in greased loaf or log tin well lined with bake paper.

Cook in moderate oven 180 degrees for 45 minutes or until toasty on top. Test with skewer, if comes out clean is ready. Remove and let cool, wrap in a tea towel overnight before slicing in thick slices. Great to save by freezing, to share at a later date. Serve with lashings of butter (or cream), good for health? Everything in moderation. Weekly is okay.

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As Eco Tourism Green Travel Leaders we take policy to conserve natural resources seriously and reinventing banana is just one simple policy where we make a small difference in the right direction.

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So Banana, along with a few of his new made friends, returned to Mungo National park (having had a little work done to be made into a banana loaf) to be served up to the next tour group enjoying a fabulous day out. Delicious accompaniment to be enjoyed with lovely Australian Teas; Coffee or Hot Chocolate.

To his/her/they/their/them delight not one slice of Banana Bread was left in the tub. People asked how can we make our Bananas taste just like this so the recipe was shared with other waste warriors all over the world.

Banana has even been featured in Trip Advisor Reviews as a special highlight of the Mungo National Park day tour. We have a policy to minimize food waste and to have the lightest footprint where possible. Banana was happy. Waste Warrior smiled, everyone was happy.

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Australian made Banana breads are the best!

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This is how all good food waste stories should end with not a crumb in sight. Further banana recipes to be explored, any suggestions?

Think special occasions like Christmas.

The End.

*An Esky is an insulated container used for transporting food

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