Orange ya' glad I didn't say "banana?"

We recently joined a food co-op that has already been such a blessing to our family in multiple ways.

It does make me get a little creative in the food department at times when we get an abundance of one particular item.

Last week it was bananas. Even after giving lots of them away, we still had about 30-40 bananas to enjoy.


We love bananas around here. Eat them in oatmeal, on pancakes, in smoothies, in banana bread, and of course straight out of the peel.

Well, if you ever find yourself with a surplus of bananas even in a banana loving house, thought you might want some ideas.

After all, these conversations get a little old after a while:


"Mom, I'm hungry. What can I have for a snack?"
- "Bananas."
"Oh, thanks."

Or . . .
"Mom, may I have a . . ."
-- (I interrupt) "Banana? Yes, you may."
"Uh, oh, okay."

We started with the usual, eating them and using them in our typical fashion. Then we made a double batch of banana bread. Still 25 bananas to go . . .

We then froze bananas:

- Broken into chunks and placed in a freezer bag. These are great in smoothies and last for quite a while. I was actually running low before, and now I am well stocked.

- Frozen mashed bananas. Our banana bread recipe uses three bananas each, so we put three bananas in a freezer bag and mushed them to a pulp (kids love this, even when they don't really want to eat another banana). Once sufficiently pulverized, we label it and place it in the freezer for a time when we have regained our taste for bananas (might take us a whole two weeks) and we thaw and use it quickly in more fresh banana bread.

We ate bananas with peanut butter:
- Peanut butter and banana sandwiches are far better than PBJ, in my opinion. For variety, we rolled it up in a tortilla, too.

- I made a fruit dip with plain yogurt, peanut butter, and honey (pretty sure I got that idea over at Delightful Learning, but can't find the exact post). We had this with apples before, but it fits even better with bananas.

We made ridiculously unhealthy snacks:
- Frozen Banana pops. Place half peeled banana on skewer. Freeze for about an hour and then coat with melted chocolate (1 cup chocolate chips and 2 tbsp butter melted together) or chocolate peanut butter (1 cup chocolate chips and 4 tbsp. peanut butter melted together). You can also add sprinkles, chopped nuts, coconut, etc.)


- Banana chocolate parfaits. These are quick and easy. Each person gets a bowl or dessert cup. Slice bananas into bowl. Spread a spoonful of whipped cream on and drizzle with chocolate sauce. Crumble an Oreo cookie on top and add another layer of each if desired. One layer was enough for us, and this was yummy!

And, now we have almost reached the end of our supply. A few more bananas for oatmeal tomorrow and we should be out!

Any other favorite banana recipes?

Need more Kitchen Tips? Head over to Tammy's Recipes.

Also check out more Works for Me Wednesday ideas.