Too Many Bananas?

With bananas, unlike fresh cilantro, I do not get stressed out about buying a lot at once.  I used to always try to find the smallest bunch of bananas, only getting four or five at a time for fear that they would go brown before I could eat them all.  These days, I always grab the biggest bunch on the shelf, even if they’re already yellow.

See, bananas are pretty versatile.  They make a convenient snack to carry to work or on a hike.  But if they start getting ripe and you start to panic, you can always throw them in the freezer for later use.  You don’t even need to prepare them first.  Just throw them in there in their skins. 

Once they start getting brown, they become perfect for baking.  And if you’re going to cook them anyway, it doesn’t matter that they’re frozen.  You can use the frozen bananas in breads and cakes.

Lately, I’ve been cutting up the frozen bananas and using them in smoothies.  Once again, bananas are proving to be convenient in the sense that I don’t even need to use a whole one each time.  I can cut a frozen one in half or thirds and throw the remainder back in the freezer for later.  The most inconvenient part is that a frozen banana is hard to peel.  If I’m making banana bread, I let it thaw before stripping the skin off (the fruit inside is kind of grossly floppy and soupy in this case, but it’s fine for the purpose at hand, since you usually need to mash it anyway).  If I’m using it for a smoothie, I just use a knife to shave the peel off before throwing it in the blender with some milk, juice, and whatever else. 

This little discovery is so simple, I’m amazed that it took me so long to figure it out.  And it has definitely made the purchase and consumption of bananas way less stressful for this girl who hates wasting food, but often misjudges how much stuff to buy at the store.