It’s garbage day and you know what that means. I’m taking stock of how much food we waste, which thankfully, has greatly improved since I started paying attention.
I can’t seem to win with bananas. Either I have too many and am stuck with a whole bunch of brown ones, or I run out and they are a ‘go-to’ food item for my one-year-old when he won’t eat. And with bananas quickly approaching $1/lb around here, I really don’t want to waste them.
Bananas will last in the refrigerator for about a week. The skin will become very dark brown but the insides will be fine. I also slice them up and make banana pancakes which my kids love.
Of course, there’s always banana bread, right? I got a recipe from my mother-in-law, it was the house recipe from Braddock’s Tavern in Medford, NJ. I don’t know what happened, but recently that recipe has just failed me. It doesn’t work, I don’t know if I was recopying it and missed an ingredient, but it would always undercook, overcook or not congeal. It would just become really hot batter, and not form bread.
So for now, I’ve switched to this recipe. It’s easy and it’s ok, not great like the Braddock’s recipe, not nearly as rich or as fattening. Oh well.
A lot of banana bread recipes result in a dense, moist bread. We like our a little less wet. I've been using this recipe from The Homespun Heart.com, and we all love it:
3 1/2 c. flour
1 1/3 c. sugar
2/3 c. oil
4 eggs
4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 c. mashed banana
walnuts or pecans, if desired
I dump all the ingredients in my Kitchen Aid and mix it together, adding the nuts last. Divide batter into two loaf pans prepared with cooking spray.
Bake about 55 minutes at 350.
http://thehomespunheart.blogspot.com/2008/05/banana-bread.html
Here’s the perfect solution for brown bananas. My kids beg for this treat. . .
Banana Milk!
1 cup milk
1 or 2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 banana
Blend and serve! Yummy. :-)
I’m going to try this one. I think my boys would like it. Thanks.