I hate letting meals go to waste. It is one of many causes I grocery store regularly, solely shopping for what I will use immediately, quite than buying meals for just a few weeks at a time.
However it doesn’t matter what I do, I at all times wind up with a surplus of bananas.
My intentions to eat the fruit, which is wealthy in potassium, vitamin C and fiber, says Lorraine Kearney, CEO and founding father of New York Metropolis Diet, earlier than a exercise or as a snack have a tendency to go unfulfilled.
Fortunately, there are many methods to make use of bananas earlier than they go dangerous — even when they’re overripe.
USA TODAY rounded up just a few good recipes to utilize the versatile fruit within the types of breakfast, snack and dessert.
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Banana chocolate chip muffins
Banana muffins with chocolate chips have been a staple dessert in my life for the reason that time I used to be rising up — plus, if you wish to imagine, they will double as breakfast. Main win, in my e-book.
These are pretty straightforward to bake and may be made gluten free by substituting 1:1 gluten free baking flour for normal flour.
The recipe I used right here is one I discovered on Taste of Home and altered by substituting gluten-free flour and including chocolate chips.
Here is how I did it:
- Pre-heat oven to 375 levels Fahrenheit
- Line muffin tray
- Mix dry substances (1 and 1/2 cups flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt)
- In a separate bowl, mash 3 medium ripe bananas
- Add moist substances to bananas (1 massive egg, 1/3 cup vegetable oil, 1 tsp vanilla extract)
- Combine moist substances
- Add moist substances into dry substances
- Combine
- Fold in 1/2 bag chocolate chips
- Bake 20-22 minutes
- Get pleasure from
If you happen to do not eat these inside a pair days (good luck) they freeze effectively, too.
Peanut butter-banana in a single day oats
In a single day oats may be made with a variety of substances — and banana is a very nice one so as to add.
Wanting round my kitchen final evening I used to be making an attempt to determine what I might make upfront for a wholesome Monday morning breakfast. I had chia seeds, a banana, powdered peanut butter, and oats together with Greek yogurt.
After some looking out on Google, I discovered this recipe for in a single day oats from Clean and Delicious and tweaked it to make use of powdered peanut butter as an alternative of standard peanut butter.
I mixed:
- 1/2 cup oats
- 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1/4 cup Greek yogurt
- 1 tablespoon chia seeds
- 1/4 tsp of cinnamon
After which folded in:
- 1/2 chopped banana
- 1 tbsp powdered peanut butter combined with water
Then I popped it within the fridge in a single day in a lined dish. This breakfast is protein packed (18 g per my calculations!), fiber full (11 g) and tremendous filling and engaging at 321 energy.
Smoothies
Bananas are sometimes a basic ingredient in smoothies of many variations and they are often added straight from the fruit basket or after being frozen — smoothies are straightforward and may be adjusted to your liking.
I’ve tried a bunch with bananas and these are two of my favorites.
My post-workout breakfast smoothie is impressed by this one from Chocolate Covered Katie’s site.
Right here’s what I added to the blender:
- Two small frozen bananas
- 2 tbsp powdered peanut butter
- 1 scoop chocolate protein powder
- 12 oz unsweetened almond milk
- 1/3 cup fast oats
A peach mango protein smoothie is an alternative choice.
Just lately, I attempted a peach mango protein smoothie that I concocted with some inspiration from A Couple Cooks‘ recipe. This one makes round 2 small smoothies.
Right here’s what I added to the blender:
- Half a banana
- 1 cup frozen mango
- 1 cup frozen peaches
- 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
- 12 oz almond milk (I began with 8 oz and added extra as I went till it was as easy as I wished)
- 1 cup ice
When are bananas good to eat?
Kearney says that bananas change as they ripen — and are good for a number of phases, and are edible longer than you’d may assume.
“As a banana ripens it adjustments coloration from the inexperienced chlorophyll by ethylene hormone to supply a softer yellow candy banana that’s ripe for consuming,” she explains. “Because it matures, it turns brown and will increase in sweetness till it decays.”
Inexperienced bananas include a extra resistant starch that makes the fruit tougher to digest.
Because it adjustments coloration, the antioxidants enhance and the banana begins to style sweeter and develop into simpler to digest.
Methods to make bananas last more within the first place
The ripening strategy of bananas may be slowed by storing the fruit below explicit situations, Kearney explains in an e mail to USA TODAY.
To retailer bananas accurately, they need to be stored in a cool place away from daylight, she says.
My editor swears by the plastic wrap hack. She covers the stems of the banana bundle with plastic wrap, slowing the ripening course of by stifling the discharge of ethylene fuel.
And, if you cannot use bananas immediately, put them within the freezer.
“Bananas may be peeled and/sliced and added to the freezer for as much as six weeks,” Kearney says. “Frozen bananas are nice for smoothies or including to a blender to make dairy free ice-cream. I like so as to add chocolate chips and pistachios when making banana ice-cream.”
