Over-Ripe Bananas

I always buy bananas with the good intention of eating them for breakfast or snacks. But, that doesn't always happen. Once the bananas get too over-ripe, their texture makes them almost inedible. There are two things I have done with bananas at this point.

Alternative 1: Smoothies and Shakes
Since the texture of the over-ripe banana is really the part that is unappetizing, I usually blend them into smoothies with juice, milk, or other fruit. You can make a delicious chocolate banana "shake" by blending milk, an over-ripe banana, and cocoa powder.

Alternative 2: Baking
You can also use mashed up over-ripe bananas in baking. The most obvious time this works is when you are making banana bread. But, with any cake, you can replace the butter with equal amounts of mashed up banana. I did this tonight with a boxed chocolate cake mix. It turned out really good. However, since bananas have a distinct flavor, you should make sure that banana flavor goes well with the other flavors in your baking. For example, banana and chocolate goes well together, so using bananas in chocolate cake works.

Leave a comment to let me know what your favorite way to used over-ripe bananas is.

Waste Not: Stale Bread

One key component of eating well on a budget is to not waste any food you buy. I am going to do some Waste Not posts about how to use food that you might normally throw away.

Stale bread used to get thrown away a lot at my house. But, there are three good alternatives that will save you money on future grocery bills.

Alternative 1: Croutons
You can always take stale bread, chop it up, toss it in olive oil and your favorite spices, put it under the broiler in your oven for a few minutes, and you have croutons much better than anything you would buy in the store. For Italian croutons, try using garlic salt, oregano, and pepper. Or you could make a southwestern style crouton with garlic salt, cumin, and chili powder. Use your imagination!

Alternative 2: Bread Crumbs
You can run your stale bread through your food processor, add salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning, and turn your stale bread into Italian Bread Crumbs for future cooking.

Alternative 3: French Toast
This is my favorite alternative for a thrifty but special Sunday brunch. Take 1 cup of milk, beat in one egg, and add ground cinnamon. Soak slices of stale bread in the mixture, and then toast them in a pan on your stove.