Recipe: Frozen Bananas

Whenever my grocery store has a sale on bananas, and especially when they place the overripe ones in a brown bag and mark them way down, I always buy as many as I can. Even though I know my large family of ten children may not be able to eat them all right away, I have found one of the most useful things I can have in my freezer are frozen bananas! With frozen bananas on hand, I know I can always make a quick dessert or a nutritious breakfast.

It's very simple to freeze bananas. Simply slice them into little circles, lay them in a single layer on a cookie sheet, and place the cookie sheet in the freezer. Once the bananas are frozen, transfer them into a zip lock freezer bag, and put them back in the freezer. Now you are always prepared!

Have you ever had unexpected company drop in at dinner time, and you don't have anything special to fix them for a dessert? There is a simple, easy solution: pull out your frozen bananas!

To serve them, put the frozen bananas in a pretty bowl, and top them with chocolate syrup, whipped cream and nuts. It tastes very much like ice cream. This is delicious and rich enough to serve company.

Another way to use your frozen bananas is in ice cream itself. Frozen bananas and pecans in chocolate ice cream are wonderful. And adding them to rocky road ice cream is a sensational taste!

I like to freeze overripe bananas to add to smoothies in the mornings. I put the bananas in my blender along with frozen strawberries, blueberries, mixed fruit or anything else I may have on hand, and add yogurt, milk, or even lemon lime soda. For a good for you dessert, I might add ice cream. The frozen bananas make the smoothie much creamier. My children love these, and it gives them a big portion of the fruit they need for the day.

You can also use the banana whole. Simply stick a Popsicle stick in one end, and roll them in chocolate syrup. You can then freeze them this way, or roll them again in sprinkles, coconut, nuts, or any other kind of topping you have on hand that sounds good. Your children will be the hit of the neighborhood!

Take advantage of any sale your grocer has on bananas. They are a versatile and inexpensive treat!