We are all for reducing food waste in our house and bananas are now something we never throw away. That doesn’t mean they don’t ever go brown. Does anyone else have the problem of bananas either disappearing in a day or hanging around for ages? It is either one or the other. J will barely touch them any more and B will either eat two a day or have one bite and ditch the rest. There is nothing worse than finding a half eaten peeled banana sat on the side. I can’t blame the boys as I am the same. I will eat a ton and then not touch them for weeks. So what can you do with the half eaten or the ones that have gone past your optimal yellow level.

Top 10 Old Banana Ideas

1. Freeze – Peel your banana and freeze it. I store ours in plastic freezer bags or a take away container. Then you have them ready. When you want to use them leave them out for 10-30 minutes on the side to defrost
2. Smoothie – They are great for a smoothie making it sweet and thick. If you have some frozen bananas they are brilliant for making it cold.
3. Banana Bread – The classic way to use bananas and delicious.
4. Use instead of oil in baking – Oil is used in baking to make the cake moist but one cup of oil is equal to nearly 2000 calories – WTAF! So replace one cup of oil with one mashed banana (only approx 120 calories).
5. Banana Pancakes – This are great as a quick snack. Blend one banana and an egg together and cook like an american pancake. Super sweet and an easy delicious snack.
6. Eat it – Add yoghurt and some homemade granola. A brilliant breakfast and you will want to eat all your bananas.
7. Banana Milkshake – Blend a banana with milk. Yum. If its frozen its extra cold and good for little ones.
8. Banana Ice Lollies – Stick them with a lolly stick and freeze. You can dip them in yoghurt or melted chocolate too to make them as exciting as you want.
9. Banana Ice Cream – Sooo easy. Chop the banana into slices and freeze them. Them blend, blend, and blend again until a nice smoothie mixture. Add to a tub and freeze again.
10. Cooked Banana – Classic camping pudding. Slice your banana open length ways add chocolate wrap in foil and cook. Mmmm delicious chocolate banana.

Also you use you banana peels in the garden as they are great for soil. If you have a compost bin you can throw them in. Or you can chop up into small pieces and scatter on your soil. See what other house hold items you can use in the garden in my blog post easy eco friendly gardening ideas . For more ideas on how to use food in your home check out my blog post reducing food waste.

If you make any of these or you have any good ideas let me know and you can tag me on instagram @jenjensdesignsuk