My bananas got out of hand this week! Too many, too ripe, all at the same time! This nifty tip came in handy tonight as I'll pop them in the freezer in the peeling, in a plastic baggie, before I go to bed. We don't really eat banana bread, but love smoothies made with our fruit. Often I just toss in an overripe banana with the pureed fruit as the banana adds a nice twist. In the summer when we have abundant fruit I puree the fruit minus the pits but with the skin on. The puree is stored in quart size baggies in the freezer until winter or spring when we are craving fresh fruit yet it's still too early in the season. I take out a baggie to thaw in the frig sometime during the day to be ready for dinner in the evening. Now I can pull out a banana at the same time to add to the puree.
For my fruit puree I don't add sugar before freezing. When thawed I place the puree in my blender with about 1/2 cup sugar, then blend. Now comes the fun part, tasting! If it's really thick I add water until I get the desired consistency (obviously store bought nectars and mostly water,) add more sugar if needed to overcome bitter fruit skin taste, and sometimes just a teaspoon or so of vanilla flavoring. That's the normal recipe. Sometimes I get a little bit crazy tossing in that last swallow of whatever flavor juice in the frig (limeade, lemonade, cranberry, apple) or a banana or an apple. Tomorrow when I have a fresh batch of sprouts I'll toss in a few of those, or a handle of bran. Obviously I never use a recipe, much like making a salad I use whatever I have on hand. My husband has never complained yet! Although yesterday's concoction was fig puree which is one of my favorite fruits, hubby still drank it right up. The kids? Ha, ha! They aren't convinced yet that they won't die from eating my creations; yet in their prayers they always add how grateful they are for their mom's "creativity and inventions." Big talkers, but example wins over in the end. Tomorrow we are also making wheat meat, so be on the lookout for more recipes and pictures. (My personal photographer told me I have to be willing to work on his schedule, so hopefully tomorrow he'll make time for me!)

Can you freeze bananas?
You bet! Once a fresh banana is too ripe to eat don’t throw it out, you can freeze it in a number of ways:
Peel and place it whole in a freezer bag
Leave the peel on and freeze in a freezer bag
Mash it and place in a sealed container to freeze
When you need bananas for baking (such as banana bread–yum!), just thaw and use.