Sometimes, I feel like I'm going bananas, and this week has been one of those weeks. So it was while I was considering this rather peculiar idiom that I gave the humble banana some serious thought. Bananas are brilliant and very popular in our house... and quite rightly! They are a powerhouse of nutritional benefit all neatly packaged in their own little jackets! A brilliant source of vitamins (such as B6), minerals (such as potassium) and dietary fibre, plus easy to eat and store! So I thought I'd share some of my favourite banana-related tidbits, accessories and recipes!
1. Mash a ripe banana & avocado together with a fork for a quick and easy no-cook baby meal, suitable as a first food from 6 months. The Shouty One (left) and Chubby Cheeks one seemed to enjoy it greatly ... it's banana and avocado on their faces in the photo below... not snot, honest!!
2. Open your banana like a monkey... believe it or not, it's much easier to peel it from the other end! A friend tried to convince me of this after she saw the YouTube video below... I wasn't convinced until I tried it! But watch it and try it ... it's life changing stuff!
3. Instead of throwing them out, freeze overripe bananas in their skins (see this tutorial) or peel and put in ziplock freezer bags for use in smoothies/banana loaf/cakes etc... Defrost in fridge and use as normal.
4. Rub the inside of a banana skin onto a mosquito bite to reduce itching and swelling! Apparently this also works on poison ivy rashes!
5. Make healthy frozen lollipops by freezing halved bananas stuck on lollipop sticks (open freeze them on a tray lined with baking parchment). Dip in melted chocolate (and then even chopped nuts) for a truly indulgent treat. This recipe from Delia Smith explains the method really well.
6. My favourite quick, easy & delicious barbecue dessert... make a slit in the skin of the inner part if of the banana curve. Push small squares of your favourite chocolate (or chocolate chips/buttons) through the slit and into the banana flesh. Sit the banana on the bbq, slit facing up and cook until the skin is black and the chocolate melted. Serve as is with thick whipping (double) cream poured on top or with a big dollop of vanilla icecream! For an extra treat (for adults) pour a little bit of brandy into the banana slit before bbq-ing! Yum!
7. Write a banana love note to your kids or other-half in their lunchbox by scoring a message into the side of the banana skin with a pin... when they come to eat it, the scored skin will have browned slightly making the message visible!
8. Stop bananas getting squashed and bruised in your lunchbox by using a banana guard! These are literally fantastic and no matter what size or shape banana I've tried... it fits!!! Brilliant, especially for fussy kids who get squeamish about brown bits on bananas!
9. Ethylene gas causes the ripening of many fruits including bananas. Therefore, you can speed up the ripening process of a green banana by storing it with other fruits that give off this gas when ripening, such as apples, pears, & tomatoes. Also, because bananas themselves give off ethylene gas, you can ripen them quickly by storing them in a bag so the gas is trapped! Furthermore, allow green bananas to ripen in their natural position to prevent bruising by using a banana hanger (not to be confused with a banana hammock!!!). They really do work!
10. To slow down the ripening process, you can store bananas in the fridge as this slows down the production of ethylene. Unfortunately, the skins will blacken quickly making them not very pretty to look at, however the fruit inside will stay firm for a few weeks! Don't put green bananas in the fridge as they will never ripen. You can even buy bags to help maintain banana freshness in the fridge. I haven't tried these, but some people swear by them:
