When our bananas get very ripe I usually make banana bread. While I absolutely love banana bread (click here for my vegan and gluten-free recipe), it has been way to hot to make it lately...who wants to turn the oven on when it is in the nineties and humid???
The hot weather has also been making our bananas ripen much faster than usual. It all works out though because we have been making a TON of smoothies lately to help cool us off. One of my favorite ways to make a smoothie creamy and help sweeten it naturally is to add frozen bananas to the blender. When I notice the bananas getting too brown and soft to eat on their own, I peel them and put them in a bag in the freezer. I ALWAYS have frozen bananas in the freezer for my smoothies.
One last tip...break the frozen banana into 3-4 pieces right before you put it in the blender (it will be too difficult for the blender to break-up the banana if it isn't broken down a bit beforehand).
Gretchen Tseng is a Nutrition Specialist with Certification in Plant-Based Nutrition through Cornell University. At a young age she experienced a series of illnesses which propelled her to seek nutrition based solutions. Gretchen is absolutely passionate about sharing the health benefits of a plant-based lifestyle and can be found doing so through her website Veggie Grettie (www.veggiegrettie.com ), as a Columnist for Chic Vegan (www.chicvegan.com ), and as a freelance writer. In addition to being a nutrition nut, Gretchen is a fitness fanatic and is thrilled to be a Brand Ambassador for a clothing line that she wears and loves, NEXT by Athena. Gretchen lives in Southern California with her husband, two children, and 4 legged best bud and dreams of living on a farm someday surrounded by animals and an amazing organic garden.
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