Thursday, June 19, 2014

Flying time and frozen bananas

"Things are unraveling fast now . . ."

The wedding is coming on us like a night train.

True to form, I am somewhat paralyzed, so I threw a load of towels into the washing machine.  Nothing like clean linens to calm a person down.

I also went to Aldi, where they had some too-ripe bananas on clearance for half price.  I remembered how good frozen bananas are in a smoothie, so I bought a bunch and came home and froze them.  What else would you do, when you ought to be planning a wedding, besides freeze a bunch of over-ripe bananas?

Once, long ago, I read that frozen bananas were good in a smoothie, so I put some bananas into my freezer, in a plastic bag.

Over time, they turned brown.

After many months had passed, I mistook them for Italian sausages.  They became a source of security.  When I started getting low on food, I would tell myself, "If we run out of fresh things to eat, I can always whip up some spaghetti with those Italian sausages in the freezer."

Imagine my dismay on the day I tried to do this.

So.  Yes.  No.  Those slimy brown frozen bananas forced a vegetarian supper on us that night.  We had varied personal reasons, which I will leave to your imagination, for not being pleased with the outcome.

After that, I did not freeze bananas for a long time.  But now I do, and I will explain how, because you might be like me, back in the day, and you may not know exactly how one ought best to freeze bananas so that they are usable in smoothies.

How To Freeze Bananas For Smoothies
  1. Peel banana.
  2. Cut banana into approximately 1" - 1.5" slices.
  3. Place sliced banana into a ziplock snack bag.
  4. Repeat for as many bananas as you are going to freeze, using one ziplock bag for each banana.
  5. Seal bags and place in freezer.
  6. **Use before you forget what they are.**
  7. Slicing the bananas into this size of a slice will help them blend nicely in your blender.
  8. Use one frozen banana per smoothie, and never try to double a smoothie recipe in one blender batch (I can tell you this from direct experience).
  9. Enjoy!

Frozen bananas give your smoothies the consistency of soft-serve ice cream.  Even if you are not big on bananas, you may well enjoy them frozen.

A Frozen Banana Smoothie Recipe
(this is a good one for breaking in the reluctant smoothie drinker)

1   6-8 oz. container flavored yogurt (strawberry or raspberry, preferably)
1/3 cup orange juice
4 large-ish frozen strawberries
1 frozen banana

Blend together until smooth and thick. 

A while back, Laura asked me what advice I had for her in terms of her bridal registry.  I told her to get a blender.  I use my blender multiple times every day.  A blender is a wonderful thing.

A frozen banana may make you think that you can also freeze time.

You can't.

2 comments:

Shannon said...

I am victim to a case of rollicking laughter because of the story about the frozen bananas that were not, in fact, Italian sausages. That is fantastic. I think I remember it?

ruth said...

I am not sure that you were at home. My recollection is that it happened when I cleaned out the freezer prior to moving to Illinois, and every memory from that time period is a total blur.

It might have happened when everybody was at home for Jonathan's graduation party a year ago. I do remember having a sense of ghastly repulsion when I realized what I was dealing with, and a gag reflex, and quite possibly I screamed a little in dismay.