The amount of produce that is wasted in America each year is staggering, which means that millions of dollars in food is wasted each year, both by manufacturers who have surplus crops and homeowners who purchase food that goes bad.

But if you’ve got a few brown bananas lying around, bringing them to the local food pantry probably isn’t high on your list. Why not find ways to use your brown bananas so that you can maximize your investment and feed your hungry family?

Here are 5 ways to use brown bananas :

• Bake banana cake. Nobody (except for you) will know that you used brown bananas in this scrumptious recipe.

¾ cup oil
1 cup mashed bananas (about 2 bananas)
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla
½ cup orange juice
1 ½ cups sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. baking powder
2 cups flour

Mix all ingredients together. Place in a greased 9×13 pan or two 9” round pans, bake for 25-20 minutes at 350 degrees. This recipe freezes well.

• Freeze them. Yes, it’s true – if you can’t use your bananas before they get moldy you can freeze them for up to 3 months.
• Make banana pancakes. Not only will this recipe prevent you from wasting brown bananas, it’ll disguise these healthy items in a ‘fun’ dinner.

4 bananas mashed through a strainer
1 cup milk
1 cup flour
¼ tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. baking powder
2 eggs
½ tsp. salt

Mix all ingredients together and fry on medium heat until brown on both sides.

• Make smoothies. Use brown bananas in a smoothie with yogurt, berries and milk. You can also use frozen bananas for your smoothies.
• Stack them in a sandwich. Banana-peanut butter sandwiches are a little-known treat but one that is worth publicizing. Brown bananas will maintain a smooth consistency for your sandwich without sliding out of the bread. Banana-peanut butter sandwiches work well with both creamy and chunky peanut butter. For small children, cut the sandwich in half so that it’s easier to hold without the bananas shifting inside.

Sari Holtz is a writer for Billy.com and the voice behind Billy’s money saving blog.  She is the mother of 4 children between the ages of 6 and 1, and she is always looking for new ways to save money and to trick her children into eating more fruits and vegetables.

I’m often asked what we have for lunch and snacks. 

So I thought I’d share two of our favorites from this fall!  Plus a new recipe we’ll be trying too!

Peanut Butter Rollups

A simple alternative to the traditional PBJ.  Put whatever on it.  Pictured below is natural PB, sliced bananas and cinnamon. With drizzles of honey! 

Fold up like a quesadilla or roll up like a burrito.

Pumpkin Applesauce

This is the boys’ current favorite snack!  And I think it’s tasty too.  Plus, it gets in some veggies and extra vitamin A, alpha and beta-carotenes and other essential vitamins and minerals.

Bowlful of applesauce, spoonful of pumpkin and few dashes of cinnamon.

And I’ll be making this gluten and dairy free pumpkin pudding for my little men to snack on as well!  Thanks Diane!

What simple and delicious snacks and lunches have you all been enjoying this fall???

This is my new favorite smoothie!  The boys and I usually having a smoothie with lunch and this has been a hit for the past few weeks.  I will say that it tastes different each time, probably depending on how ripe and sweet the peach is…and of course, how much sweetener is added!  I find that the ripest (softest…without being bruised and damaged) peaches make the best tasting smoothies!!!

Ingredients
1 banana ($.10)
1 peach, seed removed ($.30)
1 cup strawberries, fresh or frozen ($.35)
1 cup milk ($.10)  Rice milk for us!
2 Tbsp ground flaxseed ($.10)
1 Tbsp sweetener…honey, agave, sugar ($.05)
Water to fill blender to 4 cups

Directions
1. Add banana, peach (with or without skin…lots of nutrients in the skin!), strawberries into the blender. Add milk, flaxseed and sweetener.
2. Fill blender with water until the liquid level reaches 4 cups. Don’t have markings…add about 2 cups of water.
3. Blend on low for 30 seconds, then blend on high for 30 seconds, or until smooth and creamy!
4. Drink immediately!!!

Cost $1.00 for 4 8 oz. glasses

Here’s a Red White and Blue smoothie for you all to try this holiday weekend! 

It turns a magnificant purple color when blended!

Ingredients
1 banana
1 cup of milk, rice milk or yogurt
6 large strawberries
About 1 cup blueberries
2 Tbsp ground flaxseed (optional)
2 Tbsp favorite sweetener, like honey, agave syrup or sugar (I used agave)
Enough water to cover all the fruit (about 3-4 cups)

Directions
1. Add all ingredients and blend until smooth.
2. Drink!

NOTE: Skillet is HOT when it comes out of the oven.  Do NOT attempt to grab the handle without a hot pad. Not that I have personal experience

Ingredients
4 slices bacon, crumbled ($.83)
8 eggs ($.80)
1/4 cup milk ($.03)
1 tsp salt and pepper, each
1/2 onion, sliced into circles ($.15)
2 tsp olive oil ($.05)
about 3 cups spinach (free from garden)
1/2 – 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese ($.75)
6 pieces of bread ($.40)
2-3 Tbsp (dairy free) margarine ($.20)
3 bananas ($.20)

Directions

1. In bowl, whisk bacon crumbles, eggs, milk, salt and pepper. 

2. In skillet, saute onions in 2 tsp olive oil.

3. Once brown, add a few tsp of water and cook another 1-2 minutes.

4. Add spinach and cook over medium heat for 2 minutes, until it wilts.

5. Pour egg mixture over the spinach and onions. 

6. Cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, until…

7. Until the eggs have set around the edges. 

8.  Bake at 450 for 5 minutes.

9. Add shredded cheese to the top and bake another 1-2 minutes until cheese melts.  (I omitted this, but this is how I’ve done it before!)

10. Serve with toast and bananas.

Cost $3.41

Print this Recipe

P.S.  Yes, I was distracted by 2 screaming toddlers and was not paying attention when I grabbed the handle without a hot pad.  I burned (first degree) all 4 fingers and part of my palm.  I’m taking good care of it, under the supervison of my sister who is an MD!  (So thankful she answered when I called!)

Now that summer is here, let’s consider some tasty, healthy and low-cost treats that can serve as an alternative to ice cream.

Avocado Banana Smoothie

1 ripe avocado ($.68 from Aldi)
2 very ripe bananas ($.10)
2 cups milk ($.22)
Dash of cinnamon ($.01)
1/4 tsp vanilla (Free) I got it free at Easter when my store had a sale on it and I doubled a $1 off McCormick coupon!

Total cost: $1.11

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.
Add ice cubes for a cold treat or drink through a straw like a milk shake.

We have tried all kinds of variations with this recipe including: adding a touch of honey if we want increased sweetness, substituting vanilla soymilk for the regular milk and vanilla, decreasing the milk to 1 cup and adding ¼ cup of vanilla yogurt.

The ripe bananas make this a naturally sweet smoothie that is very healthy and low cost. If you are new to using avocados read Erin’s post here about how to select and cut one.

Homemade Chocolate Pudding

2 cups milk ($.22)
4 tablespoons hot cocoa mix ($.06)
2 tablespoons corn starch ($.20)

Total cost: $.48

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan.
Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly.
Allow mixture to boil for 1 minute then remove from heat.
Cool in the refrigerator for one hour and serve.

Carrie is founder of Pocket Your Dollars an organization committed to helping you keep your money where it belongs – in your pocket. Weekly shopping lists that match the sale items with available coupons and money-saving tips for every area of life are available at pocketyourdollars.com. Training, motivation and practical get-started advice are provided through speaking engagements and workshops to corporations and civic groups.

When eggs are on sale for $.88/dozen for the Easter holiday and you score a LARGE loaf of pre-sliced French bread for less than $1, you just can’t pass up making a stuffed French toast dish!  And with milk on sale for $1/half gallon and cream cheese recently marked down. Plus, there have been some great fruit sales lately…so we’ll add some $.25 apples to this meal!

A “simple”-y delicious meal!

Ingredients
10 eggs ($.73)
1 cup milk ($.12)
1/8 cup favorite syrup ($.25)
1/2 tsp cinnamon ($.03)
about 12 thin slices of French bread ($.50)
2 “spotty” bananas ($.40)
4 oz cream cheese ($.50)
4 granny smith apples ($1)
Syrup ($.50)

**Use rice bread and rice milk for the dish if you are GFCF. And omit cream cheese…will taste great with just the bananas!

Directions
1. In large bowl, whisk eggs and milk. Whisk in syrup and cinnamon.
2. In KitchenAid or using hand mixer, blend bananas and cream cheese until smooth and creamy. (I had frozen some cream cheese a few weeks ago. It doesn’t thaw out into its original creamy texture, so I thought this would be a good meal for “thawed cream cheese.” I used brown spotty bananas that were really ripe.  Gave it a nice flavor!)
3. In 8×8 baking dish, pour about 1/2 cup of egg mixture into the bottom of the dish, just enough to cover the bottom. Place bread on top of egg mixture to cover as much of the dish as possible.

4. Spread banana/cream cheese over the top of the bread. Cover with a more bread slices.

5. Pour the remaining egg/milk mixture over the top of the bread and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 2 hours, but all day or overnight would be ideal!

6. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.
7. Slice apples or other favorite fruit.
8. Serve Cream Cheese Stuffed French Toast with syrup and sliced apples.

Cost $4.03

Print this Recipe
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Last week a bowl of fruit inadvertently ended up on my dinner table. It’s been lurking around there ever since. I don’t really have a “winter” centerpiece that I use. Christmas centerpiece has been put away and I just can’t seem to get my spring stuff out yet!

So I’m doing a little research today. I wanted to see how the really “dry” GF bread would do as “stuffed french toast”…This recipe is gluten free, casien free, and soy free. (I have added in parenthesis the options using milk and wheat bread.) We’ll see how the boys like it for breakfast tomorrow!

This works beautifully with dried out GF bread.

Ingredients
8-10 slices whole wheat bread
10 eggs
1/2 cup rice milk (or 1/2 cup 2% milk)
1/2 cup apple juice
2 small ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions
1. Tear bread and place in bottom of glass 9×13 baking dish.
2. In large bowl, whisk eggs, rice milk, apple juice, vanilla, bananas and cinnamon.
3. Pour egg mixture over the bread. Cover with foil and refrigerate at least 2 hours (I recommend overnight).

4. To cook, remove foil and bake at 350 for 30 minutes, or until eggs begin to golden on top.
5. Let cool a few minutes before serving. Serve with side of fresh fruit or juice.

Verdict: I’ll let you know tomorrow I’m hoping to add this to our “breakfast rotation”.

Ingredients
8 Eggs ($.56…eggs were on sale last week after the power outage! Thanks Kroger!)
1/4 cup milk ($.05)
1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese ($.15…cheese has been on sale lately!
2 cup water
1 cup rice ($.30)
1 qt. milk ($.75)
1 t salt, nutmeg, vanilla ($.10)
(Add raisins if you like. We can’t eat them…too high in yeast! Grapes and raisins are loaded with yeast!)
1 Orange ($.50)
1 Apple ($.40)
1 Banana ($.35)

Directions
1. Click Here
2. Scramble eggs, slice fruit.

Cost $3.16