No Such Thing as a Rotten Banana

There is (almost) never a time when you should throw away a banana.

When you buy too many bananas (which is inevitable from time to time) and there is one or two that are past 'good for eating', toss the aged bananas in a ziplock bag and keep them in the freezer.  When you have 3 or 4, you are ready to make banana bread ... with perfectly aged bananas. This is a great way for a homemade snack without spending any extra money because often times you have all the ingredients for the bread laying around your kitchen.

In case you didn't know, aged bananas are perfect for banana bread because the older the banana the sweeter they are.

This isn't all that clever or original, but any tips and tricks help, right?

I got this idea from a friend who had a similar idea.  She bought a container that would hold just the right amount of vegetables for vegetable soup.  So whenever she has left over vegetables, she tosses them in the container. When the container is full, she knows it's time for soup.

Here is my grandmother's recipe for banana bread.  I am open to trying other banana breads and have tried many, but this one is always number one on the list.

Grandma's Banana Bread
(tweaked a little by me)

1/2 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
3-4 bananas, mashed
2 eggs
2 cups flour
5 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla

Cream shortening and sugar together.
Add all other ingredients.
Bake in greased loaf pan at 375 for 1 hour.

Note: If you think the shortening is gross, reconsider eating anywhere like Panera, who uses shortening in almost all their breads.