We are HUGE banana eaters in my house. To me, a smoothie just isn't complete if it doesn't have a banana in it. Well this can be pretty tricky when you are trying to not go back to the store during the month or in between planned shopping trips. I am notorious for heading to the store for bananas and vowing to only put those yellow gems in my basket and then it happens....I see an end cap display or I see those grapes on sell, etc...you catch my drift. Even the most experienced budgeting mamas can fall prey to the end cap display or that item at a rock bottom price. Because of that, I have had to come up with a way to keep myself away from that grocery store as much as possible. Enter the frozen banana...I have been doing this for a bit and it has seriously changed my life....for reals people! When I do my once a month grocery shopping I buy about five bunches of bananas. I leave one bunch out for munching and freeze the rest. I break them into small pieces and place them on an ungreased baking tray. I then place them in the freezer for a few hours. Once frozen I remove them from the tray and place them in a freezer bag.
Freezing bananas at the beginning of the month for smoothies helps me stretch my grocery budget and stay away from the grocery store more...thus saving me money.
I still leave money in our grocery budget after my monthly sopping, for any extra produce we may need during the month. I always wait till my fridge is bare though and I remind myself that the less time I spend in that store during the month, the more I am able to save and stick with my grocery budget.
What grocery hacks save you money?
XO Danielle
I do the same thing! and if u make banana nut bread, u can cut the sugar in half since the darker they are the sweeter they are.
ReplyDeleteOMG thank you this is brilliant. this is my exact dilemma. Im gonna freeze them from now on. yay!!
ReplyDeleteI slice mine up and put them in a Baggie or reusable glad ware container. I put one banana per container. And if I have time I go ahead and add frozen strawberries & blueberries to the container. Sometimes spinach also if I have it. Then in the mornings all I have to do is grab a container out of the freezer, throw it in the blender with a few ice cubes, a container of yogurt, about 1/4 milk and blend away for a delicious smoothie. If I have it on hand, I also add a heaping teaspoon of chia seeds & one of flaxseed (meal), into the blender. Having the fruit already in a container together saves time getting out more than one bag, counting & measuring. I also think smoothies taste better with frozen banana instead of fresh. Great post!
ReplyDeleteMy dad works at a church and someone always brings in crates of bananas, so he's always bringing home pounds and pounds of bananas. My daughter loves them, so she'll eat one every day, and once they get too ripe I'll make and freeze baked banana oatmeal and chop the rest to freeze for smoothies!
ReplyDeleteI wish I could use bananas but I am SO allergic to them.
ReplyDeleteMy hack is freezing spinach- we all know it goes bad fast so as soon as it starts getting soft I put it in a bag in the freezer and grab a handful for my smoothies in the morning. It still mixes up great!
I've frozen bananas whole before, but never thought about breaking them up! We just did this over the weekend and it works amazingly!
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