Homemade Banana Bread (good for ripe bananas)

Healthy Banana Bread (Ela Vegan) is a great way to use up leftover bananas, as ones that are dark with spots are super-sweet due to starch.

Banana bread is also forgiving. It can be plain and straightforward, or dressed up with tahini, pecans, or a sugar crust. Once baked, it’s good warm, good cold, and often better the next day.

Read up on food safety for people and animals (many foods used for banana recipes including chocolate and nutmeg are unsafe near animal friends). For tinned foods, rinse then remove lids (pop in cans) or pop ring-pulls back over holes. Pinch or flatten cans, to stop wildlife getting trapped.

How to buy, store and freeze bananas

Bananas are obviously not local, so buy Fair Trade and organic (farm shops are better, as supermarkets have to wrap organic bananas in plastic, to stop contamination from non-organic produce).

To avoid food waste, choose green bananas if not planning to use immediately, and use ripe sweet bananas for puddings and cakes. Store at room temperature away from other fruits that give off ethylene gas.

To freeze bananas for smoothies and ‘nice cream’, slice first then freeze on a tray, then transfer to a silicone freezer bag. Use within three months.

Use banana peel as homemade shoe polish!

The inside of a banana peel makes great shoe polish, just buff with a clean cloth to lift dust and give a mild shine. You can also use it over dry elbows and hands (or use a mashed banana as  a face mask, deu to potassium). If composting banana peel, remember to remove any plastic stickers.