Many times, the only choices for bananas at your grocery store are bright green, hard bananas that were clearly not ripe yet when they were picked. There is an easy way to fix this!
We’ll teach you
how to ripen green bananas that takes minimal effort and you don’t have to spend any money on specialized kitchen tools to use this trick. This
kitchen tip will also allow you to ripen other produce as well.
When you are buying unripe bananas at the grocery store, ask the cashier at checkout for a full-sized paper grocery bag. Once home, put the green bananas into the paper bag. Close the top of the paper bag and roll it down to keep it from opening back up. Keep rolling the paper bag down until you reach the bananas. The goal here is to make sure that there is as little empty space inside the paper bag as possible. You can put more than one bunch of bananas in the bag at the same time. In fact, this will even speed up the ripening process.
Why it Works
Here’s why this works: bananas (and many other fruits) give off a gas called
ethylene gas. Ethylene gas is a plant hormone that causes “growth”. What this means for produce is that any fruits or vegetables exposed to ethylene gas will have accelerated ripening. You can use ethylene gas to your advantage in certain cases, by allowing it to ripen fruits and vegetables that were picked before their prime.
Produce that gives off ethylene gas itself can be enclosed in a container or bag, and essentially trapped in the gas it produces to speed up ripening. Fruits and vegetables that do not produce ethylene gas can also benefit from this method. To ripen them, simply place them in a bag or container
with an ethylene gas producing fruit or vegetable, such as bananas, apples, peaches, avocados, pineapples or tomatoes.
I know I still have several very hard and green bananas that I need to have a paper bag to ripen up.
Apples, watermelon, strawberries and pineapple are easy to give your kids at snack time. I cut them all up and have bowls of them ready to eat. Have them in some baggies so when you have to run errands you can just grab a few and have them ready for when the kids are hungry.
I didn't do a recipe for the apples because we ate them all gone in our living room picnic lunch on Saturday.
and I would love to have someone tell me what they did with their cucumbers.
We will be eating corn on the cob with dinner tonight. It is my favorite.
beef and broccoli stir fry
use: broccoli
use from the past: onion
http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Beef-Broccoli-Stir-Fry
fried Cauliflower
Use: cauliflower
http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/fried-cauliflower/Detail.aspx
if you have eaten at Lon's Cooking Shack these are fabulous.
Candied yams
use: yams
http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/candied-yams/Detail.aspx
I made a very small batch and they taste fabulous. something different than potatoes.
Watermelon ice
Use: watermelon
http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Watermelon-Ice
Grilled Pineapple
use:pineapple
http://kierasrecipes.blogspot.com/2009/07/tucanos-pineapple.html
Skinny Strawberries Romanoff
use: Strawberry
super simple and tastes fantastic
http://www.skinnytaste.com/2010/04/skinny-strawberries-romanoff.html
Broiled grapefruit
use: grapefruit
http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/broiled-grapefruit/Detail.aspx
I am not a fan of grapefruit, but this is on my list of "trys" this week.
Green Bell Peppers Pizza
use: peppers
use from past: onions
http://www.bigoven.com/recipe/159100/pepperoni-pizza-with-peppers
How did you use your basket this week? I love ideas and suggestions.
6. In a large pot, put a couple inches of water, a clove of garlic, a slice of lemon, and a bay leaf (this adds wonderful flavor to the artichokes). Insert a steaming basket. Add the artichokes. Cover. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer. Cook for 25 to 45 minutes or until the outer leaves can easily be pulled off. Note: artichokes can also be cooked in a pressure cooker (about 15-20 minutes cooking time). Cooking time depends on how large the artichoke is, the larger, the longer it takes to cook.
