Eight Exciting Things To Do With Bananas

February 15, 2012 18 Comments Jump to Recipe

When people meet me for the first time, what do you think they ask me? Where did you get your nails done?

NO! They ask me, "What is your favorite snack?" When you say you have an alter-ego named SNACK Girl - people are curious.

Well, like many Americans, I love bananas. They are portable, sweet, and packed with nutrients including potassium. And, if you are on Weight Watchers, they are ZERO Points+. Don't eat too many though, because you won't be able to move your bowels (the downside of bananas).

Here are the nutrition facts for a medium banana: 105 calories, 0g fat, 27 g carbohydrates, 1.0 g protein, 3.0 g fiber, 1 mg sodium, 0 Points+.

The thing is that I don't LOVE bananas plain. I like to add something else to them to make them more interesting.

My favorite snack is photographed above. It is a banana with sunflower seed butter (sunbutter) and some raisins. I call it "Ants On A Slippy Slide" to make it more fun. It matches well with my favorite drink - coffee - and is so much healthier for me than eating a cookie.

(actually my favorite drink is beer but I usually don't drink that all day long)

I have featured bananas many times on the site because I love them so much. Here are eight ideas for enjoying bananas:

1. Now You Can Eat A Banana Split Without Splitting Your Pants

2. You Won't Miss The Butter In This Holiday Banana Bread

3. The BEST Post Workout Snack

4. Skip The Ice Cream: Grill Your Dessert

5. Healthy Banana Pudding from Jack LaLanne

6. A Grab 'N Go Breakfast With ZERO Added Sugar (and you will love it)

7. This Green Smoothie Does NOT Taste Like Grass

Ants On A Slippy Slide Recipe

1.6 from 24 reviews

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Ingredients

1 ripe banana
1 tablespoon peanut butter, sunbutter, almond butter, etc.
a few raisins or chocolate chips

Instructions

Cut the banana lengthwise and spread on the nut butter. Add your raisins or chocolate chips and enjoy!

Nutrition Facts

199 calories, 8.5 g fat, 30 g carbohydrates, 5.3 g protein, 4.0 g fiber, 75 mg sodium, 3 Points+

Points values are calculated by Snack Girl and are provided for information only. See all Snack Girl Recipes

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Return To An Old Favorite Snack (With A Twist)

Sometimes we need a little inspiration to make a healthy snack. We get into snack ruts because we are super busy....

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18 Comments:

My favorite thing to do with a banana is to freeze it and then blend it and skim milk with chocolate Shakeology. Better than a Wendy's frosty and lot more nutritious.
http://myshakeology.com/CoachTod

CoachTod

Love Banana's! Matter in fact my blog today is healthy chocolate banana bread! I love all the recipes you posted!!!

Jennifer @ Peanut Butter and Peppers

Yum Yum Yum - Looks delicious!

Jaki (Slim Down U)

Have you heard of and/or tried the appliance Yonanas? It is supposed to make ice cream out of bananas (and other frozen fruit) and be absolutely yummy. Would love to hear your thoughts on it!

Jamie

I've heard that you can just blend up a frozen banana with nothing added and it comes out being the consistancy of ice cream - and tasting fantastic. I haven't tried it yet, but I'm wondering if anyone else has and if it really works. I also wonder if you have to freeze the banana first and then blend it or blend it up and then freeze it.

Janet

make soft serve ice cream with frozen bananas. just bananas in a food processer, whirl until creamy...yummy!

sandi

They are my favourite post workout snack!

Dannii

Easy, quick and not too high in calories -- peel banana, split lengthwize in half. Set aside In small "seasoned" cast iron skillet (or a non-stick saute pan will also do), melt 1 tsp. butter in hot skillet, add 2 tbl brown sugar. Melt together, add banana, after a minute, flip banana. DELICIOUS! Add a small dollop of yogurt for added flavor. Be cautious of the hot brown sugar - can burn your tongue if too hot!

Marlene

Thanks for sharing! I love bananas too! I eat one everyday. For a sweet treat I like to cut one up, put it on a tortilla with peanut butter, cinnamon, sliced almonds, and some honey. Wrap it up and enjoy!

Becky Fox

As Marilla in Anne of Green Gables said, "We may be kindred spirits afterall." lol :)
Love bananas! Have one everyday! One of my fave ways is sliced and put between 2 graham cracker halves-and heated for a few seconds in the microwave! but I eat them mostly by themselves!

Linda

Great post on some great ways to use bananas. The Ants of a Slippy Slide recipe sounds great!

England Furniture Company

I have a Yonana frozen treat maker! It uses frozen bananas then just add any other frozen fruit-it comes out with an amazing smooth texture just like ice cream! One of the best is frozen banana,frozen cherries and 1 oz dark chocolate - amazing!

Cindy

Wish I could eat these awesome banana snacks. I developed an allergy to bananas a few years ago. I used to love them.

Sue Kauffman

Love the title of this post. Knowing you, I was expecting at least *one* joke with some inuendo. ;)
I don't think I've ever met a way to eat bananas that I DIDN'T like. I love bananas. I just wish they were more local.
Have you heard about the banana disease that is wiping out the main variety in Australia? We'd all better hope it doesn't make it to the new world, but it is only a matter of time. :( Banana breeders had better be working on developing some resistant varieties!

shanna

@Shanna - the title was the joke. All my ideas were just a bit too dirty for the website. It is HARD to be funny without offending people.

Snack Girl

Thank you for posting these different banana recipes. They could be considered an interesting way to integrate more fruit into one's diet.

Tummy Belt

wat is this

sabrinasmith

Instead of baking the bananas in the oven, I used a non stick skillet to caramelize them. I top them wiyh some nuts...delicious!!Meriem

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