Banana Ice Cream: just made from bananas!

Blending frozen bananas to make ice cream is one of my favorite food-related discoveries.  For one, bananas are one of the cheapest produce items available (unfortunately it's not locally grown).  Two, you can make a great dessert just with fruit and a food processor.  Well, actually the idea evolved from me slicing bananas and putting them in a bowl in my freezer, then eating it with nuts and/or chocolate.

If you're going to freeze bananas, you're going to want to peel them and cut them in thirds, if not smaller, then keep them in a plastic bag or container.  You can use them in smoothies, but for ice cream, you can simply blend them up with a little bit of water or milk substitute.  If you're not so concerned about the fat or calorie content, adding coconut milk and/or peanut butter is excellent.  Of course you can add all sorts of things: chocolate, carob, chopped nuts, coconut flakes, other fruits, flavorings (vanilla extract is great), etc. 

If you don't have a food processor, a blender might work.  Or, a friend of mine actually uses a champion juicer and doesn't have to add water and that turns out like soft serve.

If you have some dates, make a banana date shake by making banana ice cream and blending it up with date pieces and more liquid, adding some vanilla extract if you have it.