waste not, want not

So I am moving to a tiny island in the Caribbean next month. You just never know where life will take you. For a while Seattle was the word, and then it was Baltimore. Now I have but a few weeks to find an apartment and a car, to overcome my fear of iguanas, and to get used to driving on the left-hand side of the road (most likely with the steering wheel on the left). ::sigh::

Anyway, the heat is on. I've still got tons of food in my kitchen, so when I got my job offer, I challenged myself to come up with ways to use as much of it as possible. The remainder, except the teas, herbs, and spices, will go to my parents and friends.

My first challenge was a couple of overripe bananas in my fruit bowl. Normally I don't eat bananas once all the green has disappeared because they are just too sweet. At that point they are good only for sweetening other foods and drinks, such as smoothies--and even then, I use only a bit because of their overpowering taste and aroma. Normally I sweeten my oatmeal with unsweetened apple sauce (I swear by the Whole Foods brand), but I ran out last week. Then it occurred to me that I could add a bit of syrupy banana to my oatmeal. I sliced the bananas and stored them in plastic containers in the fridge for easy use. Here is what I concocted.

Oatmeal with Bananas

Ingredients (for one serving)

• 1/4 c Irish style oatmeal
• 5 slices syrupy banana (more or less depending on how ripe the bananas are and how sweet you like your oatmeal)
• 1/3 to 1/2 c 1 or 2% milk
• Half the seeds from one green cardamom pod
• Ground cinnamon to taste

Instructions

In a small saucepan, mash banana slices into oatmeal, trying to eliminate large banana lumps and achieve a smooth texture. This is easy to do with a wooden spoon. Stir in milk and cardamom seeds. Turn on heat and bring to a slow boil. Stir, cover, reduce heat, and simmer until the oats are cooked to your liking, stirring occasionally. Do not let the bottom of the oatmeal burn! Remove from heat and discard cardamom seeds. Serve with ground cinnamon sprinkled on top.