Tuesday's tip: Buy discount bananas & freeze them

L and I are smoothie crazy. We just love them; Can't get enough of them. So we go through lots of bananas - two every time we make a smoothie.

Lately I've also been using lots of bananas in my baking, because L and I both love these soaked banana muffins.

All this banana buying quickly adds up, but I've discovered one way to keep my grocery bill down. I look out for bruised bananas that have been discounted, and then buy up large. The bananas pictured below cost around 60 cents per kilo. That is so much cheaper than buying "perfect" bananas, which are usually around $2.99 per kilo.

Most of the time I find that even when they look marked on the outside, they're perfectly fine on the inside. And even if they're not, what does it matter? They're going to be mushed up in smoothies and baking anyway.

Freezing bananas

To freeze bananas, simply peel them, chop them in half and snap freeze them on an oven tray lined with baking paper.

Once solid, transfer bananas to a large ziplock bag for easy storage. By snap freezing them first, the bananas won't stick together.

To make smoothies, pull out the number of halves you need and break them in half again before adding to your blender.

For baking, pull out the number of halves you need and allow them to defrost in a glass measuring jug on the kitchen counter.