Banana Ice Cream

I made a lot of stuff today.  More stuff than usual.  In fact, everything that I consumed was made from scratch.  Does cracking an egg and frying it count as scratch?  It would be more "scratch" if I had raised the chicken myself, but same difference.  I was reflecting on why I made so much, and I think I came up with a possible reason.  My favorite movie ever is the first half of Gone with the Wind.  For those of you who have watched the VHS version of GWTW, you know that at the end of the first tape Scarlett goes all bonkers in the depleted garden and announces that she "will never go hungry again!"  Oh Scarlett.

Anyway, before yesterday my fridge and cupboards were both practically empty.  I didn't even have any milk, which is a huge sin in my milk-guzzling family.  I fixed this yesterday by going to three different grocery stores to obtain all that I desired, and I desired A LOT.  I didn't get to really prepare any food post-shopping trip since I had to get all fancified for a holiday party... SOOO today I was constantly in the kitchen, and I think that preparing food was my mechanism to deal with the stress of previously having nothing to eat.  At least I haven't started hoarding hamburger hot dish kits like my mom.  Rating 9/10 (it's pretty darn good).


 I feel like bananas are one of those things that you put in a smoothie as a filler since berries are so expensive.  It never occurred to me that a smoothie should consist of only bananas, until yesterday when I was grocery shopping.  The result of my endeavors was much more ice creamish than smoothieish, which works for me!  This "ice cream" is so simple and delicious that I will consistently be making this in the future whenever I want something sweet but healthy.  Seriously, all that you really need is one ingredient.

Ingredient
Very ripe bananas- or however you prefer them.  I like the extra sweetness of the very ripe banana.

Optional ingredients
cream
milk
whipped cream
vanilla extract
cinnamon
orange juice
Chocolate pudding (Al's contribution)

Place chopped up bananas in a freezer bag.  I literally put my bananas in the bag whole and chopped them up with a butter knife in there.  Only one thing to wash! (with this step anyway).
Forget about the bananas for several hours- they need to become significantly hardened.
Dump an appropriate amount of banana slices into a blender or food processor.  Add in any optional ingredients.  I added about 1/4 tsp of vanilla extract to the equivalent of 1 chopped banana.
Blend until all chunks have been transformed into this simple yet drool-worthy treat.
I topped mine with whipped cream, even though it didn't need it.