We’ve all been there. You’ve got too many bananas, mashed potatoes, eggs or zucchini, and the excess is threatening to rot in your kitchen. While some families are used to a week of turkey after Thanksgiving, they might not appreciate a week of scrambled eggs. Often, the food can be frozen and used later, but it’s wise to have a few ideas for backup meals so you don’t waste food and money.

BANANAS: Once these are overripe, you won’t want to eat them plain. Some people freeze them, but they tend to discolor and get mushy. A little lemon juice can help. You can freeze them with the peels still on, but you’ll have to thaw them before peeling. Many people prefer using them right away. Try making muffins, bread, smoothies, pancakes, cookies, pudding, frosting, cakes or simply spread it on sandwiches with peanut butter.

BANANA FROSTING

2 large ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 cup butter
3-1/2 cups powdered sugar

Mix together bananas and lemon juice. In a separate bowl, beat butter until soft and creamy. Gradually and alternately add powdered sugar and banana mixture to butter and beat until fluffy. — submitted by Kim S., Nebraska

MASHED POTATOES: Who hasn’t made too much mashed potatoes? You can freeze them and add them to soups as a thickener. You might not like the texture of mashed potatoes once it has been frozen. Try adding 1 egg for every 2 cups of potatoes for better results. You can make potato patties by adding an egg, shaping into patties, dredging in flour and frying them, or roll them in cornflakes, cut into small sections and fry for mock tater tots.

ZUCCHINI: This freezes well shredded or sliced. Great grilled, in casseroles, breaded and fried, or use in quick breads, muffins and cookies. Grate them and add them to your ground turkey when you make turkey burgers. It’s wonderful in scrambled eggs and dessert, too.

Zucchini Cobbler

8 cups chopped, seeded, peeled zucchini (about 3 pounds)
2/3 cups lemon juice
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Crust:
3 cups flour
1 cup oats
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1-1/2 cups cold butter
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Preheat oven to 375 F. In a large saucepan, cook and stir zucchini and lemon juice for 15 minutes on medium heat. Stir in sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Let simmer for a minute. Remove from heat. For crust, combine flour, oats and sugars in a bowl; cut in butter until mixture resembles course crumbs. Stir 1/2 cup into zucchini mixture. Press half of remaining crust mixture into a greased 9-by-9-by-1-1/2-inch pan. Spread zucchini mixture over top; crumble remaining crust mixture over zucchini. Sprinkle with cinnamon and nutmeg. Bake at 375 F for 35 minutes or until golden.

EGGS: They can be frozen by combining 2 cups eggs to 1 teaspoon salt and later used for scrambled eggs. You can also hard-boil and make egg-salad sandwiches, deviled eggs, stuffed tomatoes or use as a salad topping. Use them up in pound cake, quiche, angel-food cake, meringue, puddings and French toast.

我们经常这样，弄到太多的香蕉，土豆泥，鸡蛋，夏天结的南瓜，而且过量的食物会弄脏你的厨房。尽管有些家庭能吃放了一周的火鸡，但是可能无法接受一周的鸡蛋饼。通常，食物可以冻起来，但是想办法贮藏食物还是很不错的，这样你就不会浪费食物和金钱了。

香蕉：一旦有很多坏了，你就不会简单想去吃了。有些人把它冻起来，但是它们会趋于褪色和变软。加点柠檬汁会有帮助。你可以连皮一起冻上，但是吃之前你还得先解冻。很多人想吃得方便，那就把它做成松饼，面包，果冻，薄烤饼，饼干，布丁，干粉，蛋糕，或者吃三明治时连同花生酱一起抹上。

冻起来的香蕉

2熟透的大香蕉，做成泥
1 / 2茶匙柠檬汁
1 / 4杯牛油
3-1/2杯粉状糖

将香蕉和柠檬掺到一起，准备一个碗，将泥打至柔软和奶油状。依次交替加入白糖和香蕉粉，并将它们打成蓬松状---kim s,nebraka提供

烂土豆：谁没有做过一大碗土豆泥？你可以将它们冻起来，在喝汤的时候加点调成粥。但是你可能不喜欢冻过的土豆泥里的纤维。试试在2杯土豆里加1个鸡蛋，你可以这样处理土豆泥，把它做成馅，包上面粉，然后弄干它们，或者用玉米片包起来，然后切成段，做成类似tater tots的食物。

绿皮胡瓜：将冻好的弄碎，或切薄片，在焙盘上炙烤，烘烤，并且烘干。在你吃汉堡时，将其磨碎并且将它们加到火鸡表面上。加在鸡蛋饼和点上更好。

胡瓜派
8杯切碎的，熟到结种的，去皮在、的，胡瓜（约3磅）
2 / 3杯柠檬汁
1杯糖
1茶匙肉桂垫底
1 / 4茶匙豆蔻垫底
外壳：
3杯面粉
1杯燕麦
1杯红糖
1杯白糖
1-1/2杯冷奶油
1茶匙地面褐土
1 / 4茶匙豆蔻

将胡瓜和柠檬，先在微波炉里375F下预热，放在大炖锅，中火，15分钟内烹制和搅拌。将糖，肉桂和肉豆蔻，搅拌，煨一分钟。对于外面的料，在碗里将面粉，麦片，还有糖掺合一起，拌上黄油，直到混合成类似面包屑的样子。将1/2杯加到胡瓜浆，将剩下的外面的料压到宽9寸长9寸厚1-1/2寸的平底锅里。将胡瓜料上涂到上面，弄碎剩下的外面的料，也加到胡瓜料上。散些柠檬和肉豆蔻上。在375F下烤35分钟直到变成金黄色

鸡蛋：2杯鸡蛋里加一勺盐，冻起来，随后用于做鸡蛋饼。你也可以煮，用来做鸡蛋色拉三明治，在上面加些打碎的鸡蛋和西红柿。
做成大蛋糕，松蛋饼，天使蛋糕，蛋糖，布丁，还有法国土司