When I'm living away at school and have to food shop for myself, I always pick up a bunch of bananas. They're cheap and it's easy to grab one in the morning on my way to class. But if I don't get a chance to finish them within about a week, I normally throw the rest away. I cringe as the ripened bananas hit the bottom of my trash can -- after all, I'm just a college kid with hardly any money -- but what am I supposed to do with mushy, brown bananas?

It seems I'm not the only one with this problem. The topic of over-ripe bananas always comes up on our message boards, and everyone wants to know -- how can I use them up instead of tossing them out? Plain old banana bread is an obvious solution, but it can get pretty boring. Luckily, several GardenWeb members have shared some great ideas about what to do with your mushy bananas, like adding toffee bits, rhubarb or zucchini to your standard banana bread recipe or giving the bread a tasty glaze. I can't wait to try out the recipes for Hawaiian pineapple banana bread, banana cake and the banana coconut muffins. Problem solved!

--Kate Torsiello

photo: foodcollection/getty images