Reviving tips

Some foods, that you might have earmarked for the bin, can be revived and given a new lease of life. Read on and please tell us your ideas too.

• Stilton

  Submitted by Antonia Williams, Peterborough

  Too much stiliton cheese at Christmas can be frozen and later used up in a nice homemade celery soup.

• Keep your cauli fresh

  Submitted by Helyn Douglas, Northumberland

  Covering your cauli - either with it's own leaves or a plastic bag - stops it going brown. So buy caulis with all their leaves still on and leave them on - it'll keep for longer.

• Lighten up your Christmas pudding

  Submitted by John Cumberland, Liverpool

  Chrismas pudding - if yours comes out like a solid lump don't despair. Put the heavy pudding into a larger bowl and cut it up so that you get a lot of air into it. Crumble it if you can. Replace it into the original bowl. Microwave it. It heats up very quickly because the fruit conducts the microwave energy quicker than you might think. What might have been a solid lump will now be the lightest Christmas pudding you have ever eaten. Don't foget to add a tablespoon of brandy over the piping hot pud and the same goes for the hot custard sauce. Enjoy.

• Frozen Lime Juice

  Submitted by Pauline, Hertfordshire

  Often a recipe (especially Thai) will require a small amount of lime juice. What juice is left over can be placed in a small freezer bag and frozen until needed.

• One sad brown banana

  Submitted by Abi, Sheffield

  Add it to a curry. Best with veggie or lentil - adds a certain fruitiness without being a definite taste.

• Quick Veg

  Submitted by Sheena Couper, North Ayrshire

  Peel and chop carrots, onions, etc., bag them and freeze. When needed, just take out as much as you need and reseal. No more soggy veg at the bottom of your veg box.

• Paper in veg drawer

  Submitted by Maureen, Surrey

  I put a piece of scrap paper in with the vegetables in my fridge drawer. Any moisture goes inthe paper not the vegetables or salad.

• Leftover breakfast cereal

  Submitted by Carole, scotland

  Add stale or leftover breakfast cereal crumbs from the bottom of the cereal box to the ingredients in the breadmaker ( reduce the amount of flour accordingly). Adds texture to the bread and, surprisingly, even sweet breakfast cereal doesn't make the bread sweet.

• Lemon juice

  Submitted by Anna Maudlin , Gt. Yarmouth

  Roll the lemon up and down your work top, pressing hard. When you extract juice you will get more. Juice not required can be frozen in ice cube moulds to use another time - great added to water to give a refreshing zing.

• Pesto

  Submitted by Gina Jolliffe, Brixham

  I have often reluctantly thrown a half empty jar of pesto away. No more, you can freeze it in teaspoonsfuls in a tightly closed container. Then use ready measured tsps as you need them. Put it into the dish still frozen. I noticed no significant alteration in flavour when used within three weeks of freezing. You could also try topping up the jar in the fridge with good olive oil.