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.

• Parsley

  Submitted by Abigail N., Israel

  Fresh parsley, cleaned, washed and dried well, will keep for over 10 days in a tightly closed plastic box between layers of paper towel

• Banana

  Submitted by Mary , Exeter

  If bananas are going riper than will be eaten I pop them in the freezer whole. I then defrost them at a later time to mash & add to pancake batter or use in muffins or even add as part of the fluid to a choclate cake mix. ( 1/2 cup banana = 1/4 cup fluid).

• Cheese

  Submitted by lorie, Canada

  When I buy my cheese I take it out of its wrapper and wrap it in tin foil. The cheese does not sweat and stays fresh much longer than wrapping it in plastic.

• 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.