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.

• To ripen a peach or nectarine

  Ripen part-ripe fruit on a warm windowsill.

• Use Reuseable plastic containers

  Submitted by Liz Teather, Welwyn, Welwyn

  Use plastic reuseable tubs or short on space and want to use a plastic bag - use the one your bread comes in. Tip out the crumbs and away you go! In fact I haven't bought plastic bags into the house for well over a year, but always seem to have a glut of them from packaging on other items - instead of throwing them away reuse them.

• To remove insects from salad or vegetables

  This is really good for vegetables straight from the garden. Fill a sink or bowl with cold water and add a couple of tablespoons of salt. Leave the vegetables or salad leaves to soak in this for about 20 minutes. The insects will sink to the bottom of the bowl and you can then clean the vegetables as normal.

• To stop avocado turning brown

  Lemon juice helps to stop cut avocados turning brown. Also, if you pop the avocado stone into a bowl of guacamole or salsa, this will keep the dip fresh and green for at least 2 hours; remove stone before serving. Ripe avocado can be spread onto toast instead of butter!

• No more bendy carrots

  Submitted by Anna Griffiths, Leicestershire

  Top and tail unpeeled carrots as soon as you buy them and store them in an airtight container in the fridge. They last for weeks and weeks and weeks.

• Buying organic bread

  If you are buying organic bread check, its best before date. Its shelf life will be a lot shorter than some breads. Expect to eat the bread within 2 days.

• Crisp up a day old crusty loaf

  To freshen up a day old loaf, hold it very briefly under a running cold tap. Give it a good shake and pop in a hot oven for about 10 minutes; it will be as soft and crusty as freshly baked bread.

• Succulent dried fruit

  If you’re making a fruitcake and the your dried fruit looks a little dry, pour boiling water over it in a bowl and leave for 30 minutes. You can add a tea bag for flavour.

• To get more juice from a lemon or lime

  Roll citrus fruit on a hard surface with your hand. This makes them easier to squeeze when cut. Alternatively, put the fruit into the microwave, on high, for 10 seconds to release the juices.

• A perfectly ripe avocado

  If you buy avocadoes hard, ripen them on your kitchen windowsill. They are ready when they ‘just give’ as you squeeze them, their texture should feel like butter at room temperature. To speed up the ripening process you can put them into a paper bag (or dark drawer) with a banana. Fruit produces ethylene gas naturally, especially bananas, as it ripens. Ethylene residues on the bananas will help the avocado or other fruit to ripen quickly.