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.

• Breakfast bananas

  Submitted by Hannah Wood, Ipswich

  Slice an over ripe banana and blend with milk until smooth. Pour over cereal such as weetabix or muesli for a healthy breakfast. It's a great choice for before a workout! Also works well if you mix in other soft fruit that is about to go off - such as strawberries, raspberries and blueberries . It uses up old fruit, adds more taste to the cereal, plus the different colours the milk ends up amuses my kids no end!

• Crisp Carrots

  Submitted by Pickapeppa, Dortmund

  Carrots go slimy in a plastic bag and shrivel and go limp if left uncovered in the fridge. I can keep them easily - including organic ones - for 2 weeks wrapped in kitchen paper inside a big lidded plastic box. Mine is from Lock an Lock, but I think any would do the job.

• Jars of Salsa

  Submitted by Sally, Norfolk

  I used to have hot salsa just with chilli & tortillas and could never get through a whole jar without it going off, so now I use salsa as the base layer of pizza toppings or as a delicious chilli layer in a gratin and easily use it all up before the use-by date.

• Bruised apples

  Submitted by Caroline Marson, Cookery Advisor,

  If apples have bruised areas, simply cut off, and grate the remaining apple into salads or cut into wedges and give to kids as an apple snack.

• To ripen a peach or nectarine

  Ripen part-ripe fruit on a warm windowsill.

• Vinegar in sauces

  Submitted by Paddy, Woodstock

  Get the last drops of your sauce out of the bottle by adding a few drops of vinegar - can be used as normal or added to savoury dishes.

• Spinach stalks

  Submitted by Melissa, London

  Save the stalks from your spinach leaves and stir-fry them with soy sauce, sesame seeds, and a touch of sesame oil. Make sure they're still a bit crunchy when you take them out of the pan. A delicious side dish.

• Using up extra asparagus

  Submitted by Melissa, London

  Make asparagus risotto. Cut off the tips and set aside, then boil down the chopped-up stalks. When soft, puree them and stir the puree into the broth that you would use in a plain risotto recipe. Fifteen minutes into cooking, stir in the asparagus tips.

• Wash Them

  Submitted by Lia, Alaska

  I soak & wash all my fruits and vegetables in a sink full of water with just a drop of Dr. Bronner's Sal Suds (I've heard that salt & vinegar work just as well). Veggies I've washed this way are often still quite good 1 - 2 weeks later. Even cauliflower lasted 5 days with no spoiling at all. When I don't soak them, they spoil a lot faster.

• 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.