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.

• 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.

• 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!

• 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.

• 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.