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.

• 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.

• Freeze bananas

  Submitted by Andrea, Glasgow

  They go brown quite quickly so if you see them start to go speckly, put them in the freezer. I use a casserole dish, peal them, lay them flat and put the lid on, when they have frozen take it out and put them into bags. You can use frozen bananas in smoothies or bake them in the oven with a bit of honey dripped on top for a nice dessert. You could even defrost them and eat them raw, but you'd have to time this right and do it within half an hour.

• Pepper Storage

  Submitted by Connie, Happyville

  If you are only using part of a green or red pepper, leave the stem, seeds and membrane intact, the pepper will store much longer than when you remove them.

• Jam up your gravy

  Submitted by Paddy, Woodstock

  The last drops of jam in the jar can add a lovely sweet complement to your gravy - rince the remnants with warm water and add to the gravy pan.

• Leftover fridays!

  Submitted by Sara, northampton

  If I have any leftovers, I pop them all in the fridge until Friday when I either put it all in a pie, or in a soup, making sure I empty my fridge so it's ready for this week's shop.

• Leftover soup

  Submitted by Denise , Colchester

  If you have a food processor or blitzer, any leftover casserole or cooked veg can be made into a soup for later with store cupboard ingredients. Cooked vegetables work best with a stock cube and perhaps a small amount of spaghetti or vermicelli broken up small which can be cooked until soft in the stock before adding the blitzed veg. Casseroles are good with concentrated tomato puree. Curry works well, it has a strong flavour and you really only need to add water.

• Keeping Spinach/silverbeet fresh

  Submitted by Pip Clark, Sydney, Australia

  If you wash spinach and silverbeet well in cold water, shake off as much water as you can and store in an airtight container in the fridge, it will keep fresh for longer. This method also revives old spinach.

• Stale nuts, chips, cereal live again!

  Submitted by TB Johnson, Appalachians of u.s.

  If the dry cereal, crisps, crackers or nuts have gotten "soft" and stale, they are easy to revitalize. Just spread in one layer on a baking sheet and put in warm oven for 3-5 min. Keep an eye, it's easy to over bake them, but if you pull them out at the right time and LET COOL (the cooling will regain the crispness), you can then repackage into airtight containers and they will have another several days or more of being crisp and crunchy.

• Saving your cake

  Submitted by Paddy, Woodstock

  If your cake sinks after cooking, remove centre with pastry cutter and fill with fresh fruit & cream and serve as a dessert. Failed muffins can make a great alternative to bread for bread and butter pudding.