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.

• Be a good fridge manager

  Submitted by Maresa Bosano, Hastings

  Instead of planning meals in advance I base what I eat on what needs using up first in the fridge, e.g. any leftovers and fruit or veg that's looking a bit dodgy. I've made up some really tasty recipes by just combining random ingredients e.g. in soups try beetroot, pumpkin and apple.

• Aromatic herb oils

  Herbs with softer leaves, such as tarragon and basil, tend to discolour. Don’t throw them away but make a lovely scented oil; finely chop the basil or tarragon and add to a bottle of olive oil, keep in the fridge for a few days to allow the herbs to infuse the oil then sieve and discard the herbs, pour the oil back into the bottle and use the lovely herb scented oil for dressing and flavouring fish, chicken and cheese dishes.

• Leftover potatos

  Submitted by Caroline Marson, Cookery Advisor,

  Use leftover potatos to thicken soups.

• Great soup from fridge oddments

  Submitted by Merryl Cook, Heaton Moor, Stockport

  Gather up all the bits from your fridge - coarse outside lettuce leaves, that bendy carrot, bit of onion, green tops of leeks and spring onions, a few herbs, etc, etc. Put in a pan with water to cover and a stock cube or meat jelly or gravy if you have some leftover and boil until the veg are soft. Whizz in processor or liquidiser. The French call this 'Garbure' and it's almost always delicious and different each time. Can be thickened with leftover potato, or some small pasta shapes can be added, or a cooked chopped bacon rasher. Soy sauce and a slowly poured beaten egg will make it Chinese-ish. Curry paste,and garlic, or grated cheese, or mushroom ketchup ... almost any mixture you invent will taste better than a tin of soup, and it's practically cash- and additive-free!

• Bananas

  Submitted by Jane Suthering, London

  Always keep bananas separately from other fruits unless you want the other fruit to ripen quickly.

• How to keep half an avocado

  Submitted by Jane, Bristol

  Keep the half avocado with the stone still in place and put on a dish/plate in the fridge. You should be able to use the avocado the following day without it going off.

• 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.