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.

• Beansprouts

  Submitted by Olivia , Brisbane, Australia

  Keep submerged in water in a container and refrigerate. Keeps for at least a week and they don't go slimy.

• 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.

• Braised celery from bruised celery

  Submitted by John Sage, Hornsea, East Yorkshire

  If your lovely crisp celery has gone limp, don't throw it out, braise it in a stir fry or add it to your stews and casseroles - it is delicious and nutritious. I especially love it mixed with leek and Chinese leaf in a stir fry.

• Rock-hard sugar

  If you have got rock-hard brown sugar or crystalised honey/syrup, put it in a microwaveable bowl and give it a quick blast of about 30 seconds on high in the microwave. This will bring them back to their normal state.

• Pitta bread

  Pitta bread can be warmed or toasted straight from the freezer: sprinkle with water and warm through. Use straight away for hot fillings, or leave to cool for a sandwich.

• Buried treasure for little Pirates

  Submitted by Alice Squires, Warrington

  If you have a few odd pieces of fruit which need eating up, slice them into the correct number of bowls for your little pirates and smother in freshly made custard (instant, tin or carton will do, but work out more expensive and it's easier to get a specific amount if you make it up yourself). My children love hunting for the buried treasure so much that they told me I should sell the recipe! You can easily adapt this idea with a few sweets, chocolate buttons or whatever else you have to hand...

• Small Onions

  Submitted by Claire Kenny-Platt, Wirral

  You can almost always get cheep bags of onions in the supermarkets and I find that there the perfect size and very rarely need to use more or less than one which means I don't have bits of onions lying round stinking the place out and going to waste.

• Keeping mushrooms fresher for longer

  Submitted by Malcolm Brown, Norwich

  If you buy large punnets of mushrooms to take advantage of the lower unit costs you can keep them fresher longer by covering them with a tea towel folded into layers and tucking it quite tightly inside the punnet, like a snug blanket. Then keep the mushrooms in the bottom of the fridge and don`t forget to tuck the rest back in every time you take some out. Also don`t forget to re-use the punnets to store other veg.

• Carrots for a Caribbean Juice

  Submitted by Zena Leech-Calton - Resident Chef cookeryclub.co.uk, Norwich - Cookeryclub

  Juice your carrots with a touch of ginger and mix with ginger ale, lemonade, lime or coconut milk for an exotic, refreshing, zingy, nutritionally packed juice.

• 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.