How to give a second life to products when their expiration date is coming to an end

Before proceeding with the resuscitation of food, you need to honestly assess its condition. Products that have acquired a sharp unpleasant odor, have begun to become covered with mold, a white coating or a sticky layer, it is better to send them to the trash. This is not wastefulness, but health care. If the food has just begun to lose its presentation, it can still be saved by resorting to some tricks.

Fruits and vegetables

• To make slightly shriveled apples, cucumbers, carrots, and tomatoes smooth again, soak them in cold salted water for a couple of hours. Don't worry, the salt in the solution won't affect the taste of fruits and vegetables in any way.
• Dried citrus fruits can be cut into thin slices and sent to the freezer. It is convenient to add such pieces to tea and cocktails - they will add extra flavor and cool the drink. You can do the same with grapes.
• Wilting carrots, radishes, and celery will turn crispy when left in a bowl of cold water and raw potato slices for an hour.

Greenery

• Dill, parsley, and cilantro can be refreshed by putting them in a bowl of cold water and lemon juice and leaving them in the refrigerator for an hour. Take 1 teaspoon of juice per glass of water.
• Warm water will help prolong the life of stale leaf lettuce. After spending some time in the liquid, the leaves are nourished and regain their former elasticity.
• Any withered greens can be finely chopped, mixed with butter, wrapped in cling film with a “sausage” and sent to the freezer. Such a preparation will replace ordinary butter: for example, you can spread it on bread, add it to porridge, or use it when baking.
• Herbs are easy to make into a delicious salad dressing. Remove the stems from the greenery, and pour the leaves with table vinegar at a concentration of 6 to 9% and place in a dark, cool place. The filling will be ready in two weeks.

Cheese

• To make a dried piece of cheese soft again, you can soak it in warm milk for an hour and a half.
• Grate hardened cheese and collect in a bag. They can be sprinkled on pasta or added to soup for thickening. And if you mix it in a blender with a little milk, you get an excellent sauce for pasta and risotto.

Bread and pastries

• Stale bread will become soft again if you wrap it in a paper towel, which will collect excess condensate, and send it to the microwave for a couple of minutes. The same result can be achieved if you put a colander on a pot of boiling water, put a roll in it and cover with a lid. The process will only take five minutes, but make sure that water does not get on the bread, otherwise it will soften.
• Dried bread can be crushed in a blender and used as a breading. Or cut into cubes and fry for a couple of minutes in a preheated dry frying pan, stirring constantly - such croutons are useful for making salads. And if you add salt and spices to bread, you get a good alternative to store-bought snacks.

If the products are still in order, but you understand that you simply won’t have time to eat everything before the expiration date, put them in the freezer. Thus, you can save vegetables, fruits, herbs, bread, meat and fish products, including red caviar, and much more.