Several of my earlier posts have talked about using things like the greens from the leaves of the radish, beet and others that we usually throw away. I have also written about the substitution of common ingredients and how to Google the information. Shortcuts for traditional foods like steamed buns just to name one.

I have also suggested tools and utensils to make a well-equipped kitchen and where to buy them to stretch the dollar just a little further. What makes this post different is that it discusses the use of things that most of us would never think about using: fish fins, backbones, lobster and shrimp shells, and the trimmings of pork, beef and chicken.

Pork Scraps

Since I usually buy my pork as a whole pork butt or pork shoulder, I do my own butchering. From a pork butt that cost me under a dollar per pound I can get chops, steak, and belly style pieces from it.

What I also can get from the trimmings are small scrapings of meat. By using my filet knife I can separate the silver skin and the indissoluble hard fat. You may not think it is worth the effort but you can get at least two cups worth of usable meat.

Add to it a bit of sage, garlic, fennel seed, pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Mix with ground beef to add a little bit of zing to meatballs, or meatloaf. Fry it up and you have enough for a pasta dish for two. There are of course other uses such as omelets, or a marvelously flavored sausage gravy.

Fish Scraps

Almost everyone has heard about using fish heads and chicken feet being used in mostly Asian cooking. There have even been songs written about them. It’s for good reason! Fresh fish cleaned but whole is usually a good buy because you get not only the fillets for a main dish, but you get the head, fins and the trimmed pieces of fish flesh. I buy most of my fish already fileted. However, in a lot of cases I have to remove the fins and backbones myself and trim the edges.

Don’t throw any of the trimmings away – put them in a pot and boil them. Dashi is a fish broth made from boiling dried Bonita flakes. Throw a small handful of these along with the fish trimmings boil about 20 minutes. Pour through a fine mesh strainer to remove all the debris and you have a marvelous beginning to fish soups, and stews. Same thing with lobster and shrimp shells. The resulting broth will keep for two or even three days if promptly refrigerated in a sealed container.

Chicken Scraps

Chicken is another meat that has useful scraps. The bones of a chicken boiled with some spices like five spice, black pepper, bay leaf, sage will give you a flavorful broth to be used anyway you like. You can shred scraps of spare meat to use in enchiladas, tacos, even blending into a tomato cream sauce to serve with pasta!

The moral is: If you just look around and get creative about your cooking you will be able to stretch your food budget just a little further.