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About to toss that stale bread, that chicken carcass, those vegetable peelings? Hang on.

If there was ever a time to take a lesson from restaurant chefs' famous parsimony, this is it.

With their tight budgets and slim profit margins, professional cooks have always known how to squeeze the value out of every last lemon (when you're done with the juice, zest the skin, or candy it and chop it finely to use as a dessert garnish).

I saw this smart frugality first-hand while doing my chef school internship at Jamie Kennedy Kitchens in Toronto.

We didn't chuck anything before putting it through the waste-busting wringer.

Pears that were going soft became a fruity soup.

The sandy outer pieces of celery root were scrubbed hard and saved for stock. Raw meat scraps and bits of fat became juicy sausages.

And, of course, bones never went into the bin until they had been roasted and simmered for stocks and rich jus.

You don't have to be a chef to get the most from every morsel - you just have to think like one.

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Surf & turf

Once a month, buy a large free-range chicken and cut it up yourself. It's often cheaper than buying individual pieces, and you can stretch one bird into at least two meals. Use the carcass for stock that can be made into a soup or frozen for later.

If the chicken comes with its liver, so much the better. Chicken livers are delicious when pan-fried in olive oil and tossed with chopped onion and a squeeze of lemon.

Use up leftover roasts in savoury pies. Put the meat through a grinder or in a food processor (use the pulse button), then combine with lightly chopped and sautéed onions, carrots and celery. If you have any of the roasting juices left, add these along with a couple of shakes of Worcester sauce. Place the mixture into a lightly greased 9-inch ovenproof dish and cover with a crust of mashed potato. Top with chopped herbs and grated cheddar cheese. Bake in a 375-degree oven for about 40 minutes.

John Bishop,

owner of Bishop's in Vancouver

Save your shrimp shells: Peel them off while the shrimp are still raw and store in the freezer. When you have a couple of cups of shells, use them to flavour milk for chowder, or for a shellfish stock. You can do the same with any fish scraps.

Michael Smith,

PEI chef and Food Network host

Leftover egg whites make a great light omelette. Whip to soft peaks and cook in a greased pan, or add to whole eggs to stretch a single omelette to feed a crowd.

Dianna Linder,

chef and co-owner of Café Maplethorpe in Bedeque, PEI

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Grains

The traditional use for stale bread is bread pudding. Butter 8 slices of old bread and break into bite-size pieces. Add 4 cups milk, 4 eggs, 1 tablespoon vanilla and ½ cup sugar. Mix well. Pour into greased 2-quart casserole dish and bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour or until nicely browned on top. Serve warm, topped with maple syrup or caramel sauce.

You can also use dry bread to make breadcrumbs and croutons.

Dianna Linder

If you have a cake or brownies going stale on the kitchen counter, cut off all the icing and buzz pieces in a food processor. Spread on a baking sheet and dry in a 200-degree oven. Store the sweet and crunchy crumbs in an airtight container and use to decorate cakes in place of nuts, or to dress a dessert plate before adding ice cream. That frozen scoop will finally stay put.

Joanne Yolles,

pastry chef of Scaramouche in Toronto

Leftover cooked rice or risotto becomes irresistible as arancini - Italian fried rice balls. To a couple of cups of rice, add two eggs, some breadcrumbs, a little salt and pepper. Form balls with this mixture around cubes of a melting cheese such as mozzarella. Coat with more breadcrumbs. Fry in batches in a few inches of vegetable oil.

B.R.

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Cheese

Don't throw out those dried ends of Parmesan or Romano cheese. They can be tossed into soup and will melt away, adding a nice depth and richness.

Dianna Linder

When you find yourself with an array of cheese ends, make a deluxe baked macaroni and cheese. Grate the firmer cheeses and add them to a béchamel sauce. Meanwhile, boil pasta (or even better, use up leftovers); spread evenly in an ovenproof dish. Pour sauce over pasta, and dot with any soft cheeses you have lying around. Top with breadcrumbs and bake for about 40 minutes.

B.R.

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Fruit & veg

Save vegetable trimmings from celery, carrots and onions in the freezer until you have enough for a pot of stock (at least two or three cups).

John Bishop

A good juicer produces very little waste. Throw in an apple and it uses everything but the stems and pits. The same goes for oranges. Ripe fruit is best for juicing and blending smoothies. You can even add the occasional vegetable, such as a single beet or carrot left in the bottom of the refrigerator drawer.

Ruth Tal,

owner of Fresh by Juice for Life in Toronto

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Wine

Didn't make it through the whole bottle? Use up red wine in a quick pan sauce. Season and sear a 1-centimetre-thick steak in a hot pan with a little grapeseed oil. Remove meat and add minced onion and sliced button mushrooms, followed by a bit of minced garlic. Deglaze with about ¼ cup of red wine. Reduce until only a little liquid is left and serve with or over steak.

Joan Monfaredi,

executive chef at the Park Hyatt in Toronto

Red wine can also be combined with stock to make a braising liquid for brisket, short ribs or other slow-cooking meats

White wine is great for steaming mussels. Throw in some thyme or parsley and a whole clove of garlic.

Dianna Linder

Poach pears in leftover red wine to make two desserts. To 2 cups of wine add ¾ cup of sugar and dissolve on top of the stove. Poach 4 pears for about 10 minutes and remove. Leave poaching liquid on the stove and reduce to a syrup to serve with ice cream another night. (Syrup will keep in a clean jar in the fridge for at least two weeks.)