Matt Preston's thrifty cooking hacks

I’ve been writing about minimising kitchen waste for a decade. The basic rules, however, remain the same: (1) buy only what you need, (2) cook only what you’ll eat, and (3) love leftovers – whether of dishes or ingredients (but if you follow the first two rules these will be minimal and you’ll save more money).

We’ve become a lot smarter about using all the ingredient, whether that’s a nose-to-tail or root-to-leaf approach. Human ingenuity is a marvellous thing. Here’s just some of what I’ve gathered over the years for reducing household waste.

POTATO SKINS

Potato skins can be fried or roasted, with results varying according to the starch level of the variety. My favourite, however, is to cook the clean skins in the…