When you drain the tuna

The liquid from canned tuna can be saved in the freezer until you have enough to add to soup or use as the liquid in white sauce. Bits of tuna will be in it and may be enough to flavor the soup, or you can add it to a smaller can of tuna than you usually use for cream of tuna.

Make the most of soup bones

'Soup bones' that you find at the grocer any more don't have much food value at all, but you can boil them and crack them to get the marrow, if you can find them cheaply enough. Mix the marrow into the boiling liquid and use this a base for soups. If you add barley or wheat to your soup along with the marrow, it will taste like a meat stew.

Never throw away a bone....

Boil all the goodness out of bones, no matter what they are. Bone marrow and all the tiny bits of meat clinging to the bone make excellent soup starter. Boil them, cool the broth and pick through it to remove gristle and most of the fat. Break up the marrow. Package it for the freezer or make a soup right away.

Ramen Noodles

They're not nutritious, but they can help create a meal or a snack cheaply. Use them in egg drop soup to make it more filling, add meat and vegetables for soup, or use them as a cracker substitute (uncooked!). Ramen noodles can double as spaghetti in a pinch or, crushed, stretch a meatloaf or casserole. Keep a few packages on hand, just in case. If you don't use the flavor packages, save them for soup.

Greasy soup? Fix it!

A lettuce leaf will soak up excess grease from a pot of soup. Leave it in for little while, then remove and discard. If the soup is very greasy, use two or more leaves.

Soup stock from garbage

Save onion skins, potato peelings, carrot trimmings and everything else from your vegetables when you prepare them. Wash the vegetables first, then trim and put the trimmings in a bag in the freezer until you have a gallon or so. Plop them into a pot of boiling water and boil a half hour to an hour, until everything is tender, then strain the broth and freeze it, drink it hot or use it to make soup. The taste is excellent and it's loaded with vitamins and minerals.

Make the most of your Thanksgiving turkey

If you're having the traditional turkey dinner for Thanksgiving, you'll be needing ideas for leftovers soon! But don't try to eat it all up right after Thanksgiving. Around February, turkey starts looking good again. Pull the meat off the bone and freeze it until later, then boil the carcass until it falls apart. Take out the bones, strain the broth and pick out the smaller pieces of meat that stuck to the bones. Freeze these small pieces covered with some of the broth and you'll have excellent starter for turkey and noodles or turkey and rice or turkey and vegetable soup.

Soup and salad from throwaways

When you have broccoli and/or cauliflower, don't throw away any of the stems. Peel the larger ones and shred for a salad addition or slice into soup; smaller ones can be used as they are. Slice and freeze them in water until you have enough for a broccoli/cauliflower/cheese/ham soup.

Potato starch

Make your own potato starch for soup recipes by boiling a potato in water to cover. Keep cooking it until the water becomes very cloudy, drain and use this for a soup base.

Quick potato soup

Still have leftover mashed potatoes from Thanksgiving? Use them this way:

* 2 cups of leftover mashed potatoes
* 2 tablespoons of dehydrated onions
* 1 small can evaporated milk or 1 cup of milk to which you've added 1/3 cup of instant milk powder.
* salt, pepper to taste
Put the onion in a cup or so of water, and set to simmer. Add about half the milk and mix into the potatoes well, then add to the onions. Add water if it seems to thick, then let the mixture simmer until the onions are tender. Add the rest of the milk and salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with corn bread or homemade yeast bread.

Hey, I could'a had a V-8!

Or a V-2, or a V-7 or whatever. Don't throw out tired raw vegetables. Salvage all you can by juicing or blending them. If you don't want to drink (or eat) the result, use it for a soup base. Freeze it for another day if you like - just don't throw it out.