Speaking of never throwing out anything- I peel and then dice broccoli stems- they go great in soups or whatever yo want to do with them. They are very tender once peeled. I just use a vegetable peeler- quick and simple.
Beet juice jelly is very pretty and simple- peach pit jell is terrific.
We had plenty to eat back in the day- but we had a huge garden, and chickens etc. Every spring we cleaned the chicken coops and that went (only) on the rhubarb and the asparagus.
When we butchered a chicken, my mother cleaned and boiled the legs- obviously not much meat although she did scrape them for a little, but what she was after was the broth she got from boiling the legs.
My grandmother would take fabric scrsps, snip them about pea sized- thread them like beads, then sew the string of “beads” starting at one end going in a circle. When it was the size she wanted, about saucer size, she had a hot plate holder that was great. So far as I know she did not knit etc, but that was one thing she did do.
I never knew people did NOT eat broccoli stems. We always did. I went to my aunt’s (in-law) one time and was shocked she thew them out. We still talk about that years later.
When making homemade jelly, don’t throw out the pulp. Make fruit butter out of it and can just the same. My favorite is making apple butter but with plums. The cinnamon in the plums is goood!