What makes people refuse to eat leftovers?

[IUTBAM]

Some of you are getting my concerns, and some of you aren't. And that's okay. But just to clarify, *I* didn't say he was financially irresponsible, and I'm not saying those who don't eat leftovers are financially irresponsible. I was merely mentioning it because of something I read. And yes, I did google "people who don't eat leftovers" as a joke with my DD. That's the kind of relationship we have. In fact, she just texted me this morning with a joke about a frog because of a previous convo we had about frogs. If my DD is concerned about this guy, I am of course going to listen to her, and share my opinions. And for those who implied I was weird for googling it, well, sorry, I was just having some fun to share with my DD. For those who think I'm out of line for posting about it...you certainly are entitled to your opinion, but this IS a discussion board.

And yes, when you add up everything about him and how he handles his financial life, it does concern her that he's the type who doesn't eat "leftovers" (which is wasteful, especially considering where he's at in life right now) because it seems like he's already not on the right path financially...and he's 22, not 17-18.

 

[kirstenb1]

A friend told me a few years ago she doesn't eat leftovers. I think she's the only person I've ever met to say that.

Anyway, as long as she's not asking me to pay her bills, then I don't think she's financially irresponsible. I love leftovers, on the other hand!!

 

[NotUrsula]

People who don't eat them on principle? Issues. Not necessarily wasteful, but there are food issues of some kind there, if only rarefied taste.

There are some foods that simply do not keep without turning into mush or cardboard, and they don't work as leftovers for that reason. However, that still leaves a whole lot of food out there that is just fine re-heated or re-used as ingredients in other dishes. I don't like spending a whole lot of time cooking, so I am a big fan of making up dishes to freeze, but I only do that with foods that I know will tolerate it, and I'm also very careful about my freezing techniques. (Some things need to be frozen in a certain way in order to preserve the flavor and texture as nicely as possible, failure to do it right will give you a bad result.)

As to restaurants, oh yes, they do re-use, especially restaurants that have banquet facilities. I worked in such restaurants for years, and it is standard practice to re-work banquet leftovers for the next day's specials. (I once worked a business banquet that had a power failure an hour into the event. The guests were from overseas and thought that the lights out thing meant that they had to leave, and they did, immediately. We had 200 lbs. of steamed shrimp sitting on ice; they were being served out of an actual rowboat. For the next two days we served shrimp specials, from shrimp salad stuffed tomatoes to soup.)

 

[Coconut36]

I utilize leftovers a lot and grew up having them too..meals that were large you have again a few days later before it goes bad.

I know some people don't "do" leftovers because they don't want to eat the same thing again in such a recent timeframe. Some think the food is unsafe (and even as freaky as I am about food safety I don't feel that way) if it is a leftover..etc. I don't get it but if I had anti leftover family members (spouse/kids) I would have to adjust my servings when cooking so that there were little to no leftovers. I struggle throwing away a lot of perfectly good food.

I think in this case with the college student living off loans (pretty common these days) he is young and frankly might not know any better. People change and grow and mature. He might change his mind about leftovers a few years down the road or he might not. He is also young in the sense that he likely doesn't "get" that financially it would make sense for him to take a free homecooked meal and utilize leftovers as those are that many less meals he has to buy..but he likely will learn that as he grows up and matures. It doesn't mean people who don't like leftovers are irresponsible at all..and they likely adjust their cooking accordingly so there isn't a ton of waste..another thing that comes with age/maturity to realize the best way to utilize their resources.

 

[jen0610]

If a decent amount of edible food is being thrown every day then IMO it is being irresponsible.

Do the non-leftover eaters realize that some of the items they eat at resturants can be leftovers? Espicially at breakfast/lunch.

I have a friend who LOVED the chicken and noodles and BBQ chicken sandwich from Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken - until I worked there and she found out how we made it. She came from a family that never ate leftovers. Once she found out it was made from the chicken pieces deemed unservable, that was skinned, meat picked off the bones, then stored in the cooler until we made a new batch of either one, she never ate either one again.

 

[OceanAnnie]

I love leftovers!!!! That's one less meal I need to cook

I'm the same way!

Often times you can tweak leftovers to be a completely different meal. You would never know you are eating leftovers. Like if we have leftover steak, I'll slice it up thin and make steak fajitas. Or leftover chicken, I'll make chicken fried rice.

To me, leftovers are a win-win.

 

[Coconut36]

I have a friend who LOVED the chicken and noodles and BBQ chicken sandwich from Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken - until I worked there and she found out how we made it. She came from a family that never ate leftovers. Once she found out it was made from the chicken pieces deemed unservable, that was skinned, meat picked off the bones, then stored in the cooler until we made a new batch of either one, she never ate either one again.

Yep..A lot of stuff is made from leftovers in restaurants and grocery stores too. Wendy's chili meat is patties that were sold. In Costco and deli cases at stores things like enchiladas or other pre made heatable foods are often made with the rotisserie chickens that didn't sell the days before..etc.

 

[Snowflakey]

My family doesn't care for leftovers. Now, there are a few dishes that are ok such as lasagna or turkey for sandwiches...

I have a family of 4 and I cook each night for a family of 4. Nothing more. Nothing wasted. I spend a LOT of dinners grilling chicken/steak/fish and steaming/roasting fresh veggies. Nothing that is "left over" worthy in my book

I see nothing wrong with the young guy not caring for leftovers.

 

[LisaR]

My family doesn't care for leftovers. Now, there are a few dishes that are ok such as lasagna or turkey for sandwiches...

I have a family of 4 and I cook each night for a family of 4. Nothing more. Nothing wasted. I spend a LOT of dinners grilling chicken/steak/fish and steaming/roasting fresh veggies. Nothing that is "left over" worthy in my book

I see nothing wrong with the young guy not caring for leftovers.

How do you do that? In my family, appetites vary each day. The heat can factor into it, the time of the month for a few of us , if we exercised vigorously that day, how big our lunch was, etc. I have two teens so they eat A LOT at most meals but they definitely have days where they don't want as much and others where they want extras. If there isn't enough, do your kids just make a PB&J or something?

 

[ccgirl]

My DH does not eat leftovers unless it's Italian food such as lasagna. He does not like the taste of it. My DD won't eat some leftovers (mac&cheese) because she does not like the taste. I don't think it's fiscally irresponsible. He cannot stand leftover beef. He likes his meat medium rare so to put it in another dish changes that.

One could make a claim that the person cooking should cook the appropriate amount of food so there are no leftovers. I cook enough so I have leftovers the next day for lunch for myself. I can't stand my fridge packed with all the tupperware leftovers. In my house, we are really into serving size. You get the serving size that is appropriate for you. If you are still hungry, you have extra veggies or some fruit. No, 3 pieces of chicken for a person in my house. YMMV.

 

[Janepod]

How do you do that? In my family, appetites vary each day. The heat can factor into it, the time of the month for a few of us , if we exercised vigorously that day, how big our lunch was, etc. I have two teens so they eat A LOT at most meals but they definitely have days where they don't want as much and others where they want extras. If there isn't enough, do your kids just make a PB&J or something?

Appetites may vary for us, but in a pattern. E.g., when my son has hockey for two hours, I know he'll be hungrier, so I plan ahead and make a bigger dinner. It's not hard to figure out. We always have a lot of fruit on hand so if they are still hungry (very infrequent) they go to the fruit.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

And does that mean they aren't financially responsible?

I've been talking about this with my DD (she's in college, but lives at home) for the last few days because of something that happened between her and the guy she's dating...it's been bugging her, and I can definitely understand why, lol. The guy she's dating is a college student...they've been dating about a month and a half but aren't officially "in a relationship" yet (he wants it, but she's going slow). He lives in his own apartment (no roommate), drives a very nice truck, goes to school full-time, doesn't work, doesn't come from a wealthy family, and has said that he's "living on loans". He also recently mentioned to her that he needs to find a job because he's running out of money. Hmmm...okay.
Well, she feels sorry for him because he doesn't cook at all, and he eats out a lot (might explain why he has no money, lol) and doesn't get home-cooked meals. The other day I made a HUGE pot of really yummy soup. We had so much leftover, that she mentioned to him she had this incredible soup that her mom had made, and he responded back via text that it sounded fabulous. She then texted him and offered to put some in the freezer for him. His response? "Well, IDK because I don't eat leftovers!" WTHeck? She was pretty taken aback...I mean geez, the guy is a poor college student and turns down a home-cooked meal because it's leftovers? Everybody knows soup tastes better the next day anyway! She's a bit stubborn and wanted to know what his reasoning was, and he said that food usually doesn't taste good when frozen and/or reheated. BALONEY! This morning, more as a joke than anything else, I googled, "people who don't eat leftovers" and found this article:
http://www.savingadvice.com/articles/2008/03/14/102058_financially-secure-people-eat-leftovers.html
It makes a lot of sense (and it's definitely how we live). I showed it to her, and now she's thinking he's probably NOT all that financially responsible (considering the leftover issue, plus other things she's noticed)...and I have to agree.

This is a red flag of poor financial management. He's on loans and yet going out to eat all the time (the most expensive way to get one's meals) and refuses to eat leftovers (more waste.) No matter how good a person otherwise is, a partner that refuses to live within one's means is a near sure fire way to headache and heart break. I have nothing against going out to eat from time to time, especially on a date. But it is an expensive way to get one's meals and if one is just throwing away the extra, that's like throwing away money.
That said, if the guy and his parents flat out just don't know their way around a kitchen but he is willing to learn, well that's probably ok. However, if the guy just thinks cooking for his self and leftovers are beneath him despite being on student loans, well that's a problem and I'd cut him off.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Originally Posted by jen0610 View Post
I have a friend who LOVED the chicken and noodles and BBQ chicken sandwich from Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken - until I worked there and she found out how we made it. She came from a family that never ate leftovers. Once she found out it was made from the chicken pieces deemed unservable, that was skinned, meat picked off the bones, then stored in the cooler until we made a new batch of either one, she never ate either one again.

Ahhh the joys of fast food. Back when I was a poor college student working to get through rather than taking loans, I remember when the place I worked introduced BBQ chicken, which people raved about. It was nothing more than left over fried chicken with BBQ sauce dumped on it and stored overnight, then reheated. It wasn't available all the time because of that. However, people liked it so much it became a regular item. If we didn't have any left over, we'd make up enough for BBQ chicken. And when we won an award for our BBQ chicken, well that was a moment.

 

[disykat]

I agree it's a big red flag - not because of the leftovers specifically, but because of the other stuff added in. He doesn't sound financially responsible.

My husband didn't like "leftovers" until he realized 1) they make easy lunches, and 2)cooking usually involves using leftovers, as others have described, in new and interesting ways.

 

[I loveStitchnippyjon]

Even though it's just DH and me eating at home, I always cook enough for 2 meals, just to save myself time and effort. When the kids were at home, leftovers were eaten just to be frugal.
My DS and her hubby just flat out don't do leftovers. I can recall the first time we had dinner at her house and when dinner was over she dumped all the leftover food in the garbage. Both DD's sat there with their eyes popping out of their heads! Later they whispered to me "Mom, did you see THAT?"

 

[Andtototoo]

I'm not a big fan of leftovers. I'm not a picky person, but generally I find the taste of leftovers to be so nasty that I'll avoid it unless I have no other option.

Baked pasta meals like mac and cheese or lasagna, meatloaf (in sandwiches), turkey (in sandwiches)... they're totally fine and I'll happily eat them.

Everything else, I would only eat if I HAD to for economic reasons. I think the taste is different and generally unpalatable the second time it's reheated in part because it's often either too wet or too dry or too tough when it's reheated.

My dh loves leftovers, however, so that's what he has most days for lunch.

 

[Wishing on a star]

Yep, I continue to see a huge red-flag here too.

At 18-19-maybe 20, the 'still young and stoopid' rule might still apply.

At 22... what the OP had described...
R U N!!!!!!!

There comes a time where the excuses and explanations and justifications no longer cut it, and one must look in a very hard objective way at a situation.

I thought the 'young and stoopid' rule applied to a few things with my DH when I first met him. (mid-twenties)
Big mistake.

My advice to anybody, before getting that serious in a relationship and planning a future...
Try to take off the rose-colored glasses for a moment and look at what 'IS'.

 

[hereyago]

Considering that they are not in a relationship-even though it's nice she feels "sorry" for him that he can't cook, but um, he is grown and he can learn how. Not every young person is stupid and young, I know plenty of middle aged people who have that mentality.

And honestly, if I offered anyone food just cooked or leftovers and they snubbed their nose, it would be the last time I offered, just sayin....


DD13 has no problem eating leftovers and if she did, she could cook her own food.

 

[IUTBAM]

Considering that they are not in a relationship-even though it's nice she feels "sorry" for him that he can't cook, but um, he is grown and he can learn how. Not every young person is stupid and young, I know plenty of middle aged people who have that mentality.

And honestly, if I offered anyone food just cooked or leftovers and they snubbed their nose, it would be the last time I offered, just sayin....


DD13 has no problem eating leftovers and if she did, she could cook her own food.

I totally get what you are saying! He should learn how to cook! His mom should have taught him. Heck, I'd be happy to teach him. But I don't see the desire there. My DD is just the type of person who likes to do things for people when she sees a need, and I thought it was a nice gesture (and was happy to give up some of the leftover soup). And believe me, I won't be offering him food again anytime soon (if ever, lol). DD told me we should invite him over for dinner and serve something I have leftover in the freezer (but not tell him until the meal is done)...that's my girl! haha

 

[Micca]

DW doesn't eat leftovers. I usually eat all the leftovers and I agree some things like soup and chili are better after they've been in the fridge overnight.