Eating or Not Eating Leftovers

[purpledisneyprncess]

We love eating leftovers but steak & pork chops don't taste good re-heated so they're the exception. Everything else is great as leftovers. We eat them either for lunch or dinner. Chili, chicken and dumplings, stew, baked chicken, even tacos (taco salad leftovers).

 

[Crystal824]

I usually take leftovers for my lunch at work. This thread just reminded me that I forgot my grilled chicken, rice, and spinach left from last night.

 

[TwoMisfits]

My husband will not eat leftovers. Usually, when my husband doesn't eat everything I cook for dinner, the next night he'll ask what's for dinner. I'll say, "I hadn't planned on making anything since we had a ton of leftovers". And then he suggests Chicfila. Our local Chicfila knows us by name... We go out to eat a lot now since I am over planning meals, buying the groceries, cooking them, and cleaning up after only to throw half of it away.

I don't mind eating leftovers for lunch the next day, but with just the two of us eating and if it's something my husband didn't love, I'm over eating it by day 2 and our freezer is not very big.

Our dogs, much to their dismay, do not get to partake in our thrown away leftovers.

If you have a hubby who will never eat leftovers, then never offer leftovers - offer a repurposed easier 2nd meal. No one would call a cold rotisserie chicken from the supermarket a "leftover", so why call any cold refrigerated chicken "leftover" - instead, use it like you would the rotisserie bird as just a start to a new meal. Same for ground beef or pork or turkey.

Leftover chicken can become chicken salad sandwiches, chicken soup, chicken quesadillas, chicken enchiladas, chicken stew, etc...depending on how you flavored the chicken.

Leftover meatloaf can be tomorrow's bolognese sauce for pasta. Leftover burgers can become tomorrow's chili. Leftover BBQ pork can be tomorrow's baked potato bar. Leftover steak can be fajitas. Leftover salmon can be a salmon cake. Leftover black beans can be a new soup (it's not just meats/fishes that can be repurposed...

The possibilities are endless...and it will stop you from wasting time and money by throwing good food away and replacing it with more expensive, less good food (nothing wrong with Chick Fil A over other worse options, but I bet you cook more naturally and more healthy...

 

[HM]

If we have leftovers, generally I end up being the one to eat them. My DH is paranoid about food going bad once it's been sitting around. I have no problem eating something that's been in the fridge for a week (though I try to do so earlier).

 

[Iowajes]

I basically only eat leftovers.
I cook 1 or 2 meals a week, and that feeds me 10+ meals.

I won't throw food away unless it has gone bad, and I try very hard not to let that happen. Food costs too much money to begin with!

 

[TravelMommy]

I have a few items I purposefully make more of (like chicken/proteins) to use say, in a pasta dish a day later or we usually like having dinner leftovers the next day for lunch. I am not a real big fan of leftovers (except lasagna) and generally try to cook only as much as I need for that meal (except for the planned ones). I especially try to only cook as much pasta as we need for one meal. I usually keep no leftovers in the fridge for more than two days and no food in my fridge for more than three days though, except for milk/juice/condiments.



It was very interesting to read people's take on leftovers

 

[puffkin]

My DH used to be a leftover snob (actually a brown bag snob) for years until he was complaining about the bills and I walked him through how much he was wasting on lunches out, take out, etc. Add to that he ended up needing to do all the cooking and shopping for a month after I had severe complications from my c-section and couldn't walk....well he sings a different tune now

If it is something like fish/steak, etc I usually can plan it out that we won't have leftovers since they reheat poorly. Some meals I plan on having leftovers to fit our schedule if its a busy week. I package leftovers in single serve containers so there is no excuse to not grab them for lunches. Usually Friday's are clean out the fridge night to use up everything that is left. We usually eat out Saturday's. I grocery shop and start the cycle again on Sunday's. I throw very little food away anymore. We used to be horrible about this...but we have changed our habits a lot over the last few years.

My DS8 is a very dedicated competitive swimmer and practices pretty much year round. He eats enormous quantities of food. I try to make sure to have plenty of leftover veggies, rice, lean meats and other healthy sides on hand for him so I am starting to double some of those when I cook our meals. I'd rather him have the healthy items to snack on than grab a bag of chips!

If we order chinese take out, I usually get the large sizes. Its only a few dollars more and 1 large entree feeds me for 3 meals and reheats well.

 

[CdnCarrie]

for those saying steak does not reheat well just cut it up and do a stir fry with broccoli. Add some rice and a very quick supper the next day.

 

[Handbag Lady]

I hate leftovers so it doesn't really matter. There is very few of it I will eat. Just old food makes me gag.

Pizza, yes. Spaghetti, yes. Chinese food, never. It just isn't the same and gets all mushy.

 

[North of Mouse]

I was wondering about those of you who do not eat left overs. Since I am a doggy bagger and never throw away any food unless it has gone bad, I was wondering how you decide what to throw away. Do you only order very small amounts of take out or restaurant meals. Do you cook every day just enough for one small meal? If you have really great Chinese take out food but have some left over, would you not be dying to have it for lunch the next day? Do you throw out the food because you are afraid you may get sick or does the thought of reheating something just kill your appetite? No flaming here, just curious about how other people do things

Oh, yes, our family will always eat left overs. Now, that dh & I are empty nesters, and I still 'love' to cook, we eat more left overs than ever! Dh doesn't mind at all thankfully, because I never learned how to cook for just two, unless it's portion size like grilling steaks, etc.

When we eat out, will not intentionally order to have some left over, but if it's something that will reheat well, then of course we'll do doggy bags. We're always asked, no matter where we are.

In fact, some dishes are actually better after the spices, flavorings have been melded together for a day.

 

[disykat]

I also like leftover steak. It usually goes in my lunch the next day sliced up over a salad.

 

[BCV2003]

There are only two of us but I always plan for leftovers. I would much rather eat my home cooked food for lunch most days than eat out.

I also purposely cook larger amounts of food because I freeze them into portions for us. I do this with meatloaf (I'll make four at a time) and each meatloaf gives us 2-3 dinners/lunches, soups, stews. I'll also cook up extra meat for fajitas, quesadillas or tacos and keep that handy in the freezer. I would rather have the home cooked meals in the freezer because they help out on those nights where I get home late and don't really want to make dinner or don't have the time.

Fortunately, my husband likes leftovers too but I do find that some leftovers are better reheated in a toaster oven. He even bought one for his office to share.

We definitely save leftover chinese and pizza too.

 

[DisneyHardin]

There are just two of us and I try to cook smaller portions of things, but we still have leftovers. DH takes leftovers in his lunch almost every day. This week we have had pizza, spaghetti, and chicken with rice for dinners so he has had the rest each day for lunch.

 

[tina.tina]

Sometimes I make meals planning to have them 2 days in a row- like a huge pan of lasagna. I do a monthly menu and we have been having soup/sandwich nights twice a week during this winter. On soup and sandwich night, anything is okay to eat unless it's reserved for an upcoming meal. It's sometimes like eating in a restaurant and everyone will have something different. On Monday, DD & DH had leftover chicken tetrazzini & broccoli, DS had a hotdog and broccoli, and I had frozen chicken fried rice, broccoli, and a frozen eggroll. Any leftovers not eaten in 3 days are tossed.