Leftovers-do you do them and if so how?

[barkley]

I've known some households that are absolutely 'no leftover zones'. if something wasn't fully consumed it's either fed to the pets (if appropriate) or tossed. w/some it's b/c they grew up on having to eat the same food item for days in a row so it's unappealing to them, w/others they see it as some kind of elevated lifestyle.

I mean, it's fine-personal choice and all that but I grew up w/a mom who plotted out how to get every bit of use out of the foods she bought so that there was as little waste as possible and I pretty much adopted those habits. that's not to say if I cook a roast beef on Monday we will eat roast beef in the same manner for several days b/c it will likely after day 2 be frozen to be used in a different way down the line. with other recipes my family prefers them the second or third day (stews in particular). I tend to plan meals and shop w/ planned main meals in mind-and the leftovers meals that can be created.


do you do leftovers, are they strictly the same as the original meal or do you have specific recipes that you make out of them?

 

[Summer2018]

I purposely cook extra one night so that the next night we can have leftovers. My convection oven has a “leftovers” setting which works well. Anything that I can do to save time and work in the kitchen, I will do.

 

[Lyricallie]

I usually make leftovers to take into work the next day. However I meal plan each week so we roughly know how much we need for the 2 of us so we don't often have leftovers unless on purpose.

 

[TwoMisfits]

Here, leftovers are almost never served "the same" for dinner...in my house, leftovers are either work/home lunches (as is) or they are "repurposed" ala Chopped to an entirely new dish and feel. But, they ARE a very important part of my planning...as you can see from the Eat at Home 3 thread, last week, I made beef and pinto bean chili one night (served as full bowls of chili with "the toppings") that was used to make chili dogs for a 2nd dinner...this week, I'm making homemade baked chicken hot wings one night, and I'll strip the wing leftovers to turn them into buffalo chicken sandwiches for the next day...I'm also making corned beef that will become lunch corned beef on rye sandwiches (since I skipped buying lunch meat, as Aldi lunch meat is not my fam's thing, and there's no way will we eat 3.5lbs (the smallest size Aldi had) in one sitting)...

 

[Donna M]

I have a friend who calls them 'planned overs.' I rarely throw away food, so leftovers are a staple. I will plan a meal and might have the same thing the following night, or use the meat cut up and place it into a casserole or serve it mixed with rice. My dh is real good at eating whatever he sees in the fridge too. I have to tell him what not to eat because it will be tomorrow's dinner.

 

[missnic]

It depends. Pasta leftovers become lunch for DH or I for a few days that week as is. A Costco chicken will be dinner as is one night and then shredded for various dinners/lunches throughout the week. Chili becomes chili dogs.

But most of the time, leftovers sit in the fridge for a week until they get tossed on garbage day. We need to start making less, or using it up. I feel bad wasting it.

 

[tvguy]

We always intend to eat leftovers, but sometimes they get forgotten and found weeks later in the fridge. DW and I work funny schedules, so we kind of take a snack to work for our meal break, but have our real lunch at home. Leftovers are almost exclusively for lunch at home.

 

[ronandannette]

I've known some households that are absolutely 'no leftover zones'. if something wasn't fully consumed it's either fed to the pets (if appropriate) or tossed. w/some it's b/c they grew up on having to eat the same food item for days in a row so it's unappealing to them, w/others they see it as some kind of elevated lifestyle.

I mean, it's fine-personal choice and all that but I grew up w/a mom who plotted out how to get every bit of use out of the foods she bought so that there was as little waste as possible and I pretty much adopted those habits. that's not to say if I cook a roast beef on Monday we will eat roast beef in the same manner for several days b/c it will likely after day 2 be frozen to be used in a different way down the line. with other recipes my family prefers them the second or third day (stews in particular). I tend to plan meals and shop w/ planned main meals in mind-and the leftovers meals that can be created.


do you do leftovers, are they strictly the same as the original meal or do you have specific recipes that you make out of them?

Yep, nope - we DO NOT eat leftovers, and the OP nailed the reason. My DH was raised in a large family with a poorly paid father and a mother who was a terrible, terrible cook. She'd do up a big vat of whatever was economical and they'd eat it until it was gone, or else they wouldn't eat at all. As an adult, my husband simply refuses and I'm happy to accommodate him. I've gotten very good at portion-sizing our meals and anything left goes straight to the garbage. Funny story: When our DS was 8 or 9 he noticed somebody near us in a restaurant putting their excess food in a styrofoam container. He'd never seen such a thing before. He could not fathom them taking it home to eat later, even after we explained it (several times). He had honestly never even heard the word "leftovers".

 

[dosekies]

I'm not a huge fan of leftovers mainly for the fact that I don't like eating the same thing multiple times in a row. Since it is just my fiancé and I currently, we pretty much know how much to make for ourselves to not have leftovers. If we do have a little left over we end up taking it for lunches at work, or will sometimes make a lot of pasta and use it as a side for our dinners the rest of the week.

 

[Lvsdisney]

We usually have enough leftover that there is about 1 meals worth so DH and I take turns over who gets to have the leftovers for lunch at work the next day. I'll also make some dishes purposefully to give me a leftover lunch multiple times during the week, like a lasagna, some other pasta casserole or something like chili. I'm not big on sandwiches for lunch so I'd rather eat the same thing at lunch over a few days. I don't buy lunch as there isn't anything convenient to wear I work.

For those who don't like the same dinner 2x in a week (or more) do you eat the same thing for breakfast or lunch everyday? Just curious.

 

[quandrea]

We use leftovers, but generally repurposed. I often cook an extra chicken breast or taco meat for example for a planned lunch. We homeschool and dh works from home, so I do three family meals per day. Leftovers help make that possible with little prep time at lunch. They are essential. I’m unable to throw the food away. I make sure it gets used.

 

[AquamarineSteph]

I try not to serve the same exact meal two nights in a row (although chili tastes WAY better the second night), but I have no problem eating cold, leftover pizza or reheated turkey. And with chili you can have chili one night, chili dogs another night, etc. There are ways to make something different while using the same, base product.

 

[LilyWDW]

I eat leftovers. In fact, I PLAN on leftovers to help keep my grocery budget down. I simply do not have the luxury of making a brand new meal every single night of the week.

For example, next weekend my grocery will have butterball frozen whole turkeys for $0.79 per lb. I will get about a 10lb one, make stuffing and green beans, and eat off of that for like 4 days between just reheating it as is, cold turkey sandwiches, and hot turkey open faced sandwiches. A pan of chicken enchiladas will also last me like 4 days. It doesn't bother me at all.

 

[tasha99]

We don't throw food away--even a few Tbsp of chopped parsley gets put in a container, saved, and used. I made fried rice and korean bbq chicken for lunch today with leftover rice that I froze a few weeks ago. I have bags of various bones in the freezer for broth--can't just debone a chicken and not use the bones, lol.

 

[bigbabyblues]

It depends on what it is. Nothing reappears on the dinner table in its original form. If there is just a small amount of veggie or something left, I throw it away. If it is a beef roast or a whole chicken, it becomes something else later in the week. Beef stew, beef and noodles, chicken and noodles, chicken casserole, etc. Most leftovers are put in individual-sized portion containers to be used for lunches or snacks over the next couple of days. All four of us take leftovers for lunch to work and school; our school does not have a cafeteria, so we (I work there, kids attend) have to bring our lunches every day. If it is something like chili or soup, we freeze some of it in individual containers for lunches later. We very rarely have any leftovers left when we clean out the fridge.

Tasha99, my DH also makes broth out of chicken carcasses.

 

[TwoMisfits]

We use leftovers, but generally repurposed. I often cook an extra chicken breast or taco meat for example for a planned lunch. We homeschool and dh works from home, so I do three family meals per day. Leftovers help make that possible with little prep time at lunch. They are essential. I’m unable to throw the food away. I make sure it gets used.

See, that's me to a T...I volunteered at a very low overhead public food bank for a few years (pre-kids), and grocery stores would give all of the "we can't sell this anymore" produce right to the food bank if volunteers were willing to to pick it up and put it out. Some of it still looked very good...some didn't, but when you got past the looks or knew what to do, you could have all that produce for families (that they'd never be able to afford), and we (the volunteers) were taught how to help folks know what to do with it if they didn't know...to this day, I could cry when I go to a family member's fridge and see tons of wilted and dying produce that I know they are gonna throw out. Heck, at our summer BBQ last year, my sisters were literally gonna throw out the gorgeous catered veg trays at the end b/c "it might be germy now...maybe"...and I'm like "you can cook all that fresh veg in sauce or soup and it will be gorgeous b/c it's so perfect right now"...needless to say, I took those vegs home and they were loved...made 3 different cooked dishes with them...

But I also grew up on pretty much awful cooking and just cans (for produce), unless it was an apple, a banana, or an iceberg lettuce...so I also react to my own upbringing...

 

[MEM]

I usually make leftovers to take into work the next day. However I meal plan each week so we roughly know how much we need for the 2 of us so we don't often have leftovers unless on purpose.

Same here! I call them "planned-overs". I actually take out my serving in advance and put in right in the fridge so I know I'll have it. The only leftovers I will not eat are pasta dishes. DH and DS23 take care of those leftovers.

 

[MamaBelle4]

My DH was raised in a large family with a poorly paid father and a mother who was a terrible, terrible cook. She'd do up a big vat of whatever was economical and they'd eat it until it was gone, or else they wouldn't eat at all. As an adult, my husband simply refuses and I'm happy to accommodate him.

Essentially my DH. It was mostly his mom is just a terrible cook. She likes food that is bland and flavorless. When we have leftovers, the little ones and I eat them the next day for lunch. If he makes dinner and forgets to put the leftover away, I get upset. I HATE wasting food.

 

[robinb]

I've never been a big fan of leftovers or eating the same thing day after day. I will sometimes warm up something for lunch we had the day before but I aften don't make enough to have extras because my DH tends to eat whatever I make for dinner that night until it's gone. The only thing I make and *plan* for leftovers are chili, soups and stews. I enjoy leftover soup for lunch.

 

[ronandannette]

Essentially my DH. It was mostly his mom is just a terrible cook. She likes food that is bland and flavorless. When we have leftovers, the little ones and I eat them the next day for lunch. If he makes dinner and forgets to put the leftover away, I get upset. I HATE wasting food.

DH's family was Army, and it didn't help that their groceries mostly came from the base commissary. In 20 years of marriage we never once had a meal at her house. I found this a little odd and once asked my DH why we were never invited over. His answer? "Oh, she invites us, I just never accept."