worried pre made food will taste bad after 4 days

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  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,426 Member
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    leomarquez15 wrote: »
    Im always scared to eat my pre made food after 4 days in the fridge. I sometimes take the first bite and throw it out cause it taste funny. So I go down the street and get chipotle.

    Look up the shelf life of foods and how to freeze foods.
    For leftovers 3-4 days in the refrigerator is probably the limit. Freezing the food in individual portions might be better if it takes you longer than a couple of days to finish it. Frozen food is fine for months.
    food.unl.edu/safety/chart
    stilltasty.com
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    I'm a 72 hour and then toss it guy for most things. About the only thing I make ahead of time that I keep around longer than that is my homemade pinto beans. I usually make a batch of those on a Sunday overnight and they last me through Friday usually and I haven't had any issues...but everything else pretty much is 72 hours.

    If I have anything pre-prepared that can't be consumed in that time frame I freeze it.
  • leomarquez15
    leomarquez15 Posts: 10 Member
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    Im a father of 3 and work full time 45 hours a week, I work out during lunch so if my food isnt on point I don't have the option to cook I have to run and grab sum grub, the closest is fried chicken but I drive a little further to chipotle. Im not scared that my food is bad its just the taste that questions me and when you try to eat clean all week you want you food to taste decent sum days.
  • bespatter
    bespatter Posts: 73 Member
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    I do cooked meals (stored in glass in the fridge) for max 5 days. The only exception is grains which I store for about 3 days max. With most the stuff I make though, it only lasts about 3 days (keeps me from getting too bored with my meals too).
  • lngrunert
    lngrunert Posts: 204 Member
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    I will eat leftovers that are properly sealed and stored in the refrigerator for up to a week. In over 20 years, neither me or anyone else in my family has gotten sick from doing this. Though I agree that if anything smells or tastes bad, it should be discarded regardless of date.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
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    Well I just finished my 5 day old lentil and chicken stew (amazingly satiating). If anything it tasted better every day as the flavors were well developed. My meals usually last 3-5 days, on rare cases a week. I don't recall ever getting sick from my home cooked meals. If it tastes funny to you though, maybe you are better off making smaller amounts. I don't like freezing, it changes the texture of cooked foods and I don't like that so I only freeze fresh things to be cooked later.
  • awesomewastaken
    awesomewastaken Posts: 92 Member
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    Francl27 wrote: »
    Need2Exerc1se wrote: »
    Why not just make some fresh food? You could stir fry up a meal in the time it takes to go get something at Chipotle.

    THIS. I'm honestly baffled when people say that they just eat out or get takeout because they don't have time to cook. It takes less than 10 minutes to grill some chicken and cook some veggies. It would take me longer to go to the restaurant, get food, and come back.

    How on earth do you prepare chicken and veggies in less than 10 minutes? I must be doing something very wrong because I can never fix up a meal in less than 30-40 minutes. And 30 minutes feels like an eternity when I'm very hungry.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
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    awesomewastaken wrote: »
    Francl27 wrote: »
    Need2Exerc1se wrote: »
    Why not just make some fresh food? You could stir fry up a meal in the time it takes to go get something at Chipotle.

    THIS. I'm honestly baffled when people say that they just eat out or get takeout because they don't have time to cook. It takes less than 10 minutes to grill some chicken and cook some veggies. It would take me longer to go to the restaurant, get food, and come back.

    How on earth do you prepare chicken and veggies in less than 10 minutes? I must be doing something very wrong because I can never fix up a meal in less than 30-40 minutes. And 30 minutes feels like an eternity when I'm very hungry.

    I'm too lazy to do that when I'm hungry, so I reach for a cup of instant noodles. They're portion controlled so I do not have to worry about going over. If anything, I actually have extra calories to spend after that (350 calories per 80 gram package).
  • awesomewastaken
    awesomewastaken Posts: 92 Member
    edited February 2015
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    amusedmonkey wrote: »
    awesomewastaken wrote: »
    Francl27 wrote: »
    Need2Exerc1se wrote: »
    Why not just make some fresh food? You could stir fry up a meal in the time it takes to go get something at Chipotle.

    THIS. I'm honestly baffled when people say that they just eat out or get takeout because they don't have time to cook. It takes less than 10 minutes to grill some chicken and cook some veggies. It would take me longer to go to the restaurant, get food, and come back.

    How on earth do you prepare chicken and veggies in less than 10 minutes? I must be doing something very wrong because I can never fix up a meal in less than 30-40 minutes. And 30 minutes feels like an eternity when I'm very hungry.

    I'm too lazy to do that when I'm hungry, so I reach for a cup of instant noodles. They're portion controlled so I do not have to worry about going over. If anything, I actually have extra calories to spend after that (350 calories per 80 gram package).
    That might not actually be a bad idea because I just checked and one serving of my favourite instant noodles is 280 calories. Somehow I had always thought that instant noodles were the devil incarnate but I suppose a bowl of those would beat a meal at a fast-food join (1000 cals +). Thanks for the idea!

  • williams969
    williams969 Posts: 2,528 Member
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    Chief_Rocka wrote: »
    terricherry2 wrote: »
    Psychological. I leave meals in the fridge for a week and they're fine. Never poisoned myself.

    If week-old chicken breast were bad for you, I would have been dead a long time ago.

    Yup, me too ;) Now, I do keep my pre-cooked chicken breasts on the top shelf near the back (that's the "cold" spot of my fridge, yogurts and milk freezes back there). Then I feel confident that one week old chicken is perfectly safe. Or, OP, just freeze your food in meal size containers and microwave when ready to eat them. Problem solved.
  • williams969
    williams969 Posts: 2,528 Member
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    amusedmonkey wrote: »
    awesomewastaken wrote: »
    Francl27 wrote: »
    Need2Exerc1se wrote: »
    Why not just make some fresh food? You could stir fry up a meal in the time it takes to go get something at Chipotle.

    THIS. I'm honestly baffled when people say that they just eat out or get takeout because they don't have time to cook. It takes less than 10 minutes to grill some chicken and cook some veggies. It would take me longer to go to the restaurant, get food, and come back.

    How on earth do you prepare chicken and veggies in less than 10 minutes? I must be doing something very wrong because I can never fix up a meal in less than 30-40 minutes. And 30 minutes feels like an eternity when I'm very hungry.

    I'm too lazy to do that when I'm hungry, so I reach for a cup of instant noodles. They're portion controlled so I do not have to worry about going over. If anything, I actually have extra calories to spend after that (350 calories per 80 gram package).

    Good idea, too! Yeah, maybe a good "backup" plan to have canned soups and such in the pantry. So many of them are under 300-400 (for the whole can). Much better than throwing up your hands in defeat and going overboard. And still quicker than having to leave the house to get fast food (although, I like that, too, on occasion, but portion/calorie control your choices).

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