Leftovers

MiniCooperDeb

I grew up in a family that always had food, but were taught never to waste anything. We cleaned our plates, or saw the same food come back next day as leftovers. This is deeply ingrained in me. But it's causing me trouble. Here's an example: I went out to breakfast with my husband on the weekend. Planned my day, only ate half the food on my plate. But (here we go), I asked for a take-home box for the rest of my breakfast, because ya just don't waste food, right? And that food sat in my fridge for a few days, and found it's way to work with me today for my lunch. But (here we go), it's not really in my plan to eat that much for lunch. I know I will go over my goal today because even though I ate a bigger lunch than usual, I will still be starving for my dinner tonight, and unable to resist.

How do you handle leftovers? Can I learn to throw them away? (I sure don't want to eat them 3 days in a row!)
Interested in hearing your stories.

BCSMama

I'm the same way about leftovers; it kills me to waste food. Mostly because I'm a tightwad though and feel like it's wasting money, lol. We don't go out to eat much at all, but I do try to take leftovers home and bring them for lunch the next day. I don't mind eating the same thing a few days in a row, so I would probably have divided it up and taken it twice. With homemade stuff, if there is enough left for a full meal for the whole family, I will freeze it to use for dinner in the near future. If it's just 1-3 servings left, I will portion it out in containers and keep it in the fridge to take to work. If we have a lot of different leftovers like we had last week, I will put some of the portioned out containers in the freezer to use another week at work.

I get that some people don't want to eat the same thing several days in a row, so you could probably freeze leftovers (if they are freezable) and bring it for lunch at a later time. Also, we have a dog, chickens and sheep, so we occasionally will throw out food to them so we're not wasting it. And, to be honest, despite our best efforts, we do occasionally end up throwing food out.

MdmAcolyte

Some left overs can be frozen and saved for a future meal (I like to save fajitas from the mexican joint and then mix them with "new" rice for lunch another day). Hope that helps.

fldiver97

I try to eat them the next day or make them part of another dish......Or at least I used to! Ever since I got chickens there are rarely any leftovers or even sraps for the compost pile. The chooks eat all my leftover food as soon as I bring it out in the backyard. Leftover soggy cereal....no problem. Outdated yogurt, spoiled milk, the leftover from eating out that just does not get eaten before it starts to look a little dry and sad......off we go, the girls devour it!!!! :drinker:

Robot1976

If you are eating in a restaurant that you know has huge portions, (this sounds crazy but...) you could ask for less or get them to sub something out for more veggies or a salad.Or if your companion is into sharing, get a nice appetizer and then split a main. That way it is easier to clean your plate and not feel stuffed or guilty.

Kaydana123

There are plenty of ways to turn leftovers into to something different so you don't feel like you're eating the same thing multiple days in a row, you just need to use a little imagination and start viewing the leftovers as ingredients rather than just something that needs to be used up. You don't have to eat all the leftovers at once, you don't have to eat it as it was intended to be eaten, it's perfectly okay to pick the leftovers apart to take out the things you want to use for a particular meal.

Let's say I get a kebab (of the grilled chunks of meat variety, not the thin slices of whatever the hell that is variety) with chicken and lamb in and don't finish it. So I've got some salad, chicken, lamb and maybe half a pita. The next day I'll might use the salad and chicken for a stir fry with some extra veggies and some noodles, and turn the lamb into a stew with some onions and veggies. Can grill what's left of the pita and use it to mop up the stew. Nothing's been wasted, but I haven't even come close to eating the same meal twice in a row.

Chop stuff up, add other things to it, add herbs and spices or vegetable based sauces, serve it with different things, cook it in different ways, view it as a challenge to come up with something that is as different from the original as possible. Leftovers are anything but boring if you use them right.

mulderpf

I plan it properly into my meals now - usually leftovers from the night before, form part of lunch for tomorrow. It makes things easier for me, because I know in the morning already how big my lunch will be, so could adjust my breakfast accordingly.

lynnacuff

about once a week we have left over nite...i dont cook..everything gets used. i also make my husband a lunch of every dinner i make and freeze so he always has a variety.

melaniecheeks

I'm with you, I hate to waste food too! I always buy less food than I think I'll need, simply because I KNOW there will be leftovers I can use.

SomeoneSomeplace

I make smaller portions, for left over food I eat out I share or just eat it 3 days in a row. I'm a poor Grad Student so I salvage what I can lol

I'm curious tho sorry to hijack your thread but I made something today and was wondering if it'd be okay to freeze maybe someone reading this can tell me. It's pretty much a burrito bowl without the tortillas it has boil in a big brown rice, corn, black beans, enchilada sauce, rotel tomatos, onion, garlic, red pepper, jalapano do you think this would be okay to freeze? It's pretty high carb and I'm already having a sotuhwest salad w/ black beans for lunch tomorrow that's made so I'd like to know if I could freeze this and eat it on another day

lozadee

bump

LittleMissDover

I'm curious tho sorry to hijack your thread but I made something today and was wondering if it'd be okay to freeze maybe someone reading this can tell me. It's pretty much a burrito bowl without the tortillas it has boil in a big brown rice, corn, black beans, enchilada sauce, rotel tomatos, onion, garlic, red pepper, jalapano do you think this would be okay to freeze? It's pretty high carb and I'm already having a sotuhwest salad w/ black beans for lunch tomorrow that's made so I'd like to know if I could freeze this and eat it on another day

Yeah I would although when you reheat make sure it is boiling all the way through being rice.

melaniecheeks

Agreed - I freeze that sort of thing all the time, but reheat properly any time there' rice involved.