Leftovers-do you do them and if so how?

[morgan98]

We really do no throw much food away. Some leftovers serve as a lunch for the next day. We will eat a pot of child for a couple of days and when I make Bolognese, I will freeze batches to use later. Most of the leftovers we have are things like making a whole chicken and having it in a slightly different form the second time. If we have leftover vegetables by the end of the week, we will make a frittata to use them up.

I guess what I am trying to say is that we rarely eat the same full meal day after day. We never eat casseroles or anything like that, so we don't have those kinds of leftovers.

 

[Eureka]

When I cooked every day, I scheduled one or more leftover nights into our week. Now that Dh does half the cooking, we tend to eat leftovers on nights when we have people going every which way with work and sports after school etc. Also with the kids being teens, they eat more so we don’t have as many natural leftovers (as opposed to when we make double on purpose) as we used to.

 

[Klayfish]

Our lives are insanely busy, like I'm sure a lot of you are. DW and I both work full time, we have 3 active kids. We literally only cook once per week...Sunday. We cook in bulk. For example, yesterday we cooked a 6lb pork roast, 4lbs of chicken and something else (I forget, DW made it). That's dinner for the entire week. Same with lunches. On Sunday, we bulk pack lunches for all 5 of us. Sunday morning is basically an assembly line for DW and I. Takes maybe 90 minutes total, but then we're done. The rest of the week becomes so much easier. Grab and go for lunch, reheat and go for dinner.

The only exception is DWs' dinner. She eats a lot of tilapia, which won't keep all week, so she'll cook 2 or 3 days worth at a time instead of 5 or 6.

 

[AnnaS]

I do not intentionally make extra for leftovers. There are times though when it might be too much for one evening. My dd might/might not be home, etc.

I hate throwing food away. $$, effort put it into, shopping, preparing, cooking, etc. I will toss it out after a day or two but we try to have it for lunch or sometimes if there is enough again for dinner. We might add something else on the side, have bread with it, etc.

 

[1st*toright]

I've been trying hard to reduce our grocery bills for the past few months. I've gotten much better at cooking deliberately to use up everything we buy. On Sunday I do a big batch of a main dish or meal-starter (pulled pork, sauteed ground beef, roast chicken) and put what we will need for the next couple of days in the fridge, then freeze the rest. I keep a spreadsheet of what I have available in the freezer, so we rotate through different kinds of meals throughout the week, and nothing sits in the freezer for too long.

I plan my meals by looking what is on the freezer list as well as what is on sale that week, so we have a good variety, without having to start every meal from scratch (same issues as everyone else here - busy family schedule etc).

Anything that doesn't get eaten either gets marked as needed for dinner the next night (usually with a sticky note), or goes on the list of things to use up. I have a whiteboard where I write down what I want people to choose first for lunches or snacks. The "hit" list has been really helpful - both DH and DD eat lunch at home, but they don't want to eat something if I planning on using it for dinner ('cause I get cranky when I'm counting on having a red pepper, but someone ate the last one). The list makes sure that things get eaten before they go off, and keeps dinner ingredients from disappearing.

I try to make something protein-y for DH and DD to have for lunches if I don't expect there to be substantial leftovers from our dinners - chicken soup or drumsticks or something protein-y to go with salad. I usually make some variation of beans with rice or farro to pack for my own lunches (I'm willing to eat something vegetarian for 4 or 5 days, when something with chicken in it kinda skeeves me out after 2 or 3).

As for bringing home leftovers, I'm really picky about what I will eat again - no bringing home leftover salad, or anything with seafood in it. If I have a chunk of steak leftover, however, that would come home with me to be turned into a steak sandwich!

 

[barkley]

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

I always think of my mom when that scene in 'a christmas story' airs with ralphie lamenting the bumpus dogs eating the turkey and how the family will miss out on all the things his mom made with the leftovers-'no turkey pot pie, no turkey ala king, no gallons of turkey soup.....'. I know so many people who never think to cook one unless it's thanksgiving but we do one at least 3 or 4 times a year because we enjoy it so much (and you can get them on such great sales).

We don't throw food away--even a few Tbsp of chopped parsley gets put in a container, saved, and used

as a little kid I thought 'minestrone' was the italian word for leftovers b/c my mom's bff, a VERY old school italian lady always had a pot simmering when we would visit on the weekends that she threw in the dibs and dabs of fresh spices, leftover, end pieces and wilted veggies she pulled from the fridge while she did her weekly fridge cleaning.

Are there any "freegans" here? I'm not quite there, but I am able to stretch my grocery bill looking at discounted store protein castoffs when they open the doors. I see it as a variation of leftover's.

i'm not sure if she's still on the dis boards but there was a poster who only discovered her niece(?) was an ardent freegan when she appeared on one of these national news pieces. if I remember correctly it was a surprise to everyone in the immediate family as well.

my dd knows the exact time her local safeway takes the fried and roasted chicken pieces out of the deli counter and packages them up for 50% off each evening. she buys a couple of packages and has lunch and dinner for several days. some of the best deals on non perishables happen when a couple of our local stores get in some holiday oriented foods and they have to make shelf space so they grab other items that they already have huge profit margins on and mark them down by 50% and put them in the clearance area (identical items are on the shelves w/the same use by date sold at full price).

 

[goodeats]

Generally I will eat the leftovers for lunch during the week. Certain meals, like soups, homemade spaghetti sauce, pot roast are better as leftovers imo since the flavors meld. So if I make spaghetti sauce on Monday we'll definitely have it later in the week or I will purposely freeze some for another week.

There are some foods that can be incorporated into another recipe. I make this cauliflower fried rice that is great with pork - if we have grilled pork tenderloin on Sunday I'll plan to make the fried rice later that week. DH grew up having Tri Tip a lot on Sundays which was almost always followed by French Dip sandwiches on Monday!

 

[barkley]

I try to make something protein-y for DH and DD to have for lunches if I don't expect there to be substantial leftovers from our dinners - chicken soup or drumsticks

oh my gosh, I remember making dozens and dozens at a time of shake and bake drumsticks when my kids were little b/c neither were big into sandwiches and their school didn't have a cafeteria. i would get the smallish size ones in the huge family packs when they went on sale and then do up several baking sheets at a time, let them cool and then put them up in baggies to freeze so i could pull them out the night before and they would be thawed in time for their lunch break (they always preferred them cold to warm).

 

[elgerber]

My husband is annoyed if there aren't leftovers. I try to make sure we have leftovers for every week day. He leaves for work quite early, and much prefers to grab last nights leftovers, than have to make a sandwich. We all love to have leftovers at our house.

 

[DisneyHardin]

We don’t generally eat leftovers for a second dinner, but usually eat them for lunches. If there is lots of something left like chili or chicken and dumplings, I’ll freeze them for a quickly dinner down the road. Occasionally things will sit in the fridge a week or so with no one eating them and then those get tossed.

 

[krysenchips]

So, I'm seeing that I am a minority here, but I meal prep and meal plan. I will spend Sunday afternoons cooking and make enough food for all of my lunches for the week as well as certain sides for dinners during the week.

Yesterday, I made vegetable lo mein for my lunches and cooked some chicken breast to be added to some of the containers for variety. Also, made quinoa, roasted broccoli, and a salad to add to meals for dinner. I'll make a couple of different proteins over the course of the week and eat them with the sides that I already made.

But this is what works best for me.

 

[QueenIsabella]

Leftovers are appreciated in this house--both leftovers for other meals (like taking them for lunch) or re-done ingredients, such as cooking soup from a chicken carcass. As I type this, DS20 is eating leftover pasta and meatballs from last night's dinner, and I have a ham bone in the fridge that will make excellent split pea soup for dinner tonight.

I think a lot of it is what you're used to. My mom was a big fan of making a huge pot of something that we would eat from for a couple days--it never bothered me, but perhaps my mom was a better cook than some moms mentioned here. I don't like to waste. When I cook a large protein (turkey, pork roast, etc.), I have several meals in mind. And my son has commented on how I can take a few, seemingly random, odd leftover ingredients, and make a delicious soup. Of course, this isn't so random as you would think, but it's funny how he sees it that way.

A couple other thoughts: I find that leftover soups go really, really well with homemade bread. I have a bread machine, so it's literally an extra two minutes to add this, and it elevates the meal. Also, I use my freezer quite a bit with leftovers. Let's say we have a couple leftover sausages from pasta night--I throw them in the freezer, and a few days later, use them in minestrone soup. It's enough to add nice flavor, and with the beans, pasta, and vegetables, can make a hearty meal for the 5 of us. I do similar when we have a ham, turkey, whatever.

 

[smiths02]

We have 5 in my family, so there aren't a lot of leftovers from standard recipes. I mean, I don't usually cook for 10 people (or enough for all of us to eat the same thing again). Most recipes that I am looking at feed 6-8. If we have leftovers, DH and I usually take that for lunch.

The other problem with us is that if I cook "extra," someone will eat it that night or take it for lunch or snack on it. I would have to literally cook it and put half away immediately and label it telling everyone not to eat any until we did whatever else we were going to do with it. For us, it is just easier to have the leftovers be up for grabs for lunch.

Also, we will often have a "leftover/whatever" night, so a dinner won't be planned but we might do leftovers, sandwiches, frozen dinners, etc. and each person chooses for him/herself what s/he wants.

 

[prprincess]

We rarely have leftovers because I always seem to underestimate when cooking dinner. But we do have a ton of them after family gatherings and holiday dinners. I don't mind them at all, especially because my family dinners are potluck style. So have the time I didn't get to try certain things. But whatever is still around after two days gets tossed.

 

[MamaBelle4]

See, last night we had roasted pork chops and mashed potatoes.

Today for lunch we are having cheesy potato pancakes and pork chops reheated by being fried in a bit of butter. Not at all healthy, but yummy!!

 

[PollyannaMom]

DH and I definitely do "straight" leftovers - simply reheating things for lunches. (DS not so much, but he does like things like leftover pizza.)

I'll also purposely plan a "double" meal sometimes - roast a chicken, and save some for pasta sauce or stuffed peppers - that sort of thing.

We all bring home restaurant leftovers if we have a large amount.

And sometimes, we'll have a "scrounge night" - everyone picks what they want from leftovers, sandwiches, frozen appetizers, etc.

 

[hsmamato2]

I make leftovers on purpose...one ds eats them for breakfast daily...the rest I put into dinner rotation,usually spacing out a day or two in between so its not all the same food all the time. I can't imagine a life with no leftovers.Otherwise I'd have to cook nightly.... yikes! many times I fix them up a bit differently,like using taco night fixin's to create (my own version) of enchilada style meal another night etc. or roasted chicken that goes into various soups or stir frys.... same with leftover beef etc.

 

[HHMcG]

Of course we have/eat left overs. I never realized some people would refuse to eat left overs.
I avoid trying to do the same meal twice because the family does get bored with it. I try to cook 3 nights and then have a leftover buffet. With kids having to run off to practices and games those leftovers are a life saver.

 

[quandrea]

So, I'm seeing that I am a minority here, but I meal prep and meal plan. I will spend Sunday afternoons cooking and make enough food for all of my lunches for the week as well as certain sides for dinners during the week.

Yesterday, I made vegetable lo mein for my lunches and cooked some chicken breast to be added to some of the containers for variety. Also, made quinoa, roasted broccoli, and a salad to add to meals for dinner. I'll make a couple of different proteins over the course of the week and eat them with the sides that I already made.

But this is what works best for me.

The only issue I have with this is freshness. Do you freeze the food for late in the week? I like leftovers, but the idea of six day old food come Saturday is very unappetising to me. What’s your work around for this?

 

[krysenchips]

The only issue I have with this is freshness. Do you freeze the food for late in the week? I like leftovers, but the idea of six day old food come Saturday is very unappetising to me. What’s your work around for this?

I keep things separate. So the proteins are cooked plain and sauces are kept separate. Same with grains and salads, any sauces or dressings are not put on the items if they are going into the fridge for more than a day. (unless I want it to marinate in a sauce)