My husband & I deliberately cook oversized meals so the leftovers can be served the next day or can be converted into another meal (i.e. roast becomes beef & Guinness pie, grilled chicken is turned into quesadillas). Yesterday, we cooked another turkey with trimmings that will last days. Yum!
When I go home on Sundays, my mom almost always sends me back with leftovers for the week.
I don't feel like cooking some nights, so it always gets eaten.
Preach. I realized the other day that my kids have an aversion to leftovers because they haven’t been poor from a first hand perspective and they haven’t had to cook for a family of 6 every night. I see leftovers and I am excited about not needing to spend time or money for food today. 💙
A favorite is recreating them, too. A little chopping, combining, sauce-adding, etc., can quickly = oven ready meal.
Sauce? Think of what is already in the fridge (sometimes the dregs of a bottle of ketchup or mustard, and maybe mix and match a bit with a touch of vinegar--that kind of thing.
it's so funny that this is the discourse on my discover page today. I used to loathe leftovers, now i'm just happy I don't have to cook two days in a row. Leftovers is good.
I bulk cook food and eat them 2 or 3 days of the week. Big batch of homemade meatballs, jar of homemade marinara, maybe some lamb and mint meatballs for a change. Boom! Several days done.
I feel like I should point out that I don't just eat meatballs and that it's just an example of something that you can bulk cook and then do potatoes, pasta or whatever you fancy to go with them on the day
Dude, leftovers are about 1/3 of my meals.
Family-size spaghetti fresh made for Monday dinner for the family, then again on Thursday for the family, and my lunch once or twice before next Monday. Wash dishes, then repeat with another big dish.
I intentionally create leftovers so I have lunches for the week.
Also who wants to go through the effort of making a single portion of homemade soup or stew or curry? 6 portions is no more work than one and they freeze just fine.
Leftovers are another resource for one to use. To simply discard them is a waste of flavorful meal options.
They are also a great timesaver. Hope the leftovers are tasty!!
During the height of Covid, the tv show “Chopped” opened my husband’s eyes to what I’d been doing for years.
He loves batch cooking & freezing smaller amounts.
He loves thinking of ways to repurpose cooked food.
IKR. I specifically prepare dishes like Gumbo, Jambalaya and Chicken, Tuna and Potato salads and corn bread dressing to serve this next day. They taste better the next day. All the favor has time to marry together.
I know it's fine but I can't get the childhood roaches in the fridge memory out of my head despite it happening over 20 years ago. I just can't do leftovers.
About once a week my dinner is the last bits of all the leftovers. I just heat and eat, or maybe add an egg or two to fry up a scramble (with leftover scramble for breakfast), or add to a can of soup to stretch the soup into 2-3 more meals. Depends on what's leftover.
Sometimes the leftovers are BETTER. Things have time to sit and marinate in their own goodness. Soups, sauces, chillies, curries, mixed meats… reheated frozen chilli that’s been sitting in the freezer for a month is better than fresh, honest to god!
Planning ahead on using left overs in different ways helps justify making what seems to be extravagant purchases. We went to our butcher earlier and bought two giant steaks, but they will feed both of us for thee meals. And tiny snacks for our Maisie, although she prefers chicken.
One, there’s the issue of food waste. Two, some things taste better the second (or third etc) day. Three, there’s the pleasure of reheat and eat on days you don’t feel like dirtying every knife and pot you have lol.
no because on day 2 it’s suddenly poisonous and i can’t eat it anymore or i’ll accidentally eat a bug or mold or something— or at least that’s what i’ve convinced myself of lol
I used to be a leftover snob, but I absolutely love leftovers now! Cook once, eat twice (or more)! What could be better? Well, being served a nice meal I didn’t have to cook, but in the absence of that…
I only cook 3-4 times a week for this family if 4. A trick is to have multiple sets in rotation. Another trick is to be able to change up a dish. You made tacos one day? Add tortilla chips and queso dip to make leftover nachos. Spaghetti and meatballs -> meatball subs.
Also, why are we freaking out about food so much?? Homemade food is great, restaurant food is great, delivery is great, leftovers are great. Food is great. Everyone needs to get over themselves.
Every few months someone will post that ordering from apps is cheaper than going to the grocery store and everyone loses their mind because the conversation perfectly intersects race/class/mental and physical health so everyone can argue with an avatar of a person who is slightly worse than they are
They'll also tend to include that it's gotten too expensive and that proves no one can afford to eat in this economy.
Or at least that's where this started, I think
Yeah - Food is too expensive. individuals can also do things to lower this cost to and improve nutrition. Where a person lands on this is contextual, and so we tend to believe that what we’re doing is close to perfect and anyone doing slightly ‘worse’ is a dummy and any ‘better’ is superhuman.
All this is true, and yet if ordering restaurant food were actually as cheap as cooking for one's self, restaurants (who have to pay chefs and waiters, rent, AND make a profit) would go bust almost instantly.
It's not remotely a moral point - everyone's life is different! It is just factually true.
This is true - but I also think it’s reasonable to build some amount of takeout/restaurant food into your food budget, whether this be for time or enjoyment reasons. How much you’re ‘allowed’ is hugely contextual.
Not maybe the spoiled brats who'll soon wake up to a supercold reality check that they can eat anything available!! That will be a day! Heard of some in-laws throwing all xmas dinner leftovers in the bin - the same night!! I almost did a Tesla!
I should note that there is increased enthusiasm for eating leftovers since my husband discovered the idea of resistance starches: ie: food that has been refrigerated= frozen before being reheated to eat. He is using it as a way to reduce the number of carbs he absorbs, and his doctor approves.
I am the leftover eater in our family. It wasn't until the pandemic that my husband, the chef of the household, began experimenting with remaking leftovers into new dishes. To be fair, our son can not do most leftovers at school because there is no method for warming it up.
Yes but also leftovers can have increased histamine levels which can be problematic for a lot of people. So remember to freeze things when you can and to immediately cook and eat whatever it is you’re eating. Aka moms who warm stuff up and forget about it…try not it it not good for us. 😅
I think most people don't have the correct equipment for leftovers. Don't you need 50+ margarine tubs you've been saving for years, plus the additional dozens of margarine tubs you inherited from your grandmother after she passed away.
This post reminds me of making bean soup for my family, started out as soup and on day 3 was burritos. The boys called it Army soup because I always made enough to feed an army.
Also repurposing meals! Making a lentil bolongaese sauce, having with pasta twice, and then wrapping up what’s left over in pastry a few days later to have as a vegan sausage roll type thing is all that stands between me and the abyss.
Yes! I make a really plain but delicious lentil thing that's great by itself, but can become soup or samosa filling or blended for a dip on later days.
About one third of our meals are leftovers. We are not poor. We hate to waste food or money. Sometimes it’s just reheated and other times I make something other with the leftovers. It’s not hard nor difficult. We are boomers so we were raised in a different time and space then today’s world.
There are some leftovers that have a different taste the next day…and awesome. Example? Most pasta tomato based leftovers. Love a piece of leftover lasagna!
Want to eat something different every meal? Pull out your blender, drop in a combination of leftovers, and boom. Leftover soup. Recipe courtesy of my WWII-era grandma.
I have never made the same soup twice because the ingredients are always what’s on hand. These soups usually go into the freezer with a label like “best soup EVER”😁
It's all in how it's presented.
Roast beef one night, French dip sandwiches another night. Pork roast can turn into stir fry. Baked lemon chicken becomes quesadillas.
Most of the time my family has no idea it was a leftover.
There are even things, like chili, that I'd argue get better over time (obviously to a point), but like 2 day old chili heated up is always far superior than fresh from the pot...
That’s how I meal plan every week 😂 I make enough for 2-3 days of leftovers. Cooking takes so much time an effort from prep to cleanup and eating the meal literally takes minutes. Might as well make enough to enjoy it a few times!
This is also how I get through the rough days, I make a few big meals on our days off and that gets us through a few rough days of work when neither of us wants to cook.
I plan our meals to use leftovers. Sundays we have a big hunk of meat. Mondays some of that meat is a casserole of pasta )any leftover veg too usually.
It’s wonderful for the bank account. It’s also pretty easy to doctor, change completely, and extend leftovers into something equal or better than the original meal.
I guess I’m still too close to my frugal farming roots to believe anything else- but Waste Not, Want Not.
Love leftovers! My long gone mom had two favorites, "guessit" and "stretchit". Guessit was a whatever was in the fridge mixed together. Stretchit was taking a leftover and adding it to other things.
See, it took my roommate *years* of rooming with me to actually eat leftovers, because his mom yelled at him *all the time* when he was growing up about eating leftovers. He didn't eat a lot, just a normal portion, but she's a horrible person and super controlling.
My mom is known for making turkey tacos after thanksgiving, also as potato tacos. Ham is used for breakfast ham and eggs...with a side of salsa and tortillas.
In chicano culture, tacos and burritos can be made from anything, meaning leftovers are repurposed into another delicious meal.
Lingering somewhere in all of this discourse is the idea that you should be able to eat a different thing every meal of the week. Cool, I guess, but have you considered the joy of a stew on the second day?
Freezers! I just had Korean pot roast yesterday that I’d made a ton of last fall. So good! I enjoy a different dinner each day because when I cook big, I freeze it in single portions for later.
I make a mean avgolemono soup, and while it's really good on the first day, it absolutely SINGS on the second day after everything's had 24 hours to sit together.
I will boil up a box of pasta, add a jar of sauce, and feast for days, 'cause I love pasta that much. Ditto for egg noodles, but with gravy or butter or in golden mushroom soup. That was actually pretty much my dinners this week, along with leftover meatloaf. Yum yum yum!
Also, if you want to change things up a bit, you can always top up with some fresh ingredients (quick cooking vegetables, chorizo, a tin of beans, lentils, rice, etc, etc) or different seasoning. You can even do the same the next day if you have leftovers then, provided nothing's turned.
Right? More than a few things taste even better after a day or two. I think (based on nothing but pure speculation 🙂) that a part of it is that the flavors keep blending to an extent even after something is done cooking. Ditto with soup (plus there is no way not to make "too much" soup).
That last point is a scientific fact. No matter how much soup you plan to make, you always end up making more than that. Don't ask me, I don't make the rules. That's just how it is. 😄
The other part of things tasting better as leftovers is that no investment in time required, and we can enjoy our lives in eating and other activities that we enjoy, or just relax or pet the cats. 🙂
Happiness is being satisfied eating like this. Able to cook 4 meals without thought: rice dish, pasta dish, fancy dish, comfort dish. 2 of 4 rely on non-perishable (or freezeable) ingredients you buy once a month and allow for substitutable fresh veg which changes taste but not cooking method.
There seems to be little recognition that meals you cook (and even delivery orders!) have components that can be frozen and reused at a later date, or broken down and recombined to make new things. You don't have to eat the same thing several times in a row!
The thing that nearly gets me to jump into the big threads is when I see "a single person can't cook for themselves! everything will go bad!" Excuse you, I've been cooking for myself alone for more than ten years now ...
The best is to cook in batches and freeze in small (portion) containers. That way you don't have to invite the whole neighbourhood over, or throw anything, and you have variety. Freezing/storing basics is really helpful bc you can combine the different preps to make 'new' meals. Not rocket science!
Oh I'd *love* that! One of the few things I'd get at Whole Foods back in the day was spices because they had bulk spices and I could just buy an oz or so at a time and pay a buck at most!
Comments
Often, leftovers are better the next day.
You just do what you gotta do.
I don't feel like cooking some nights, so it always gets eaten.
You're welcome.
Sauce? Think of what is already in the fridge (sometimes the dregs of a bottle of ketchup or mustard, and maybe mix and match a bit with a touch of vinegar--that kind of thing.
Not to mention the joy of leftover bolognese 🤌
Family-size spaghetti fresh made for Monday dinner for the family, then again on Thursday for the family, and my lunch once or twice before next Monday. Wash dishes, then repeat with another big dish.
Also who wants to go through the effort of making a single portion of homemade soup or stew or curry? 6 portions is no more work than one and they freeze just fine.
They are also a great timesaver. Hope the leftovers are tasty!!
Stew - better the next day.
Homemade soup - better the next day.
That bit of sandwich I couldn’t finish - not so much …
Day 2: add veggies and make it stew
Day 3: add broth and make it soup
He loves batch cooking & freezing smaller amounts.
He loves thinking of ways to repurpose cooked food.
I ate pork belly over rice 3 times this week.
I mean do those people even have a loaf of bread
doesn't matter how fine it looks, it's poisoned in my brain lol
plus there’s just something about that fridge air that feels toxic to me lmao
or you will get B. cereus !!
(Bacillus Cereus, aka "Fried Rice Syndrome")
I have a Tupperware bowl full of something I cooked a month ago and now I’m debating on whether I really need that bowl.
Also, why are we freaking out about food so much?? Homemade food is great, restaurant food is great, delivery is great, leftovers are great. Food is great. Everyone needs to get over themselves.
Or at least that's where this started, I think
It's not remotely a moral point - everyone's life is different! It is just factually true.
Of course, people need to learn to cook first.
Stews
Tomato-based pasta sauces
Soups
The money stays in the bank a helluva lot longer!
But we're a family of three so I mostly clean up any leftovers by taking them to work the next day or two unless it's a really big recipe.
Roast beef one night, French dip sandwiches another night. Pork roast can turn into stir fry. Baked lemon chicken becomes quesadillas.
Most of the time my family has no idea it was a leftover.
What happens is people get answers they don’t like for why, double down, and begin attacking people.
Tuesday the rest is tacos or soup.
Leftovers if the combined meals are for lunch.
I guess I’m still too close to my frugal farming roots to believe anything else- but Waste Not, Want Not.
Become better cooks.
Make delicious food.
Looking at you, soup.
In chicano culture, tacos and burritos can be made from anything, meaning leftovers are repurposed into another delicious meal.
(Also a single person cooking.)
I feed me and 3 other humans every day, every meal. I am also tired of the labor.
"You need a vibe to cook" was another.
Do I need a vibe to vacuum? Do Laundry? 🥴