Please settle an argument....Do most families

[Hikergirl]

Not on a regular basis, but I do for certain meals.

 

[barkley]

Yes. It's called meal prep.

that's what it is in our household for sure.

back when our kids were little and both dh and i worked and commuted, my weekends were always set up to get stuff done around the house while something LARGE was cooking on saturdays-a full turkey, a large roast, a pot of spaghetti sauce (stuff i didn't have to tend to while i cleaned) and then on sundays it was doing the 'finishing work' of batching it into dinner/lunch size batches or making multiple trays of lasagna or dozens of meatballs-all to put in the freezer and add to the wealth of choices from the previous weekend's cooking for weeknights. between these and my trusty crock pot i could make sure we had a hot home cooked meal each nite.

nowadays leftovers are largely a colder weather item-i'll make up batches of enchilada meat so i can easily pull them for fresh batches, i'll make stew or soup or chili and put it up in batches. if we do a roast we may eat it for 2 days but the rest goes in the freezer for french dip sandwiches some night. during the summer we almost exclusively bbq so unless it's something BIG like a brisket we only do enough for the dinner meal (except burgers or brats-we do a batch and there's usually a few left over which people will reheat for lunch the next day).

That said, my husband purposed in his mind that as long as he had a choice (which he certainly does) he would never eat leftovers - never.

when i was younger i had a co-worker with the same mindset and he admitted it was b/c of his upbringing-and that he perceived leftovers as something 'poor people eat' (he would get teased at lunch as a kid-he had leftovers while others had fresh made sandwiches, store bought individual bags of chips vs. some in a baggie). there was ONE exception though-hamburger helper-but that went back to his childhood as well. he would beg his mom to buy it but she 'homemade' everything so as an adult he bought it frequently and would have his wife cook up multiple batches to ensure leftovers.




gotta share-local not inexpensive restaurant here does a slamming lunch business on mondays entirely because of leftovers. sat/sun are the only nights they do prime rib, locals know that if there's any left overs the chefs cube it, simmer it in marinara and then stuff it along with cheese into small french loaves (that they normally put on the tables sliced but for this they remain whole and are hollowed out). they are put in the oven for a few minutes to crisp and sold as the very reasonably priced 'lunch special' (along w/a cup of minestrone) anyone not familiar with the practice who is near the hostess stand on a monday probably wonders why the common answer to most of the calls is 'yes we still have some leftovers, come on it'.

 

[RedAngie]

Like others have mentioned, some foods, like many soups, stews, and chili taste better as leftovers. I almost always make extra of those, either freezing the excess or eating the leftovers within a few days. I generally don't like reheated casserole type dishes, so I divide the fixings into several smaller dishes before baking, heat one, and freeze the rest.

Usually, however, I prepare only enough for the current dinner. If there happen to be any leftovers, we have no problem eating them.

A big NO!!! to leftover mashed potatoes in any form. My mother served them while I was growing up and I always hated them. I don't make mashed potatoes very often since DDs have moved out. DH doesn't want them more than a few times a year, and I can do without.

 

[Minnesota!]

I forgot to add - my meal plans I make weekly are based around leftovers. I call them rollover meals. The roast on Sunday becomes the hash on Tuesday and the soup on Wednesday. The spaghetti sauce I am making tonight will be over zoodles tonight, in rollatini on Wednesday, and on naan as pizza on Thursday...

 

[NotUrsula]

I eat leftovers but some things don't do well leftover. I made a great chicken dish last week. Chicken, cream, cheese and spinach. It was really good that night. The next day I took some for lunch, the microwave just seemed to change the texture. That night, there was still a little left and I heated it up in the oven. It was "ok" then but still not as good as it was.

Home-made cream sauces and cheese sauces never re-heat well. (The cream sauces in commercial frozen meals are made with emulsifiers that preserve the texture.)

 

[NotUrsula]

Normally I am all about saving any leftovers to eat later, though for the most part (except for soup-type meals) I don't bother to plan to make more than we can eat. I will admit, however, that I don't care for re-heated mashed potatoes, primarily because of the above-mentioned cream problem. (Roasted potatoes re-heat very well, though.) I buy potatoes by the 20-lb sack at the farmer's market, and they are very cheap, so I don't feel guilty about tossing the uneaten portions.

My mother's mantra when I was growing up was that expensive ingredients had to be eaten, whether at that moment or later. If you were going to waste any food, it had to be the cheapest kind.

 

[lovin'fl]

We do. Love leftovers from a restaurant too. I will usually, now that I am watching what/how I eat, eat half my meal when out. Then I pack the other half to take home for lunch the next day and I love that. For dinners I make at home, I aim to have little leftover but we often do and it gets eaten...mostly. The veges don't always. Stuff like salad (dressed), loaded nachos and french fries can't be saved as they are not good leftover.

I have a thing about wasting food. Can't stand to. So when we do parties/holidays I aim to have the exact right amount of food where DH comes from a family that likes to over do a party buffet. So many times I am sent home with, or have if at my house, loads of leftovers from the in law family gatherings that just go in the garbage. Hate it. There is just no way, even our fam of 5, could eat half a sheet cake before stale. Or 5 pounds of marinated carrots.

 

[ronandannette]

...when i was younger i had a co-worker with the same mindset and he admitted it was b/c of his upbringing-and that he perceived leftovers as something 'poor people eat' (he would get teased at lunch as a kid-he had leftovers while others had fresh made sandwiches, store bought individual bags of chips vs. some in a baggie). there was ONE exception though-hamburger helper-but that went back to his childhood as well. he would beg his mom to buy it but she 'homemade' everything so as an adult he bought it frequently and would have his wife cook up multiple batches to ensure leftovers...

It's not an issue of poor/not poor. For my DH it's more of a visceral reaction to memories of the actual food. He knows it's not 100% rational but like I said, he now has a choice so we go with it.

Like others have mentioned, some foods, like many soups, stews, and chili taste better as leftovers. I almost always make extra of those, either freezing the excess or eating the leftovers within a few days. I generally don't like reheated casserole type dishes, so I divide the fixings into several smaller dishes before baking, heat one, and freeze the rest.

Usually, however, I prepare only enough for the current dinner. If there happen to be any leftovers, we have no problem eating them.

A big NO!!! to leftover mashed potatoes in any form. My mother served them while I was growing up and I always hated them. I don't make mashed potatoes very often since DDs have moved out. DH doesn't want them more than a few times a year, and I can do without.

I don't really do this but it's a fine idea. I wouldn't consider it leftovers to take something out of the freezer and having it again weeks or months since the last time. Neither would DH.

 

[Dancind]

Dating my self here, but I remember a TV show where the husband would throw a fit about leftovers. All in the Family, maybe? Anyway, it gave the entire generation the idea that leftovers were bad.

Thank goodness my husband didn't get the memo. We do major involved recipes, even with two of us now, freeze half, and will eat the rest for a few days. Gumbo yesterday, green Chile stew does great, enchilada casseroles (wonderful with an egg for breakfast). When we visit our daughter, getting to eat the rest of the leftover Thai curry is an honor.

Are there people who refuse leftover pizza? Heck, it's even good cold.

 

[bigbabyblues]

We tend to cook things that have leftovers at least a few times a week. We rarely eat out (maybe once every 3 or 4 months or so), we do not get fast food, and we all have to take lunches to work/school (no cafeteria at school). Typically, we put leftovers away in single-serve containers to make it easier to pack lunches. If it is chili or something like that, some of the leftover containers go in the freezer for later. We do end up throwing some stuff away but not a lot.

 

[MillauFr]

Have leftovers? I say yes that people make extra food to have for lunches or another dinner during the week.

Isn't this an argument that is impossible to agree on? The obvious answer is that some people do and some people don't.

 

[Lilacs4Me]

No leftovers for us. Nobody will eat them, they stay in the fridge, and I end up throwing moldy Rubbermaid containers out.

I have an idea of what my family will eat and how much of it, and I buy and plan accordingly.

We have had BIL staying with us for the past 4 months. I never know when he will be eating with us or not. Half the time, I end up not eating my own dinner and give it to him instead, because I made just enough pieces of chicken or pork chops or baked potatoes for DH, the three kids, and I.

 

[EveDallas]

Have leftovers? I say yes that people make extra food to have for lunches or another dinner during the week.

I try hard to make sure there are no leftovers. No one eats them so whatever is left tends to get carefully packed up and then left in the fridge until it gets thrown out,

 

[mumto3girls]

Sometimes we do and sometimes we don’t, but typically we eat them when we do. Both DH and I will take leftovers for lunch when we have them though and if we are really overrun with leftovers we have a “Fend for Yourself” night where I take all the leftovers out of the fridge, put them on the counter and everyone makes up their own plate and then heats. DH loves that, kids not so much. Lately we have been sending most of our leftovers to his mother. She still insists on living in her home, but probably should be in a facility. She was losing weight like crazy and I found out that she hasn’t been cooking since FIL passed away. She used to come for dinner every week and would take leftovers home, but then she stared refusing to come. So now DH takes her food a few times per week, mostly consisting of our leftovers, but a few things I make just for her.

 

[EveDallas]

It's worse than it sounds; I've wept at some of the accounts DH and his siblings have shared over the years. Because of that my husband purposed in his mind that as long as he had a choice (which he certainly does) he would never eat leftovers - never. It may sound absurd to some, but far be it from me to disrespect him on the issue. I'm happy to make meals he enjoys and have gotten very, very good at proper portioning.

My dad was the same way - he was raised in a very large, very poor family. There was never a choice about eating leftovers or not - it was that or starve. So he equated leftovers with poverty until the day he died and raised my sister and brothers and I the same way.

 

[tvguy]

Maybe one meal a week has leftovers. We try to watch portion size, so we make smaller portions now because sometimes what was made to be a leftover gets eaten the night it was fixed.

 

[jo-jo]

We rarely throw anything away. Not saying even if it's green and moldy we still use it, but we plan wisely most of the time. With just the two of us, it's hard to make a roast chicken or a chuck roast and not have leftovers. The times we throw things out is after holiday meals with the whole family. I cook a ton of food , sometimes it goes, sometimes it doesn't. After three meals of turkey, stuffing and green beans casserole, we toss the rest.

And yes, my mother would be rolling her eyes if she knew. As kids, we had food, but lots of pasta and chicken. Worst memory was the dry milk. But on the other hand......mashed potatoes, add an egg, handful of breadcrumbs, some parm cheese , mix and fry patties.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

It's a NO from me. DH refuses to eat left-overs so I've learned to portion things very carefully to minimize waste. That said, I'm pretty sure we're oddities.

I grew up in a family that always had leftovers. If my mom made a roast then we would have different meals with roast as the main entree until we ran out (we always enjoyed her burritos better than the roast itself). I was shocked when I got married and my ex told me, "We had that yesterday. I'm not going to eat the same thing two days in a row." I really didn't know that there were people who didn't eat them. Lol.

(I'm back to eating leftovers, and my grown kids do, too. )

 

[Southernmiss]

Hated leftovers as a kid. Food storage in our house growing up was not appealing. Aluminum foil on top of bowls that food was served from. Butter containers for leftovers that you had to search through-blech. Just grossed me out.

I've always had clear plastic storage containers that food is put into after dinner is over. And we do meal prepping during busy weeks. So we often cook on the weekend and say "Great! We've got leftovers for Monday and Tuesday when we will have no time to cook." Tonight, there's some steak from Friday night and pork chops from Saturday night with rice, french onion and mushroom gravy, asparagus, and green salad.

Tomorrow night, we'll have to cook. As there won't be enough for 3 of us.

I do have one child off at college who doesn't like leftovers and was really disappointed when he came home over Christmas break and I was no longer cooking every night (too busy), but relying on the meal prepped food from the weekend. Oh well! He lived.

 

[design_mom]

I already replied that I usually don't prepare food planning for leftovers and I don't care to eat leftovers, but I will for certain things and DH doesn't seem to mind.

When I do eat them, it's more out of a sense of duty not to waste food... a "penance" for cooking too much in the first place. But there are very few things that I would choose to eat leftover if there's fresh food being offered. A lot of it, to me, has to do with texture. Warmed over things almost always have a different texture and it is usually not ideal. My mom often makes her soups/spaghetti sauce the day before and then refrigerates the whole pot to reheat the next day, because she thinks things taste better the next day -- I do not necessarily agree with her. My mother used to make those mashed potato pancakes when we were growing up -- and yuck -- I don't eat them now.

I will eat leftover pizza, fried chicken, and fried rice... but I always eat the leftovers cold. There are a few things that are OK if you reheat them in the oven (lasagna, etc.) but they are never as good as they were "fresh." Fortunately, my husband is usually thrilled to take leftovers in his lunch, so I rarely have to. Every time, though, he'll say "Are you sure you don't want them." Um, yeah... I'm sure!

I'm a little worried we're going to have too much for dinner tonight. The kids are off school.. and my 18 year old son (who I can normally count on to eat a hearty dinner) just made himself a "snack" of 2 hotdogs at 3:00pm. I have a feeling he could only eat a little dinner, then be back looking for snacks by 7 or 8pm. Sigh. And he doesn't really like leftovers either.