How Do You Feel About Leftovers??

Another question prompted by a podcast discussion.

How do you feel about leftovers - of the food sort. :slight_smile:

I myself LOVE leftovers. Great for a great lunch to easily pack. Even better if/when they provide a meal for a second night I don’t have to cook!

For those that don’t like leftovers - what is it you don’t like? I have a hard time understanding what’s NOT to like. :slight_smile:

To me there are two types of leftovers (I like them both) - leftovers that you just reheat and eat (or eat out of the refrig if it’s not a hot food) and then leftovers that turn into something else. Like leftover roast chicken that turns into shredded chicken tacos the next night.

I do all the cooking at home for H and I - if D2 is home on college break she will cook some. I appreciate any “night off” that dinner is already sitting in the refrigerator OR a great lunch of leftovers at work .

I’ve always loved leftovers—that’s my favorite thing to eat for breakfast or most meals. I’m happy to share an entre with H so we don’t have leftovers or happy to have leftovers we can eat for another meal. I know some others who just refuse to consume leftovers. I’ve never understood or agreed.

Some foods taste much better the 1st time they’re served while some taste better as leftovers (like stews abs soups).

I, too, love leftovers! Now that we are empty nesters, I don’t cook nearly as often, and I am glad! We eat out every Tuesday in conjunction with our trivia night. Dh eats out every Wednesday with with his run group after their evening run. We sometimes eat out on the weekends, but not very often. So, I generally have to prep meals for five nights. Usually that means making three meals a week. A couple of those will provide two evening meals. The third usually one meal and then lunch leftovers. Soups are good for that purpose. I also keep sandwich and salad fixin’s on hand for lunches. I’d like to only cook twice a week, but I have a lot of free time so I can’t really justify that!

I love anything that can be scooped out and easily zapped in the microwave.

I don’t understand people who don’t like leftovers either. I am thankful my dh doesn’t mind them at all. I think usually it’s consumers rather than cookers that complain about leftovers.

I do not like leftovers. I rarely take a doggie bag home. I like my food fresh. The only leftovers I like are my mom’s Chinese food. When I cook, I only make enough for one meal.
I like veggies crunch, nothing mushy. I will re-heat past sauce, but would make pasta fresh.

I love them - some foods (like pasta, some soups/stews, and homemade mac & cheese) taste much better as left overs. I suspect it’s because the flavors have more time to mix. We joke that we should just make those and toss it in the fridge to bring out the next day. I definitely make enough to enjoy on future days.

I prefer the leftovers that are reheat and eat vs those that get repurposed into something else but we use both. Leftover roasted turkey is scrumptious as sandwiches.

The only things I can think of that don’t make good leftovers are steamed veggies or fried foods like french fries or tater tots. There may be more just not coming to mind though.

Left over pizza makes a terrific breakfast. Leftover Chinese too.

I knew one person who would not touch anything that was not freshly cooked. Not even soup. My uncle. He did not cook, my aunt did! So for soups, she’d make a large pot of stock and use that to make soups every day (yes, there was supposed to be soup served with every dinner, and soup was not the dinner). :slight_smile:

Our convection oven can reheat day old pizza so well you would not believe it is not fresh. Some soups are better on the second day. So yeah, I am not against leftovers! :slight_smile:

I work 70 hours a week so when I find time to cook I make intentional leftovers. It’s the only way my husband has anything to eat.

The concepts of cooking every night and throwing away everything that’s not finished is totally alien to me. I’m too lazy and hate to throw food away. Leftover green salads aren’t so great the next day, although I’ve been known to eat them too. But pretty much anything else is fair game.

Love leftovers.

Anything that saves me from having to cook is a beautiful thing.

One thing that doesn’t taste good reheated is steak, but most anything else goes.

I’m good with leftovers of most things. Related question - how long do you keep leftovers? After 2 days I throw things away.

Let me make it clear that I’m not knocking anyone who doesn’t like leftovers - I just don’t understand it and am trying to understand what makes your basic leftovers taboo.

I agree that I don’t want mushy leftover vegetables. But I feel like most vegetables if cooked crisp for the first meal can stand a reheating.

And wanting food “fresh” - when does “fresh” end? 30 minutes after cooking? An hour later? If it’s cooked isn’t it still “cooked” the next day when you warm it up?

If it keeps me from having to cook again, I love them! We only eat out on our birthdays so I cook virtually every day. I’ve never been particularly fond of it. I enjoy baking much more, but rarely bake now that the kids are gone.

I never take left overs from a restaurant and usually cook just enough for that night, but when I do have leftovers, I enjoy them.

I typically won’t eat them after 2 days. However, my DH will, so I save for him.

Love them. Don’t have a set time limit. As long as they appear and smell okay, they’re fair game. Don’t ask me how long we eat leftover TG turkey, especially as soup. :slight_smile:

Adore them. Live alone, so usually cook a meal for 4 and eat it Sun through Wed night. So I only cook stuff I like! If I have dinner plans, I take it for lunch. Sometimes I make a double batch and freeze them. I like to cook, but I’d rather have an evening free than cook every night.

Our home story about leftovers.

I do all the cooking probably 6 days a week. I work full time and take both breakfast and lunch with me. H is retired almost 2 years and does not cook (has some ability, rarely does anything). I was getting frustrated because instead of even getting himself a bowl of cereal for breakfast he was eating all the leftovers in the refrig - cause it was easy, required no effort and tasted good. I was getting mad because I was counting on those leftovers to be another dinner or my lunch that I had planned to take. Unfortunately leftovers that for me would be a couple of lunches or more than enough for two, he would eat in one swoop. (again, just grab a fork and eat away!)

I finally told him that not only was I making dinner nightly but that before he is even out of bed I am packing 2/3 of my food for the day and heading to work - he should certainly eat breakfast but that he should be able to put a little effort into making his own - not grabbing the lunch/dinner leftovers.

I came up with a compromise. Any leftovers up for grabs for him - for breakfast, lunch or snack - I mark the container with a post it note. No post it note - hands off, I have other plans for that! It’s really working out pretty well.

However the other day I had made chicken enchiladas and there were lots leftover on a Friday night. On Saturday I went out of town and ended up having a late lunch so wouldn’t want dinner. I texted him and said I was eating out so but there were plenty of chicken enchiladas left. He texted back, “I saw them there. But there’s no sticky note on them.” He TOTALLY listens to the system!!! :slight_smile:

I like most leftovers and usually eat them for lunch.

My husband isn’t a big fan of most leftovers and usually passes with some exceptions like pizza and lasagne. He didn’t grow up eating leftovers. In his childhood/culture, leftovers were food for the dogs.

For me, it depends what it is. In the past 15years or so, I’ve realized I don’t like certain meats reheated…like steak, pork, chicken. It’s partly a texture thing, but for some reason, it just grosses me out. I can eat ground or shredded meat reheated-like meatballs, meat sauce, Mexican foods that have shredded chicken like enchiladas. Right now, there is a leftover pork chop in the fridge. I won’t touch it, but dh will eat it.

I’ll also eat things like soup, lasagna, which is better the second day anyway, or I’ll cut up leftover chicken and put cold in a salad. One weird thing I do the day after thanksgiving…I heat up everything but the turkey. I’ll make a plate of mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, etc but eat the turkey cold with hot gravy. I don’t remember being this way when I was younger but I have developed a weird thing about meat/poultry as I’ve aged. I have no idea why. I could almost be a vegetarian.

Dh will take most leftovers to work for lunch the next day. However, he’s kind of fussy about having leftovers for dinner. As a family of six, we rarely have enough for a second dinner so it’s not usually an issue. He takes what is left for lunch usually.