Keeping leftovers

Discussion in Food & Drink started by Peninha • Oct 1, 2014.

  1. Peninha

    PeninhaWell-Known Member

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    We all eat leftovers, so what I am trying to know here is, where do you keep your leftovers? Usually I keep my leftovers in tupperwares, I feel that they are the best way to conserve food and not leaving odors. How do you do it?
     
  2. Sweetkymom

    SweetkymomActive Member

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    Very rarely are we keeping leftovers but when we do, we store them in our fine china.(butter bowls) The butter bowls are always good to clean and store for purposes such as this.
     
  3. dizzykitsune

    dizzykitsuneActive Member

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    Sometimes I use tupperwares, but other times I wrap the plate with the remaining food with syran wrap and place that in the fridge. The disadvantage is that I can't place anything on top of the plate whereas tupperware containers are very easily stackable.
     
  4. Jessi

    Jessi<a href="http://www.quirkycookery.com">QuirkyCooke

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    I mostly use tupperware/rubbermaid.

    Sometimes I just leave them in the dish I originally cooked in, though, and cover it with foil or saran wrap. Occasionally I will put them in zip loc bags, depending on what it is. In general, though, plastic bowls of any brand are my go-to container.
     
  5. pennylane

    pennylaneActive Member

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    I put mine in plastic containers too. If it's too large I'll just cover it with plastic wrap. I often have leftovers but I usually eat them for lunch the next day. It saves me quite a bit per month!
     
  6. Dora M

    Dora MWell-Known Member

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    I am not so sure that we all eat leftovers. :) I know quite a few people who won't touch anything else but fresh food. One of them is living in my household.
    Personally, I have no problems with leftover food. I usually keep it in porcelain or glass bowls. I don't like plastic and have almost completely eliminated it from my home.
    Currently, I am travelling in Latin America, and I see most people using plastic bags to keep things fresh, in the fridge and otherwise. It's cheap and convenient, but I can't stand it.
     
  7. ACSAPA

    ACSAPAWell-Known Member

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    I have those plastic food covers that are basically like shower caps, so I just put one of those over the plate that I served the food on. Sometimes I use Tupperware if I have more to put away than just one plate of food.
     
  8. deathbyprayer

    deathbyprayerActive Member

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    I keep it in mind to not leave any leftovers because I'm not a fan of reheating food. But it all depends on what kind of food really. I pretty much use tupperwares since they're pretty much the way to go when it comes to saving leftovers.
     
  9. 003

    003Well-Known Member

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    I cling wrap them or I wrap them with a foil to save space in the refrigerator. I just couldn't put them at all in the Tupperware. Doing so would take up a lot of space in the ref, and some of the leftovers could not be accommodated. I think that wrapping them is the most efficient way to store them, saving up the greater amount of space.
     
  10. ohiotom76

    ohiotom76Well-Known Member

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    I've been meaning to replace all of my plastic containers with glass containers that have rubber lids. I've heard a lot of bad things about heating/warming plastic since it releases a lot of toxic chemicals into your food. Plus plastic tends to stain rather easily, especially if you store something like beets, or meals with turmeric, or even something like chili.

    My problem with the glass containers though, despite being heavier in general, is that they get very hot when heating stuff up in them and I have to use a towel to remove them from the microwave, which is kind of clumsy.
     
  11. forextraspecialstuff

    forextraspecialstuffActive Member

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    I almost always keep leftovers, I love knowing that in a pinch I have lunch for the next day. I store my leftovers in glass containers that have hinged lids. The containers are easy to clean and the food is completely covered and as close to fresh as it can be considering it's leftovers. Very rarely I will leave the leftovers in the pot, pan or dish I cooked in and cover it with foil, but more often than not I want to consolidate and put it in a smaller container.
     
  12. Danyel72

    Danyel72Active Member

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    I do keep leftovers although I don't normally eat them. I have always had a thing about food that is left from the day before. I have no clue why. :)

    My family loves leftovers and I usually keep them in a glass container with a top on it. The reason being is, I have read studies that show heating your food in a plastic container isn't healthy and can be linked to cancer. :)

    I have no clue if that's 100% true but I figure I'm not taking any chances.

    Danyel :)
     
  13. akiii123

    akiii123Active Member

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    I prefer to keep all my leftovers in the refrigerator and prefer to keep it in the airtight container. I think by keeping in lower temperatures, the food can be kept in the home for a long time without becoming stale. But all foods have certain limits beyond which they must never be kept, no matter whether they are stale or not. I think you must be really careful while storing the food, even for minor future use.
     
  14. Peninha

    PeninhaWell-Known Member

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    What do you mean by airtight container akiii? Tupperwares? Most leftovers need to be in the refrigerator true and if the air is not getting in even better because they last longer. Another care I have is not to put the food hot inside the refrigerator, I feel that also makes the food go bad faster.
     
  15. valiantx

    valiantxActive Member

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    People who don't eat or touch leftovers, are privileged people and have no idea most people in the world have to eat leftovers, because they're too poor to afford fresh food. With that said, I'm always grateful there is leftovers, because I don't have to prepare a whole new meal to eat, instead I pop that leftover in the microwave if it needs to be reheated and then I'm ready to eat.

    I usually store my left-overs in plastic containers if it contains a lot of liquids, but if its like foods that isn't runny with juices and flavoring, I store it all in plastic bags because it saves up more space in my refrigerator.
     
  16. Pat

    PatWell-Known Member

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    I try not to have leftovers but when we do have leftovers we put them in rubbermaid. The leftovers are sometimes made into soup. I also have a person in the house that does not eat leftovers. She will bring home food from a restaurant put it in the refrig and never look at it again. I keep asking why bring it home?
     
  17. akiii123

    akiii123Active Member

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    There are quite a lot of people who believe that leftovers can be really harmful for health and in some sense they are telling the truth. There were quite a lot of research done which said that leftover food can react within itself and be harmful for health. The best way to avoid this is to use the food judiciously and minimize the leftover to a great extent.
     
  18. JessiFox

    JessiFoxActive Member

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    We almost always use tupperware to store leftovers, though some of the time we end up just keeping it on a plate or in the pot, covered with syran wrap. I agree, though, in that tupperware is the most convenient option as it's stackable and best for that purpose, plus it seems to decrease unwanted food odors significantly.
     
  19. DancingLady

    DancingLadyActive Member

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    I use those small stackable plastic containers. I usually cook enough at one time for at least a week of dinners, then pack them into these containers and freeze them. I don't like having to take the time to cook on a daily basis as dinner takes so long, so I just do it in big batches every now and then and freeze them. It saves so much time for me and so many dishes.
     
  20. Strykstar

    StrykstarActive Member

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    I usually place all the leftover in a tupperware container, even if it's a small amount.
    It's the easiest way to either bring or to work or just reheat it to serve the next day.
    It's easy to stack them in the fridge and it keeps any smells from passing to other foods in the fridge.