Allocate A Day For Leftovers?

Discussion in Food & Drink started by Denis Hard • Dec 17, 2015.

  1. Denis Hard

    Denis HardWell-Known Member

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    Do you do it? Designate a day when you'll use only leftovers to make your meals for a day? While yes you can freeze leftovers unless you use them that food would have been wasted anyway. This is why designating one day as the "left-overs" day can be a sound way to ensure you use up all left-overs. It could be the day before you go grocery shopping or any specific day of the week.
     
  2. Lushlala

    LushlalaWell-Known Member

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    No, I actually put them in the fridge or the freezer and then use them as and when I need to. I usually use them within a week or 2 of having cooked the food. I know it's safe to cook and freeze food for a maximum of a month, but I still like to use mine up within a fortnight at most. I let a few days pass so i'm not bored eating the same thing on consecutive days.
     
  3. gata montes

    gata montesActive Member

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    Nope - allocating a special day to eat leftovers is not something that I do either.

    Simply because - I rarely if ever have any leftovers and on the odd occasion that I do - as absolutely nothing ever goes to waste in my house - they get transformed the following day - with the addition of a few extra ingredients - into an entirely different but very tasty lunchtime snack.
     
  4. Ke Gordon

    Ke GordonWell-Known Member

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    No, I just eat them as I need to use things up. I am usually the only one eating here and I frequently have leftovers. I will eat leftovers often. If I make a chicken for instance I will have leftovers not every day but maybe for 3 days. i try to intersperse other meals in between eating the leftovers so it doesn/'t get boring.
     
  5. purplepen88

    purplepen88Active Member

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    No, I usually take leftover for lunch the next day. I purposely cook extra so that my son and I can take it for lunches. I don't mind eating leftovers for lunch where I know some people can't stand doing this. Some dinners actually taste better the next so I don't mind. Leftovers don't last long in my fridge, some nights my husband has a late night snack and there goes my lunch for the next day!
     
  6. Corzhens

    CorzhensWell-Known Member

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    We usually have special dishes during weekends and being special means it is an occasion dish so the volume should be more than the usual Mondays are leftover days where we don't normally cook because of the plenty leftovers from the weekend. Our housemaid is used to that already and sometimes she even reminds us not to go to the market anymore on Mondays.
     
  7. sidney

    sidneyWell-Known Member

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    We rarely cook food nowadays and we just buy them, but on weekends the food stores are closed so we have no choice but to cook food. Our leftovers in general do not go to waste because we have pets to eat them.
     
  8. Denis Hard

    Denis HardWell-Known Member

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    I suppose feeding pets leftovers can be a great way to use them up but I've read some articles in a couple of places that advice against this. The writers declare that some human food can be "dangerous" for pets.

    Chicken bones for example can puncture the intestines of dogs but I don't know about the other food which they say can be toxic.
     
  9. sidney

    sidneyWell-Known Member

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    If the animal just swallows the bone whole then that is indeed dangerous, but if it chews it carefully then it won't really be harmful. I always throw in the thrash the bones that are small and pointed so that the dog and cat won't eat it.
     
  10. DrRipley

    DrRipleyExpert

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    I don't allocate specific days but I do make sure I use up leftovers before venturing out and buying new ingredients or just in general because I hate wasting food because that's what I grew up used to. I just try and keep in mind all the leftovers I have in the fridge so I don't end up buying too much new food and end up ignoring or forgetting about leftovers, but usually I do eat them up by the next day so I don't really have to allocate a specific day just to finish all of them because I usually just finish them immediately the next day so as I don't forget and they don't go to waste.
     
  11. Krissttina Isobe

    Krissttina IsobeWell-Known Member

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    :oops:We are a small family of 2, so we cook less and rarely have leftovers. My Mother hates waste, so we eat up all of our food all the time. As we got older our appetite is smaller too. If there is leftovers we eat them the next day.
     
  12. MrsJones

    MrsJonesActive Member

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    Would you believe that leftovers were a big problem for me? My husband cooked in the Navy and continued to do so after I married him :rolleyes:. The funny thing is that he doesn't like to eat leftovers. I didn't have a problem with it because my mother also created new meals with them. Now I do the cooking and I cook enough so that there is minimal leftovers e.g. enough for me:D.
     
  13. Rosyrain

    RosyrainActive Member

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    We do allocate a day for eating leftovers at our house and it is something I carried over into my adult life from childhood. My parents used to have a night like this at least once a week and it really does prevent food from going to waste. Being a working mom, leftovers night means I do not have to worry about coming home and preparing dinner for at least one night a week. There are certain dishes that we absolutely love and I normally make a big batch just so that we can eat it a couple of nights in a row. The key is to make foods that actually taste good, if not better when they are reheated. I find that many casseroles actually taste better the next day.
     
  14. Pat

    PatWell-Known Member

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    I take the leftovers and freeze them to make soup later. If I do not have a lot of food leftover it may take a few weeks to get enough food for the soup. I do have a few family members that will not eat leftovers so I try to cook so that there are no leftovers.
     
  15. ohiotom76

    ohiotom76Well-Known Member

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    Not really. Generally speaking I prefer to just cook smaller amounts of food each day, than cook larger meals and try to finish up the leftovers days later. More often than not, my leftovers get tossed out because I'm either not in the mood for them before they go bad and/or they just aren't as good the next day or two later. There are of course some exceptions to the rule - chili for example gets much better over time, and things such as meatballs and homemade tomato sauce or some mashed potatoes are fine as leftovers imo. But stuff like leftover pasta dishes I don't really care for as leftovers.
     
  16. ACSAPA

    ACSAPAWell-Known Member

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    No, I don't have a specific day to eat leftovers. My daughter and I eat leftovers the next day. Neither of us minds enjoying the same food again the next day. I have a relative who can't stand to eat leftovers. I don't understand how someone can think food is delicious one day and then be disgusted by the same meal the next day. My tacos from Taco Tuesday are still just as good on Wednesday.
     
  17. explorerx7

    explorerx7Active Member

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    I don't designate a special day for having leftovers. I don't like the idea of having food in cooked food in the refrigerator for extended periods.
    I know the earlier it is consumed, the healthier it will be for me. I try to consume it withing a three-day period, any time beyond that I will consider it to be unwholesome and I will have it dumped in the garbage, as I am very are aware of the possibility of food of poisoning.