# Leftovers, do you eat them?



## PamfromTx (Mar 23, 2021)

_*Do any of you eat leftovers from the day before?  I have a spoiled husband who refuses to eat them.  I, on the other hand was raised so differently; I'll settle for leftovers.  In fact, I think they are tastier.  lol  *_

*Is my husband normal?  Let's not get mean with the replies; I am being sincere.*


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## SetWave (Mar 23, 2021)

That's right. Many things taste better a day or two later. Unfortunately, I rarely if ever leave anything after a meal.


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## fmdog44 (Mar 23, 2021)

Leftovers are just that and like you said often better than the original. Lots of folks make a large batch knowing they will have leftovers which eliminate cooking the next day.


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## Aunt Marg (Mar 23, 2021)

In our house it all depends on what it is and how we're feeling.

Typically, when it comes to pasta dishes, I tend to leave enough out for the following night (lasagna/spaghetti, etc), same goes for traditional meat & potato dishes. As for other things such as rice and noodle dishes (chow-mien, stir-fry's, etc), not so much, but again, it's all depends on how we feel.

Sometimes I'll plan meals for a few days where I make a variety of different dishes, and on these nights I prepare leftover servings that I can pack and freeze for a rainy day, and because there's a different meal being prepared and served each day, we eat something different each day.

One thing we don't do is eat leftovers for days on end. I find by day two, I'm leftovered out, and dear husband is the same.


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## RadishRose (Mar 23, 2021)

I always enjoy leftovers. I agree, many taste better the next day.
Your hubby isn't abnormal, just doesn't like the idea.

You can freeze the leftovers and present them the following week with the addition of some other little thing. I'll bet he won't know.


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## Murrmurr (Mar 23, 2021)

Pam, my dad was like that so my mom used the leftovers to make a completely different dish. He unknowingly ate leftovers about every other day.


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## MarciKS (Mar 23, 2021)

PamfromTx said:


> _*Do any of you eat leftovers from the day before?  I have a spoiled husband who refuses to eat them.  I, on the other hand was raised so differently; I'll settle for leftovers.  In fact, I think they are tastier.  lol  *_
> 
> *Is my husband normal?  Let's not get mean with the replies; I am being sincere.*


*Yes. I can't afford not to. Plus it's difficult to cook for one without leftovers.*


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## PamfromTx (Mar 23, 2021)

Hubby was raised so differently than I was.  He was raised by his grandparents after his mother was killed in a car crash and was spoiled to the CORE.  I still love him though.  Nothing will change my love for him.  

Grandfather was a physician and his grandmother was a registered nurse; he was raised with a silver (or probably) a gold spoon whilst I used plastic cutlery while growing up.  

OK, I think I've had too much sweet iced tea!


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## PamfromTx (Mar 23, 2021)

Aunt Marg said:


> In our house it all depends on what it is and how we're feeling.
> 
> Typically, when it comes to pasta dishes, I tend to leave enough out for the following night (lasagna/spaghetti, etc), same goes for traditional meat & potato dishes. As for other things such as rice and noodle dishes (chow-mien, stir-fry's, etc), not so much, but again, it's all depends on how we feel.
> 
> ...


I will eat leftovers for one more day after the food is prepared.   I'm terrified of getting sick with salmonella, etc.


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## Aunt Marg (Mar 23, 2021)

PamfromTx said:


> I will eat leftovers only for one day after the food is prepared.   I'm big in salmonella, etc.


I keep the refrigerator temperature setting at 36, four degrees colder than the recommended, and never once has anyone in our home experienced any sort of food illness related to improper storage of food.

Very little goes to waste in our home, but one hard rule I live by is, anything that's still in the fridge on day 3 that doesn't get eaten is tossed/flushed.

I'm absolutely anal when it comes to cleanliness and the proper preparing of food (no cross-contamination, etc).


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## Pecos (Mar 23, 2021)

We certainly do, and there are many dishes, like my wife's fabulous soups and bean dishes that are tastier on the second day. I also feel rather strongly that my wife deserves a break from serious cooking everyday. When this COVID gets under control, I will be taking her out for lunches and dinners for months to come.


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## Glowworm (Mar 23, 2021)

Yes we eat leftovers. We always make enough for two or three days and eat leftovers from day 1 on day 3 and leftovers from day 2 on day 4. Anything that's left after that we freeze. We rarely throw away food.


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## Llynn (Mar 23, 2021)

Leftovers were a constant fact of life when I was growing up. I guess that stuck with me because I usually get two or three meals out of any dish   I cook.


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## Don M. (Mar 23, 2021)

Yes....with just the two of us, it's hard to cook just small meals...so my wife usually makes the normal sized meals, 2 or 3 times a week, and we always have plenty to chose from in the fridge for days when she gets busy with other stuff.  We even keep the small portions, and that serves as a good mid-day snack.  We were both raised to Not waste food, and we continue to do so.


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## asp3 (Mar 23, 2021)

Yep, I often eat what we had for dinner for lunch either the next day or the day after that.  Sometimes we have what we had for dinner the night before for dinner again if it was really good.  However my wife likes more variety than I do so she doesn't have as many leftovers as I do.  Sometimes only a portion of dinner is left so I eat what's left and add something else to complete lunch.

My wife also makes more than needed for some meals, puts them in the vacuum sealed bags that we heat up in the future for lunch or dinner.  When she doesn't feel like cooking we'll often have one of her previously prepared meals.


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## Aunt Bea (Mar 23, 2021)

Not much goes to waste in my kitchen.

I use leftovers to give me a day or two off.

Maybe it doesn't bother me to eat leftovers because it's my choice and not an obligation.


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## Gaer (Mar 23, 2021)

Sometimes I'll cook a beef roast ,  chicken enchilada cassarole, a quiche a homemade soup or something I WANT TO EAT day after day.  Of course, if there is a man around, you have to change it up all the time.
When you live alone, food isn't a big thing.  Not with me anyway.


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## SeaBreeze (Mar 23, 2021)

We both eat leftovers, a lot of times we'll order from a good Chinese restaurant and order enough for a couple of days worth of food.  When my husband grills ribeyes on the charcoal BBQ, we take the left over steak and make sandwiches on French bread with tomatoes, onions, etc.  We'll grill several racks of St. Louis ribs, so we always have a couple of days of leftovers. There are other times we eat leftovers.


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## J.B Books (Mar 23, 2021)

I call them PLANNED OVERS.

How the heck am I going eat 44lbs of pork butt in a day?

That's pulled pork in the making by the way.


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## Pappy (Mar 23, 2021)

If I didn’t, I’d starve to death. We make a lot of crock pot dinners and have them again on the third day, or freeze them. A large pizza will go us two days. Sometimes we get two meals out of a large sub. Absolutely eat leftovers.


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## Pepper (Mar 23, 2021)

RadishRose said:


> I always enjoy leftovers. I agree, many taste better the next day.
> Your hubby isn't abnormal, just doesn't like the idea.
> 
> You can freeze the leftovers and present them the following week with the addition of some other little thing. I'll bet he won't know.


I absolutely agree with u!  Very smart!


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## Aunt Marg (Mar 23, 2021)

J.B Books said:


> I call them PLANNED OVERS.View attachment 156197
> 
> How the heck am I going eat 44lbs of pork butt in a day?
> 
> That's pulled pork in the making by the way.


Yummy!

What do you do, JB, set your barbecue to a low heat and add more time to the clock in the way of cooking time?


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## debodun (Mar 23, 2021)

What are leftovers?


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## jujube (Mar 23, 2021)

Eat them?  I savor them.  Some things are even better the next day.


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## PamfromTx (Mar 23, 2021)

Well, well, well... guess who asked if we had any leftover (frozen) chicken gnocchi soup?!?   Yep, that wonderful husband of mine.  He's having that for din-din and I'm having leftover enchilada casserole from last night. 

We are getting a mighty big storm tonight.  That's what my grandma would say when someone did something spectacular and surprising.  lol


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## Jeweltea (Mar 23, 2021)

We eat leftovers quite often for lunch the next day. Sometimes we even deliberately cook more so we have a break from cooking. Somethings really do taste better the next day. We also usually order too much Chinese deliberately.


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## Nathan (Mar 23, 2021)

I make sure there are leftovers when I cook, so that there will always be something ready to heat & eat!


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## J.B Books (Mar 23, 2021)

Aunt Marg said:


> Yummy!
> 
> What do you do, JB, set your barbecue to a low heat and add more time to the clock in the way of cooking time?


That's an offset smoker Marge. You don't "set" it  to anything. It takes just as much fuel to smoke one pork butt as it does four, so if I am going to spend the time, I will load up the smoker. Those pork butts take at least 9 hours at 220 degrees.
You just keep an eye on the temp, and keep feeding it wood.
That's why God invented lawn chairs and bourbon with lemonade.




Pulled pork. Finished product.


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## old medic (Mar 23, 2021)

We always seem to have left overs, and they will become another dinner, or to take to work... 
We will clean out the fridges, and make something out of the leftovers for a dinner, then have leftover leftovers for lunch...
Garbage bread is one of my favorites....


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## Jules (Mar 23, 2021)

Glowworm said:


> Yes we eat leftovers. We always make enough for two or three days and eat leftovers from day 1 on day 3 and leftovers from day 2 on day 4. Anything that's left after that we freeze. We rarely throw away food.


Same at our house.  

I think of leftover night as almost being a night off.


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## Ruth n Jersey (Mar 23, 2021)

I make more than enough so there are leftovers. My son calls me the casserole queen. 
When I make soup even the cat can't find any meat left on the bones.
As Jules said I consider leftovers a night off from cooking.


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## horseless carriage (Mar 23, 2021)

Planned Overs, I must remember that. There's only the two of us, we eat fresh produce daily but making it a meal for two isn't as easy as it is making four portions, so that's what we do. It also saves on the cooking and the cooking cost. We will eat a varied diet so the leftovers get frozen and eaten some time later. It works well.


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## J.B Books (Mar 23, 2021)

horseless carriage said:


> Planned Overs, I must remember that. There's only the two of us, we eat fresh produce daily but making it a meal for two isn't as easy as it is making four portions, so that's what we do. It also saves on the cooking and the cooking cost. We will eat a varied diet so the leftovers get frozen and eaten some time later. It works well.


Your best friend should be a vacuum sealer. Freezes meat, veggies, soup, leftovers. etc. Lasts longer too.
This may sound weird, because there is only the two of us, but I have two refrigerators (one built in) and two deep freeze lockers.
I make everything in bulk and freeze it for future meals.

These are vac sealed smoked pork chops ready for freezer.


Vac sealed bone in Rib eye. I cut my own.


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## Knight (Mar 23, 2021)

PamfromTx said:


> I will eat leftovers for one more day after the food is prepared.   I'm terrified of getting sick with salmonella, etc.


Most foods can be frozen so time isn't a factor. One of my favorites is when my wife makes rice & beans. The rice freezes good & the beans are really the star of making chile with beans. The different kinds are awesome in combination with fresh ground chuck and home powdered chilies.


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## horseless carriage (Mar 23, 2021)

Thanks JB, I will have a look into the vacuum sealer. We have been using these cartons, they are just the right size to hold a single portion, meaning a meal for one. We have two freezers, one small that fits snugly under the kitchen work surface and a second, six feet tall upright that lives in an out building. The small freezer is ideal for the leftovers.


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## Keesha (Mar 23, 2021)

Depends what they are and what they look like


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## J.B Books (Mar 23, 2021)

horseless carriage said:


> Thanks JB, I will have a look into the vacuum sealer. We have been using these cartons, they are just the right size to hold a single portion, meaning a meal for one. We have two freezers, one small that fits snugly under the kitchen work surface and a second, six feet tall upright that lives in an out building. The small freezer is ideal for the leftovers.
> View attachment 156256


Once you go to a vac sealer you'll wonder why you didn't do it earlier. Do some research. your food will last 4 times as long than those containers  because there is no air inside and will use less space too! No freezer burn, no ice crystals.


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## PamfromTx (Mar 23, 2021)

Thanks @J.B. Books , I will have to order a vacuum sealer because I also make soups and beans in bulk.  Beans are always handy for chili, etc.  I enjoy soups year round.


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## PamfromTx (Mar 23, 2021)

The mister is eating that soup like there is no tomorrow.  

I wonder if I'm menopausal?  I sure am getting annoyed by stuff lately.  That's not like me.


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## Ruthanne (Mar 23, 2021)

I eat leftovers for one or two days but don't want them much longer than.  I don't freeze food very often either, only meat.


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## Marie5656 (Mar 23, 2021)

*Yep. When I make chili or soup, I always make enough to freeze individual servings. Not sure if that counts.  But If I am making a casserole or something, I always make enough for one or two more meals.*


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## Dana (Mar 23, 2021)

Sometimes left-overs taste even better the next day!


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## Aunt Marg (Mar 23, 2021)

J.B Books said:


> That's an offset smoker Marge. You don't "set" it  to anything. It takes just as much fuel to smoke one pork butt as it does four, so if I am going to spend the time, I will load up the smoker. Those pork butts take at least 9 hours at 220 degrees.
> You just keep an eye on the temp, and keep feeding it wood.
> That's why God invented lawn chairs and bourbon with lemonade.
> 
> ...


OMG, that looks so delicious, JB!

Thank your for the walk-through.


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## MrPants (Mar 23, 2021)

J.B Books said:


> Once you go to a vac sealer you'll wonder why you didn't do it earlier. Do some research. your food will last 4 times as long than those containers  because there is no air inside and will use less space too! No freezer burn, no ice crystals.


Yup I concur! Vacuum sealer is the bomb when it comes to freezing stuff. No freezer burn and seems to freeze meat a lot better than in any other container!


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## fmdog44 (Mar 23, 2021)

Leftovers: Stews, roasts, casseroles, potato salad, tuna salad, egg salad chicken salad. Make them to last a few days right?


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## officerripley (Mar 23, 2021)

My huzz is like yours, Pam, refuses to eat leftovers; he wasn't spoiled growing up, though, grew up very poor (they lived in a car a few times...in 100 degree weather...and his mom was pregnant, poor thing), so I guess that's why he doesn't want to do anything that, in his mind, seems like "making do" or making ends meet.


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## katlupe (Mar 24, 2021)

I love leftovers! I make enough for leftovers whenever I cook since I am cooking for one.


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## StarSong (Mar 30, 2021)

Like many here, I cook enough for planned leftovers.  Since we don't eat any meat (and dairy is an increasingly rare indulgence), spoilage after a couple of days isn't an issue.  Neither hubby nor I mind eating the same yummy food a few days in a row.


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## PamfromTx (Mar 30, 2021)

I am still in shock!


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## PamfromTx (Mar 30, 2021)

katlupe said:


> I love leftovers! I make enough for leftovers whenever I cook since I am cooking for one.


Me too!


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## RadishRose (Mar 30, 2021)

I love leftovers so much, sometimes I cook those first.


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## gamboolman (Mar 31, 2021)

Yes we do eat left overs.  But I will say it was a learned habit.  

The last ~18 years of work, we lived oversea's in West Africa for megaoil corp 10 months of the Year.  We shipped over our Bulk Food stuffs once per year and would bring bag bags fulls on our one or two trips to/from Texas for Days Off.

ms gamboolgal would cook up big pots of Pinto's, Reds, Lima's and make Rice.  I am not exaggerating when I say I ate Beans and Rice at least 5 days per week the last ~8 years when we was in Nigeria before I retired this year on 1-Feb-21.

Now that we're back home Texas full time, we cook up food and freeze and label the left overs and eat from them all the time.

Plus it helps that ms gamboolgal is a helluva good cook.

Being over yonder - made us appreciate the USA and Texas more than I can express.

Thank God for them Texas Gals....






gamboolman....

ETA - in Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria was where we lived and worked at.   I am talking Open Air Markets, vegetables that you had to wash real good - as Cholera killed thousands, 
Mystery Meat was what you got if and when you ordered from Cafes if you went into town.
Bush Meat - In Equatorial Guinea there was snails the size of Armadillo's that the locals would fix.... Bats, Monkeys, etc. - Bush Meat.
And  the food Offshore was bad - I mean real bad.  The years I was offshore - I took Ramen Noodles and Crackers and Peanut Butter and it was rare I would eat at the Galley.

Like I said - it was a good paying assignment and it really made us appreciate America and Texas !


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