I can’t physically eat leftovers

Not sure what you want from this thread if you 'absolutely can't' left overs then you'll just have to buy lunch or cook every single day of your life. I mean it's you who has to pay more than most people in the uk for food

@Funkyslippers you had 3 more full meals yourself out of 1 take away dish? Or in a take away for a family, 3 people had a 2nd meal? Don't ask me why I am being so pedantic about understanding!! Just curious. I had beef and black bean + rice from the Chinese last night (about 2/3) and the last 1/3 for lunch today. No way could it stretch further.

OP, I am big into using leftovers/ meal prep/ batch cooking it sounds like something psychological is blocking you. Did you have a bad experience with something being badly gone off? My sis used to hate raw chicken fillets that had been frozen, defrosted then cooked. She said they were only good if used straight from fresh. She now freezes them, I asked her what changed, she said she had to buy/ do the food shop and could only go to the butcher once a week not several times a week like in my house growing up.

You can, but you choose not to.

It is wasteful and unnecessary, it is also illogical and inconsistent unless you never eat out, eat takeaway or eat pre-prepared food.

Just eat it, have a small portion and ignore the "this is gross" voice in your head. There is no reason that eating food you normally eat a few hours later would make you sick. Keep telling yourself it is your brain playing tricks on you. Either it will work eventually, or you will need some sort of therapy/hypnosis to get over this illogical phobia/aversion.

I have this issue too with almost all leftovers! I hate the smell and texture of it, i know I’m a weirdo with food so I voted you’re unreasonable but so am I 😁

I’m the same, turns my stomach. I can’t only eat freshly cooked food!

I regularly make double so that we can have it the next or next night. So I made curry on Saturday with rice and tonight we are having the other half with chips and salad. It saves me time every few days.

I very much presume the op includes this as well in her aversion

Any reference to “normal”

aways makes me chuckle

Yes, since you ask, it is strange and wasteful.

@Antarcticant - I am with you on that... I thought I was the only one, but I literally cannot stand the taste of anything that has been in clingfilm - especially sandwiches!

I am the same depending on what it is. Anything that was "wet" for example anything that was in a sauce really makes me gip. Cold meat like chicken etc doesnt bother me.

In my head, it's like I can almost "feel" the fats and oils in the food congealing and that is why I have a psychological barrier to it.

Don't have leftovers then. Batch cook and divide the food BEFORE you eat. That way food is portioned in tubs for the freezer as it's original purpose. It isn't leftover.

YABU to cook too much and then not eat it. Just cook smaller portions.
My DS says he won't eat 'freezer food' but I cook it and don't tell him and he doesn't even notice the difference.

This probably shouldn't be in AIBU. It should be in SN, the ASD section.

Cold steamed leftover broccoli with a dash of ketchup

i would happily live off

I have this problem (plus a load of other food related issues) and have ASD. I also can't eat most cold foods, can't eat any food from the fridge if something strong smelling is stored in there at the same time and have to cover my hands (marigolds!) before touching anything from the fridge.
Weirdly, I'm fine with eating reheated food that hasn't been in the fridge.

Well according to this thread YOU started… your own “DH thinks I am wasteful” when it comes to milk! 😂

www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/3462382-Do-you-have-milk-leftover-in-the-bowl

@LuckyAmy1986

I love a leftover for lunch but my DF and DS are like you, so I don't think it's unusual. Can you eat them if they are turned into a completely different meal? I made stir fry using leftover beef from Sunday dinner for example.

Pre-prepared? hehe, pre-pared even.

totally agree, leftover chicken thighs are nasty

I was like this until very recently, the sight and smell of the food made me feel sick, I started getting my oh to heat it up instead and forced myself to eat it, and I was very surprised that some of the dinners we're even nicer re-heated, we now have the extra portions when we are having a busy week.

Yes wierd. Not normal. I try to waste as little as possible. Almost nothing is thrown away. A bit of limp lettuce. I batch cook a lot. And when I cook anything, I cook extra so there is some left over for lunch the next day: spag Bol, curry, an extra chicken Kiev. Even if it's not quite a portion I still put it into a container and take it for my lunch the next day.
Food wastage is minimal in our house. With two hungry teen ds's almost nothing gets put in the bin.

I voted YABU, but only because you are clearly cooking too much for one meal. Try reducing the ingredients by half and cook it twice instead. That way, although you will probably use more energy doing it, at least you will eat the food.
Just out of curiosity, have you ever batch-cooked? ( I mean, in the sense that you cook up E.g. Shepherd’s pie filling and mashed potato, assemble into several Shepherd’s pies, and freeze, then cook from the freezer) or is it that reheating yesterday’s Shepherd’s pie from the fridge turns your stomach? If you’ve no problem with heating food from the freezer, it may help to find instructions on how long to heat self-cooked food and see if that gives you peace of mind….article here shows how to do it.

www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjO3dSxrpv4AhVLhFwKHcZGD0wQFnoECAUQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wikihow.com%2FReheat-Frozen-or-Chilled-Food&usg=AOvVaw3REMM26G69dyq02CyM8-eB

I love leftovers. Sometimes I even make extra food specifically so the next day I can have the leftovers for lunch. Lasagne, curries, chilli, stew all taste better the next day.

Op I am exactly the same!

Not so bad with eg. Some left over chicken to have in a sandwich but a frozen portion of Bolognese defrosting and then separating gives me the ick and I often end up throwing them away even if I have set out to eat it