to be fuming that after we had all eaten our beef stew lunch MiL announced she's made it on Thursday morning.

[AAAvegetable]

Thanks MiL, what I really need tonight is a bout of food poisoning to hit all of us together.

How rude. I would never serve guests meat that I prepared four days previously.

You probably wouldn't like my dad's favorite (only) recipe:
Get a chicken and chuck it in a big pot.
Add various assorted unwashed but roughly chopped veg.
Add as much water as you want and a handful of pearl barley.
Cook it for about 6 hours or whatever you think.
Eat as much as you fancy.
Leave the leftovers in the pot on the stove.
Re-heat the next day and eat as much as you want.
Repeat until gone.
He's never had a day off work in his life.

Beef stew improves on reheating. A good stew is always made in advance and then reheated for eating. I see others have said this, but it bears repeating.

Makes me worry how much perfectly good food is chucked out. I wish they would go back to teaching domestic science in school, I really do. Not crappy packaging design, good old fashioned cooking and food hygiene.

scroll down for 'food storage chart', I think you'll all live OP

3 days in fridge is fine, as long as it's heated through properly. We do that all the time.

Don't ever eat at our house, we have a somewhat robust approach to food. I sniff it, it smells OK I eat it.

Last time anyone had food poisoning was in Singapore 2001. Had a cold so sniff test no good.

Do people who worry get dick more often because they worry or do they worry because they get sick more often.

Humans are tough buggers. Like cockroaches.

SICK! not DICK!

Must Start Worrying More.

Are you dead yet OP??

So - are you all still alive?

It depends on your own digestive system, tbh.

My mum used to give me nearly pernament food poisoning, i think that's why i happily turned vegan, i had been in so much distress growing up.

Those that are not bothered by what they eat, don't get it and think that it is just making a fuss about nothing.

Ha ha Morloth! I reckon people who worry get dick more often, yes :o

How long do I have to worry for before I see results?

Oh, how bourgeois of you OP!

It'll be fine.

Don't worry OP. I am really particular about food being fresh, and even I know it is safe for 4 days once cooked.

YANBU. I'd be disgusted too OP, just because something doesn't kill you doesn't mean that it's appetising and enjoyable to eat. I would never ever serve anything to guests that had been knocking round my fridge for 4 days! If it was that nice it wouldn't last 4 days in our house anyway. TBH I wouldn't really want to eat in her house again, if she thought that the fact that it was made on Thurs morn was worth mentioning at all, why did she wait until you had all finished? This sounds to me like she knew you would be put off but she wanted to serve it anyway. I wouldn't trust her cooking in future, but then again I am quite fussy about things like this.

How are you all OP? Still alive or stuck in the loo?

I can't believe a thread about stew got such a response! Or how excited I am to hear how the OP is feeling today

I do this all the time (although I think we've established that this is pretty normal). It's never poisoned me.

You ok today, OP?

Mmmm, beef stew!
Sounds like your MIL is a) well organised and b) a good cook - she could have just served something from a packet.
I often cook meals on a Friday that we will eat on Monday/Tuesday and we're all still alive!