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Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To not understand about "leftovers"?

125 replies

user1477282676 · 27/12/2016 20:16

I keep reading threads about leftovers...people going on about how nice they are, how they love them and even arguments about what happens to them.

I never really have any from Christmas dinner! No more than from an average Sunday roast anyway....a few potatoes and some meat.

Is it because we only have myself, DH and two DC for Christmas dinner? Do people cook WAY too much?

What ARE these leftovers anyway? Is it piles of meat and a load of crusty stuffing? Dried up parsnips?

What's the deal?

OP posts:
booellesmum · 27/12/2016 20:28

We had bubble and squeak yesterday - mashed up roast potatoes, parsnips, mash, carrots, broccoli and sprouts that were left over.
Tonight we had left over turkey with the remains of the sausage meat and chopped sprouts fried with garlic.
My 84 year old mother has spent the afternoon making broth with the turkey carcass!
Tomorrow the rest of the turkey will go in a curry.
We also need to work our way through all the cheese and crackers and puddings that are left over!

ClashCityRocker · 27/12/2016 20:28

Tbf the only thing we had that set it apart from a Sunday roast for us was turkey instead of chicken, cranberry and bread sauce and red cabbage.

isseywithcats · 27/12/2016 20:28

the only leftovers i had from christmas day was loads of turkey as i thought i was catering for more people than actually turned up on the day and being as it was a big expensive free range bird i portioned the leftover meat into freezer bags and we will be eating it a bit at a time over the next month , the veg went in the bin cant be arsed trying to make stuff with left over veg, the bit of pork that was left over from boxing day has made very nice sandwiches today , no left over puds as my lot like their sweet stuff

KlingybunFistelvase · 27/12/2016 20:31

I think people tend to overcater for Xmas dinner tbh. My DDad deliberately overcaters, as he likes to eat the same meal again on Boxing Day!

You probably just have your portions right op. I don't like leftovers all that much. I find they lurk about, get all minging and smelly and end up going in the bin, which is really annoying. So, I'd probably aim to do as you do op, (if I'm ever allowed to have Xmas dinner in my own home that is Xmas Grin).

BIgBagofJelly · 27/12/2016 20:31

I make loads of different side dishes (loads of different veggies, bread sauce, cranberry sauce, stuffing, pigs in blankets, roasties, Yorkshire puddings etc), we also buy a big bird (turkey or goose) and I always make sure there is more than enough. Hardly ever bother making a Sunday roast so love to go all out at Christmas and absolutely love leftovers - making a christmas sandwich without having to cook. Also once you're going to the effort of cooking a roast you may as well make as much as you can fit in the oven and not have to cook the next day.

hippoinamudhole · 27/12/2016 20:32

My DD says that Christmas dinner leftovers taste better than the actual dinner itself

mumonashoestring · 27/12/2016 20:33

If you don't overcater then there's no reason you would have tons more leftovers than you'd get from a Sunday roast. I intentionally cook more than we need because I love:

Cold roast potatoes
Bubble and squeak (requires lots of extra carrots, parsnips, Brussels etc.)
Cold turkey and stuffing sandwiches
Turkey and ham pie

So our Christmas dinner and a baked ham did Christmas day, lunch and dinner on boxing day, & lunch and dinner today without repeating the same meal over and over or having to cook anything that required any degree of real effort.

LiviaDrusillaAugusta · 27/12/2016 20:33

We had beef, chips and salad - only leftovers were a bit of beef, which we ate yesterday. But we don't overcater

cardibach · 27/12/2016 20:38

OK. Focus on my (entirely un-serious, and definitely not patronising, whatever some may think) sadness and not my explanation of what leftovers everyone might have and why. I give up in MN lately. Everyone is all about picking up on stupid little details to cause trouble instead of discussing the point.

PurpleDaisies · 27/12/2016 20:40

OK. Focus on my (entirely un-serious, and definitely not patronising, whatever some may think) sadness and not my explanation of what leftovers everyone might have and why.

There was absolutely nothing in your post to suggest you weren't serious when you said you were sad about the op's Christmas dinner being like a Sunday roast.

PaulDacresConscience · 27/12/2016 20:41

I was laughing to DH earlier about this. Saw a great recipe which directed you to use leftover roast potatoes. Said to DH that I had no idea what leftover roasties were, as it's not something that has ever happened here Grin

SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius · 27/12/2016 20:42

We have goose, which does the five of us for Christmas dinner, and enough left over to do one more meal (shredded, mixed with soy sauce, honey and five spice then fried until sticky and served with rice), and apart from that, we don't have much in the way of leftovers.

I was hoping for some leftover roast potatoes and parsnips, and sprouts and chestnuts, because I wanted to make bubble and squeak, but I got the amounts of potatoes and parsnips pretty much spot on, so we ditched the leftover sprouts.

Original poster
user1477282676 · 27/12/2016 20:43

Cardi Well it is a traditional Christmas lunch that we have so no need for pity....I just don't like waste so don't cook much more than is needed. Plus none of us likes turkey so we either have lamb or chicken plus ham.

I suppose the ham is our version of leftovers....but the veg...I can't cook tonnes more than I know we need. That would be weird to me!

OP posts:
LiviaDrusillaAugusta · 27/12/2016 20:46

Why do people on MN struggle to understand that other people do things differently? So many times we get people asking for clarification (usually with plenty of faux shock) on why someone would have leftovers/not have leftovers/take shoes off/leave shoes on etc.

People don't do everything the same.

HTH.

Original poster
user1477282676 · 27/12/2016 20:46

To be clear.....I do do different and extra trimmings for Christmas, but cook enough for us all to eat...there's usually a bit left but not that any of us want to eat it!

I never thought cheese and cake and all that counted as leftovers...we have that. We've still got ham, Christmas cake, cheeses and extra relishes etc.

I think I thought everyone had extra trays of veg!

OP posts:
PurpleDaisies · 27/12/2016 20:46

I suppose the ham is our version of leftovers....but the veg...I can't cook tonnes more than I know we need. That would be weird to me!

Don't you batch cook at all? It's a really efficient way to cook food.

DancingHouse · 27/12/2016 20:46

I don't have leftovers either. It's just Dh and I so it's too much of a faff to have everything on one plate in one sitting so we'll have all the goodies spread across the week instead.

Pigs in blankets on Xmas Eve. Roast duck with carrots and roast potatoes for Xmas day. Cauliflower cheese on boxing day. Sprouts with bacon mash and gravy tonight. It's like one epic week long roast dinner.

WhenSheWasBadSheWasHorrid · 27/12/2016 20:46

Leftovers are amazing.

Turkey, sausagemeat, stuffing and cranberry sauce sandwiches.

Bubble and squeak. Will make soup from the carcass.

I still have stollen left. Stilton and pickled walnut sandwiches.

I've enough to keep myself in leftovers till the new year.

Dh and the kids will want "proper food" boring sods Grin

Original poster
user1477282676 · 27/12/2016 20:49

Purple no I don't...when people batch cook, do they just do twice as much as needed and then freeze? Wouldn't certain things be horrible warmed up though?

Roast veg for example....I wouldnt want that warmed up...I only like it fresh from the oven.

Curry etc I could see would be good batch cooked...and soup or bolognaise.

OP posts:
Eolian · 27/12/2016 20:50

I don't understand what you don't understand. Sometimes you have leftovers because people don't necessarily eat exactly the amount you expect them to. If these leftovers are useable, then you can use them in order to avoid waste or simply because they are still nice food to eat!

Sometimes the leftovers are planned - e.g. you roast a large chicken rather than a smaller one because you plan to use the rest of it to make a risotto the next day.

I think you are reading something odd into the whole leftovers thing. Nobody would cook tons of extra food on purpose unless they were planning to use some of it for a particular purpose afterwards.

Original poster
user1477282676 · 27/12/2016 20:51

Eolian well there were lots of things I didn't understand....they've been cleared up now thanks to people on this thread. :)

OP posts:
Lynnm63 · 27/12/2016 20:53

I don't have leftover veg but as I cook turkey, beef and ham we have leftovers of each meat. We had a buffet yesterday and today we ate the cold meat sandwiches with pickles today and the remainder of the buffet. It was delicious.

SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius · 27/12/2016 20:53

User - you are clearly good at something I am pretty terrible at - cooking the right amount of stuff - I admire that ability. I don't know how I managed to get it right with the potatoes this year - and if I am honest, the only reason I got the amount of parsnips right was that Tesco sent me a bag with just three biggish ones in it, so I couldn't over-cater.

I was brought up with a mum who rigidly controlled all portion sizes, and as a result, I dread not giving people enough and looking mean - so even if I measure/count out the right amount, the voice in my head tells me it doesn't look like anywhere near enough, and I twitch, and put more in.

It makes me feel pretty bad, to be honest, but I feel less bad if I make use of the leftovers.

Original poster
user1477282676 · 27/12/2016 20:54

I can understand the extra meat...they last a while and can be reused. I'm just a bit weird about warmed up food I suppose.

OP posts:
cardibach · 27/12/2016 20:54

Purple no absolutely nothing to suggest I wasn't serious except the fact it's blindingly obvious to anyone not looking for something to argue about. Why would anyone be sorry for someone over this in a serious way? do we really need to use e,or icons for the most obvious things now?
OP - bit disengenous there - surely you understand you make a smaller piece of meat than most at Christmas if you don't cook turkey? Does that go some way to explain leftovers?