To ask for the rest of the chicken?

[startwig1982]

I recently went over to a friend's house after dinner and she and her DH had had roast chicken plus the trimmings.

While she was making cups of tea, she started to bag up the rest of the chicken and the carcass to go in the bin! There was at least half a chicken left and so I expressed my astonishment at her throwing it away.

Apparently she never keeps leftovers and always bins whatever is left, even if it's half a roast!
So I asked her if I could have it instead. She said yes but was a bit about it, but I couldn't bear all that going to waste when you could get another 2 meals out of it. So WIBU?

[Oysterbabe]

Was it a mumsnet chicken? There would be at least another 6 meals on that

[Charley50]

Hate wasting food. YANBU. I wrapped up my friends uneaten steak in a serviette on a hen night once, carried it around all night, to a trendy Hoxton bar, and then, unexpectedly, to a club. Got home about 7am, crashed out, woke up and had a sirloin steak sandwich to bring me back to life!
My friend did make some 'skanky' comments but she envied me my brunch that day.
She wouldn't throw a half-eaten chicken away though.

[Charley50]

Carried it in my clutch bag.

[DeadGood]

SpreadYourHappiness you certainly sound smug happy with your choices. You just don't care, eh?

[SpreadYourHappiness]

DeadGood No, I'm not smug. There's nothing to be smug about . I'm indifferent, really. I don't deliberately throw away food with glee, but if neither DH nor I wish to have any leftovers we may end up with (and quite honestly, it's seldom that we do), I have no problem with throwing it away.

[DeadGood]

Spread, you don't have to tell me there's nothing to be smug about - I certainly don't think your attitude is anything to be proud of.

Maybe you don't realise it, though, but your tone is ... if not smug, then complacent probably covers it. Do you have any idea how many times you breezily declared that your wastage of food doesn't impact on anyone else?

"Food waste doesn't bother me at all; it's my money to spend as I please and it doesn't affect anyone else."

"A third of the world not having enough food isn't affected by me throwing food away."

"I just don't like leftovers. Each to their own. It doesn't affect anyone else."

"I admit I am wasteful when it comes to food. But that's my choice; it doesn't affect anyone else."

"the hypothetical chicken I bought was already dead and would have been bought by someone else had I not bought it."

"that won't affect how I deal with food"

I take your point that you don't actually throw much away, so... that's good, I guess? But making declarations like "food waste doesn't bother me at all" makes you sound like the worst kind of first-world person.

[SpreadYourHappiness]

DeadGood It's really irrelevant how many times I mentioned that. Whether I say it once or a hundred times, that doesn't change the outcome.

If I'm the worst kind of first-world person you've come across, then I'm truly thankful that you have not had a hard life.

[MrsPeelyWaly]

Im still of the opinion Spreadyourhappiness is deliberately being contrary just for the fun of it and is best taken with a pinch of salt.

[PoochSmooch]

I'd have taken it too, OP!

But then I have no shame. I don't just use the chicken carcasse for stock, but I'll happily chuck stripped chicken leg bones off people's plates into the pot too. I'm amazed I'm not dead of disgustingness

Food waste is a huge problem. The resources - water, chemicals, transport costs - that go into food production are so huge and impactful, that inflating them by 25% in order to have stuff to chuck away is so needlessly, selfishly profligate it makes me seethe. Particularly meat.

[JonesyAndTheSalad]

My Mum took an almost complete chicken from my house one day OP. For my brother. All I'd taken from it were the legs! I was binning it as nobody would eat the breast.

She grabbed it and said "No way are you throwing that away!"

It's fine!

[BarbaraofSeville]

Whatever people say, food in the UK is comparatively cheap for most people and this is the consequence in that people don't value it. This then leads to animals being raised in disgusting conditions to keep it cheap because a lot of people won't pay for a nicely raised chicken. And then they get all precious about 'not eating leftovers' and think nothing about throwing half of it away because it wasn't especially expensive...

I would probably have asked for it too and I would have judged. I remember eating at a friends house.

They were struggling quite badly as the main breadwinner was out of work and I had actually bought most of the food for a generous treaty meal and probably assumed that they would have some nice leftovers for the next day. At the end of the meal they got up and threw it all in the bin .

[BarbaraofSeville]

But why do people buy whole chickens if they have no intention of eating it all? Just buy the bits you are going to use.

[user1473069303]

I hope she ate the oysters before attempting to throw the carcass away!

[FlindersKeepers]

You might want to give your pal a copy of the Sarah Wilson book Simplicious, it is all about reducing food waste, using your leftovers and she even asks people for the untouched stuff from their sharing plates in restaurants .
If you want to see how some of the recipes are, this blogger [https://dreamingofalmonds.com/2015/11/08/1-a-simplicious-challenge-cooking-306-recipes/ is cooking]

[FlindersKeepers]

[https://dreamingofalmonds.com/2015/11/08/1-a-simplicious-challenge-cooking-306-recipes/ is cooking] her way through the book.

[DeadGood]

"Whatever people say, food in the UK is comparatively cheap for most people and this is the consequence in that people don't value it. This then leads to animals being raised in disgusting conditions to keep it cheap because a lot of people won't pay for a nicely raised chicken. And then they get all precious about 'not eating leftovers' and think nothing about throwing half of it away because it wasn't especially expensive."

Completely agree. And the thing that makes me angry is that people say things like "it's my money to spend as I please and it doesn't affect anyone else."

It isn't to do with money, FFS. People worked to make that food. Resources were used to package it. Energy was spent transporting it. And animals literally died for it.

Yet people will openly say "it doesn't affect anyone else" and actually believe it. This sort of thing makes me want to opt out of the human race.

[user1473069303]

I agree too, DeadGood.

And not wasting food sometimes takes a bit of planning and extra effort but it is worth it.
With leftovers in the fridge I try to be realistic and ask myself, will I finish these before they go off? If not, they get bagged up for the freezer (in labelled bags!).
Leftover chicken can be used in many different ways and stock is dead quick if you have a pressure cooker, especially an electric one (just the carcass and water is fine!).

[minipie]

I wouldn't have been able to help myself asking for the leftover chicken OP.

Mind you I've been known to ask others (generally only family!) for their pork/lamb chop bones if insufficiently gnawed. They're leaving the best bit!!

[TheOnlyColditz]

Close friend - I'd have been openly horrified and humourously berated them for the rest of their days, referring to them only as "MoneyBags McChickenWaster" forever. And I'd have taken their chicken with strict instructions to never ever throw chicken away again. (We are all vv close and I am a know pennypincher with leftovers)

New friend or acquaintance - I would keep my mouth shut but I would never forget it, I would have to ring my dad that night and exclaim "You will NEVER guess what someone threw IN THE BIN!"

[CalmItKermitt]

Don't get the issue. I'd have done that with any of my friends and none of them would turn a hair.

[TimeIhadaNameChange]

Definitely NBU.

I was in a similar situation recently, only it was just the carcass that was going in the bin but I was surprised (knowing my friends) that they weren't going to make soup with it or something. I was offered it with a laugh, but since I live many hundreds of miles away (and travelling by train) I couldn't take it. But if I'd lived nearer I would most definitely have taken it.

[msrisotto]

Not wasting food is for overweight people? Are you mad? What a weird sort of snobbery. FWIW I would never waste half a chicken and have a healthy BMI. What a strange thing to say!

[GallivantingWildebeest]

I think what you did was fine, and she was being really wasteful!

We throw about milions of tons of edible food in this country every year. You were just doing your bit to reduce that!

[shinynewusername]

The thought of eating food after it's been cooked and isn't hot anymore makes me feel quite ill. Food waste doesn't bother me at all; it's my money to spend as I please and it doesn't affect anyone else

So you never eat cold chicken, ham etc? If you do, why would you be happy eating meats cooked in some factory, rather than at home where you can ensure they are properly stored and prepared?