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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To scrape leftover pasta bake back into the dish to eat later

173 replies

Therunecaster · 04/03/2018 14:07

So DP and I are on a tight budget this month. To save money I cooked a massive pasta bake but was rather too generous with the portion sizes for DS and DDs lunch. To not waste good food I scraped their leftovers back into the pasta dish to freeze for later. Kids saw me doing this and have accused me of being a minger. Am I or are they BU...

OP posts:

RhiWrites · 05/03/2018 12:13

Sorry OP, I can see you’re proud of your frugalness but no. That’s horrible.

I batch cook and I’d freeze leftovers. But I wouldn’t scrape half eaten food off plates to use again and I wouldn’t want to eat round at yours.

Also, taking dirty clothes out of the laundry baskets sounds horrible. My gym leggings don’t smell much because I only wear them for about an hour but I know I’ve sweated buckets into them. Just because something doesn’t look dirty doesn’t mean it is.

This isn’t something to be proud of.

DGRossetti · 05/03/2018 12:25

Fried pasta is a thing in Italy (well, in our house leastways).

Works especially well with smaller pasta - macaroni, farfalle, conchiglie - and especially if they were baked (al forno) originally.

Just for lolz, I sometimes fry the freshly cooked pasta before adding sauce.

CheesyWeez · 05/03/2018 12:36

I'd do that OP. You're all family, it's been recooked. Can't see a problem. If my kids left a bit I'd eat it off their plate, wouldn't anyone?

I'm not keen on sharing cold drinks but hot food is fine.

Onlyoldontheoutside · 05/03/2018 12:40

YABVU.Scraping left overs into a dish where the children could see.! It's like the five second rule and if they didn't see it,it didn't happen.I do this but I am the only one that knows(and a mners now).

Lethaldrizzle · 05/03/2018 12:47

Oysterbabe- a voice of reason amidst the hysteria

dustarr73 · 05/03/2018 13:06

Im not germaphobein the slightest.I eat things out of date if they smell fine.I kiss my partner and kids.I just dont want their spit or golliers in my dinner.Theres nothing wrong wiht that.

maddiemookins16mum · 05/03/2018 13:15

I (rather greedily) served myself 3 sausages the other day (with good old mash and beans). I didn't eat the 3rd. DH said 'are you eating that?', I said no, I'd have it sliced in a bread roll for lunch the next day.

I think it's fine to do, it's not the same as a restaurant reserving food at all.

SaucyJack · 05/03/2018 13:19

I'm not germphobic either. I will happily eat leftovers off of the floor anyone's plate.

But I draw the line at scraping plates and re-serving chopped up food waste two days later. Pan to plate is a one-way street AFAIC.

Unless you're literally going to starve otherwise, then cold, congealed pasta remnants should just be headed straight for the bin. There isn't a war on any more.

LaurieMarlow · 05/03/2018 13:32

I can't get too worked up about this. It's family after all.

One thing I can't reconcile though is that everyone, everywhere is always telling me that they hate waste. Yet so many have a shit fit over a situation like this? I think if people truly cared about waste, they wouldn't have an issue with the OP's actions.

dustarr73 · 05/03/2018 13:39

@maddiemookins16mum thats not the same at all.An untouched sausage is fine.I bet if you had chewed it and spit it out,he would have said no thanks.

Myheartbelongsto · 05/03/2018 14:01

That is disgusting.

Hillarious · 05/03/2018 15:14

Yeah, it's just family. The OP, I'm sure, isn't talking about small bits of pasta all scraped together. It must be a substantial portion to do what she's doing.

nottwins · 05/03/2018 15:52

Yep, I'd do that. I wouldn't serve it to DH because he objects, but I eat my kids leftovers regularly. I get dribbly kisses off them all the time. A bit of food off their plates is far more hygienic in the scheme of things.

I'd only inflict it on others if they were happy with it though. DH never eats leftovers that have been on someone else's plate, and that's fair enough.

fannyfelcher · 05/03/2018 18:48

Oh my god, reusing food off a plate is totally boak worthy! You do know that when they take the fork out of their mouth, the fork has saliva on it? and then its very likely been poked about in the pasta while they look for the tasty bits. So you have just mixed food from 4-5 different biological sources, that has already started pre-digesting in with fresh "safe" food. A big biological cauldron of bacteria. And you are going to eat it?

That would likely hospitalise me and sorry but your kids are right. It is minging in every way.

Kaykay06 · 05/03/2018 18:55

Not sure I’d do that, if it was my own family and Someone had leftovers of something I liked I’d eat theirs. Not much different but I wouldn’t save it in a dish with untouched leftovers. But at the end of the day what’s the big deal, it’s not like any of us are being forced to eat it just give em less next time, I hate food waste so I get how you feel

Gammeldragz · 05/03/2018 18:56

We do this all the time. It's food. Waste is wrong.

JonnyUtah · 05/03/2018 19:14

I not horrified but I wouldn't do that. I usually freeze left overs from the dish and eat the plate leftovers the next day but just me.

Original poster

Therunecaster · 05/03/2018 19:41

Well I survived the germ ridden, salvia drenched twice cooked and reheated pasta. It tasted lovely and saved me 4.00
lunch money.
I'm really grateful for all your comments. This was my first post. Can it go in classics pleeeeassee x

OP posts:

Partypopper123 · 05/03/2018 19:49

I'm a bit late to the thread, I have To say I'm all for being frugal as I'm on a budget, but this is grim.
I've just bought a huge bag of pasta for 30p from Aldi to make a pasta bake.

Nomorechickens · 05/03/2018 19:51

There is a particular problem if you are freezing the leftovers : once bacteria have been frozen and defrosted they multiply much more quickly. So if you must, you should probably thoroughly reheat the leftovers from the plates straight away, cool, chill, don't freeze, and keep separate from the untouched dish, then eat asap

VladmirsPoutine · 05/03/2018 19:57

I wouldn't do this but I wouldn't send you to jail for having done it. I think your dcs have a point but anyway glad you enjoyed it. It still sounds grim AF but to each their own.

MrsJBaptiste · 05/03/2018 20:06

Oh FFS, unclench some of you!

The OP isn't serving this meal to anyone outside the family so what does it matter? You gave birth to your kids but now you can't bear forks that have been in their mouths to be near you? Ridiculous.

And OP, I also take clothes out of the wash basket if they don't look dirty. DS2 has a habit of dumping everything in there when most if the time it's only been worn after school for a day or two.

anothersuitcase · 05/03/2018 20:11

Ugh! I save my kids leftovers all the time, but I bag it with colour co-ordinated tape (geeky) so that they only get their own leftovers. So ds1 green, dd1 yellow etc. I wouldn't want to eat a mishmash if their saliva and I have birth to them!

Loonoon · 05/03/2018 20:15

I'd do it. And I also do the laundry basket thing. DCs come home from school, wear a tshirt for 4 hours before bed and then put it in the washing as they CBA to put it away. It all gets neatly folded and left on their beds with the clean washing. I do it to DH too sometimes.

HotelEuphoria · 05/03/2018 20:20

I am ok with doing this and reheating as a family, but I wouldn't refreeze pasta. It's dry as shit when reheated, so freezing, then defrosting then reheating doesn't sound particularly tasty.

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