To not understand people that dont eat leftovers?

[Eliza9917]

I've seen a lot of people say this, and wondered why? What could eating leftovers possibly do to you? Is it a fear of poverty in some way?

My sister knew a girl that would roast a chicken for Sunday dinner and only eat the breasts and throw the rest away. To me, that's madness, I'd get at least 2-3 dinners and a soup out of a large chicken.

Most people's left overs just sound to me like batch cooking or cooking extra on purpose.

I ate Xmas stuffing and Turkey for Boxing Day and the day after and still have Turkey in the freezer. I don't think of these as left overs as I purposefully overcooked.

The type of left overs I usually have is the odd potato, a small amount of meat and veg etc. I can't make a meal out of that the next day for everyone as there just isn't enough. I could store it all until I have enough to make a meal out of it but storage space is a problem and any left overs that can't be used for another meal goes to the dogs.

I used to be bad with having too much left over food but I am a lot better at estimating what we will eat now, so the leftovers we have are usually very small amounts that I don't feel bad for throwing away or giving to the dogs.

I think it improves my culinary skills and I enjoy cooking more. So any good websites e.g. BBC good food

We give leftover meat to the cat, problem solved. And yes, we only consume the occasional fresh chicken/turkey so I’m not poisoning the cat with bacon before anyone calls the RSPCA .

Other food I only make enough to feed us so there’s very rarely any left over.

Because it's grabby and makes you look tight, and if you think it doesn't then you're deluding yourself.

We need a snort emoticon.

Also the upper classes can be notoriously tight and frugal.

I use any small bits and pieces for a single portion lunch for myself. Or for a single portion dinner for one of us (I routinely low carb, so sometimes we won’t eat exactly the same thing).

I am a big fan of using leftovers and take no notice of use by etc

If I can catch it I will eat it I have heard of leftovers being called YMCA
yesterdays muck cooked again

There is a difference between leftovers , batch cooking and wasting food by throwing it away uneaten

Yeah, small amounts I'd give to the dog or cats if it's things they can have.

Giving small bits of food to pets is a perfectly fine way of using leftovers.

IMO It’s about the attitude, about living responsibly and acknowledging one’s rights and responsibilities and the principle that all our actions do matter - it’s respecting the fact that a)an animal died for that food to be available to you, b) someone at some point had to work for the money used to buy it, and to provide it to you, c) other people in the world are dying for lack of food, d) other people in this country would be very grateful for that food.

But that’s my view on it and that’s how I try to live. It’s not my place to dictate to others how they should live, and I don’t worry about what they do or don’t do. I can only do what I can do live in a way that feels right to me.

One of my favourite clients I care for as a lady that stores absolutely everything, a tablespoon of veg here, a left over boiled potato there. She'll occasionally throw it all in a pan and cover it with beaten egg and make herself a 'surprise omelette' she can't fathom why you'd waste bits a bobs. Last time I saw her she had a tiny amount of spag Bol, a tablespoon of Mac and cheese, some cut up sausage in her omelette and then some heated up leeks in cheese sauce on top!
Either that or she stirs it all through mash potato and then bakes it in 'cakes' to have with beans.
She's a darling, I'm similar, I'll eat anything for any meal. I'm sensible with storing food and often food tastes nicer when it's had a chance to mingle and develop (mainly food with spices and herbs)

Because it's grabby and makes you look tight, and if you think it doesn't then you're deluding yourself.

And we've come full circle to the OP, who wondered if fear of leftovers was something to do with fear of poverty. Mabel has proved that perfectly. "we are well off enough to be wasteful with our food, we wouldn't DREAM of eating leftovers and those of you who do are grabby and tight".

I do also agree it's a cooking ability thing. I have no problem making a chicken pie, or whizzing up leftover veg to make soup. SIL wouldn't have a clue, all of her soup is out of a tin, and pies from the freezer section at Tesco. So if they have leftover meat, the choices would be either eat it cold, or bin it. As she wouldn't have a clue what else could be done with it, and wouldn't be motivated to google and find out.

I’m a big fan of the surprise spanish omelette for all leftover veg and the quesadilla for cheese and ham stuff.

I think some people get only very little leftovers, not enough to do much with. Some just don't like them, some don't care.

If you have dogs or cats you have to feed them anyway, so it's not necessarily going to make much difference whether the leftover carrots go into the dog or bubble and squeak.

Yup, I do the random veg omelette too. Very tasty and a great way to use up little bits. Ditto to soups with bits of ham or bacon or similar. We do a lovely creamy vegetable gratin which tastes delicious and works with any number of veg, we did one recently with some leeks and celery that had been in the fridge for probably two weeks and we just hadn’t got round to using them. We could have thrown the celery out and many people probably would have because it certainly wasn’t crisp and some of it had gone rather limp, but it was perfectly fine to be cooked up that way and it made a really nice side for the steak we were having for dinner that day.

I only really use celery in bolognese type sauce so make a point of finely chopping the whole pack while it's still fresh and freezing it.

I then just take a handful from the bag in the freezer for the next few times I need it.

I buy celeriac because it’s easier to use up.

I buy celeriac because it’s delicious and also a very good veg to use in place of potato when you’re low carbing.

Hmmm might have celeriac this week, actually!

I've just cut up the left over rib off beef we had yesterday , I'm glad we don't waste food as I've weighed out 700 grams of beef . we are going to enjoy Guinness , beef and chestnut pie topped with potato

That’s a great idea to freeze some of the celery chopped up. I use it in my big salads for my lunches but I can only get through half a bunch in a week. Might freeze the rest this week, although it’s easier to use the extra in the winter as we make more soups and stews.

Ohhhh Bertie that sounds so good. I’ve relaxed my eating over Christmas and a pie would be just the thing as a last indulgence before I go back to being more careful!

I've just eaten some glorious Chinese leftovers lol.

But serious, people are missing out cause all my homemade curry's, chilli's etc all taste so much better the next day or when frozen and reheated later!

I also have a rule , if good is passed its sell by date and it smells ok, looks ok then it will be ok as long as it's heat through ....

If food *

Best way to reheat pizza = in a frying pan, with the lid on. Tastes just as good as first time round