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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To not understand people that dont eat leftovers?

876 replies

Eliza9917 · 01/01/2019 15:14

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.

OP posts:
Ollivander84 · 02/01/2019 20:08

I got an apple pie off the hot counter yesterday for 8p. Wasn't leaving that there!

Hushhush89 · 02/01/2019 20:08

@ReflectentMonatomism.... to be honest I don't know, all I know is nothing will happen because I won't risk it....

That actually made me shudder when I read you had eaten some that was frozen 5 years ago... to me that is wrong in so many ways....

cantkeepawayforever · 02/01/2019 20:10

Hush, you do clearly have some significant anxiety around food that takes you outside the 'choice not to eat leftovers' scale.

The severity of your issue is obviously inconvenient on a personal level, but not - in the nicest possible way - applicable to many other people. Do you feel that there are others in your own personal circle who feel / behave as you do?

Crudd · 02/01/2019 20:11

Fair enough Hush. Acting as an armchair psychologist for a moment, it sounds like you might have OCD or something similar. I've been aghast at some people's attitude to leftovers in here but you seem to have some real hang-ups about food. If you're otherwise healthy and happy, crack on.

Ollivander84 · 02/01/2019 20:12

I have a condition called neutropenia. Mine is quite severe and means I can't fight off bacterial infections. Technically I'm not even meant to eat fresh fruit or bagged salad but my consultant agrees given its for life and I have no history of food poisoning I can be slightly more relaxed
I regularly eat leftovers, reheated takeaway, stuff after the BBE/use by. Currently eating omelette with eggs dated 24th December. And I've never ever been ill because I smell/taste everything and if I'm in doubt then I bin it. The only thing I don't risk is fish/seafood

Hushhush89 · 02/01/2019 20:14

@cantkeepawayforever there are no others that think like me (not that I know of anyway) everyone always mocks me, it's actually caused arguments between me a DH but honestly, I don't care what others think about me tho

Hushhush89 · 02/01/2019 20:21

@Crudd yeah think you are correct that I have a problem with food, been like it since I was 18 and moved in with my now DH

DavidBowiesNumber1 · 02/01/2019 20:28

Question to all those who "could never eat leftovers" ; what about cake or a dessert? So, if you bake or buy a cake (or a dessert) and it doesn't get finished in the first sitting, do you throw it away or will you keep it for the next day?

ChibiTotoro · 02/01/2019 20:29

@Hushhush89
A salad is technically full of leftovers, unless you eat whole heads of lettuce, cucumber etc in one sitting? The remainder will be used in someone else's meal. Unless you're dining strictly on foods like whitebait or poussin you're destined to eat leftovers. In the case of the poussin unless it says cooked to order, it's likely to have been pre-cooked, microwaved and crisped up in the oven again.

DavidBowiesNumber1 · 02/01/2019 20:30

Just to clarify, for the permanently hard of understanding, again leftovers means a portion or more of the cake/dessert that wasn't served up. NOT the crumbs off plates!

OhTheRoses · 02/01/2019 20:36

Just stirred some leftover salsa into our chilli. And put a dollop of leftover guac on top. There's a portion of chilli left. We'll have a spoonful of it with our bangers, mash and beans tomorrow. The left over mixed salad is in my lunch box for tomorrow with the tiny bit of left over rice.

Hushhush89 · 02/01/2019 20:39

@DavidBowiesNumber1. I only ever have 1 slice from a cake (the day it has its first cut) and if the others haven't eaten it by day 3 it gets binned

Hushhush89 · 02/01/2019 20:40

@ChibiTotoro salad never lasts long in my house and again, I will use it the day I buy it and then after that, if I want another salad next day or day after I will buy fresh again

LisaD76 · 02/01/2019 20:41

I would love to reduce our food waste ... I grew up in a large working class family and we never had leftovers so wouldn’t know what to do with them... and we do waste drumsticks, wings, thighs and all the meat from underneath our chicken so it is really wasteful... any recipes for leftovers thrown my way would be welcome

Jsmith99 · 02/01/2019 20:42

I am genuinely shocked that so many people will waste perfectly good food.

The idea of roasting a leg of lamb or a joint of pork then binning what doesn’t get eaten at the first meal is frankly obscene. They don’t deserve to eat meat.

abacucat · 02/01/2019 20:44

Lisa Mix chicken leftovers with low fat creme fraiche, fry some leeks and mix them in, add pepper and mixed herbs, and put in a pie with shortcrust pastry. Easy to make.

abacucat · 02/01/2019 20:46

And I too am amazed at the waste of food on this thread. I now understand why so much goes to landfill.

ChibiTotoro · 02/01/2019 20:47

Hushhush you said if you go out you only really order salad. Do those salads you order just consist of cherry tomatoes and whole olives?

Oblomov18 · 02/01/2019 20:48

I find this hard to understand too.

If there is any leftovers I bag it up and make myself a small lunch for work the next day, or freeze it - I have tonnes of such small bags in the freezer.

Or if I get lots of bits I tell the ds's that we are having a 'bits and bobs' dinner. They love it! Genuinely. Because over the years I've sold it to them. So they get a bit of this, a bit of that, a small portion of lasagne and a pork pie that needs using up, with a bit of mash .......

I waste little. Salad?

Ollivander84 · 02/01/2019 20:49

@LisaD76
Strip the meat off and use cold for sandwiches, maybe with some stuffing or mayo or cranberry and salad or chicken sweetcorn and mayo (yum!)
Use in a stir fry
Chuck into a noodle based veg soup or make chicken and sweetcorn soup
Mix into cold pasta with pesto and cherry tomatoes for lunch

ChibiTotoro · 02/01/2019 20:50

Lisa, there is a brilliant Sainsburys recipe designed to use up leftovers from a roast; pork and pearl barley stew. It's essentially a tomato based risotto and works equally well with leftover chicken.

cantkeepawayforever · 02/01/2019 20:53

Lisa, absolutely the simplest thing to do once a chicken has been roasted is simply to strip the carcass of any meat, literally pulling it away from the bones.

Do you have any recipes that use fresh chicken, e.g. for a curry? If so,. use the stripped off meat, chopped to suitable sizes, in the recipe, omitting any 'pre-coming / searing' stage for the chicken.

If you don't have such recipes, a very, very easy version is to fry an onion and a couple of peppers, add a couple of spoonfuls of curry paste, then a tin of tomatoes and a slosh of water. Add yoghurt or cream or cream of coconut, depending on the curry paste chosen, cook until the peppers are tended and the sauce has thickened. Add a tablespoonful of chopped corainder, serve with rice and naan. Or make a thai version without inion but using green peppers and mushrooms, green thai curry paste, cook in a tin of coconut milk and add a handful of green beans or mangetout peas near the end of cooking.

Or, if you have rather more leftover chicken, pile it into a pie dish and add all your leftover gravy. Make shortcrust pastry, or use about half a packet of pre-made puff pastry, bake in a hot over and serve as chicken pie. Even better if you have a little stuffing, or chopped bacon, or sausagemeat stuffing.

abacucat · 02/01/2019 20:54

I also serve leftover cold chicken with veg and potatoes and a chutney.

Jsmith99 · 02/01/2019 20:55

Lisa cut the legs & wings off the chicken before you roast it, separate the drumsticks from the thighs and skin them. Takes 2 mins.

You can then marinade the legs in piri piri sauce then grill them or make a delicious curry which will be yummy because the meat is cooked in the bone in authentic Indian style.

Hushhush89 · 02/01/2019 20:57

@ChibiTotoro..... why you so interested in what I have on my salad? Yes I sometimes eat the tomatoes, occassionly I leave them. And if anyone served me a salad with olives on I'll be sending the dish back in with them. To be honest I very rarely eat out anyway as I can't see how my dish is being prepared, I'd rather just eat at home. I will even just go out and I'll only have a coke while I'm there just so my children don't miss out on have dinners out....

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