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.

I used to be terrible for wasting food and then I started to focus on finances and saving money. I'd cook 3 different meals each night for fussy kids.
Now it's tough shit and they eat what they're given. I make more, say bolognaise and do it a couple of days later with rice instead of pasta or whatever.
Kids need to learn that we are lucky to have food.
To throw away because you want to prove you can afford to is disgusting. How pathetic.

Leftover fan here! Today I made a ham and sweetcorn chowder for lunch and made bread to go with it. The ham is leftover from Xmas, there is still some left. I did bin a bit of the chowder as I filled 2 soup carriers for lunch (tomorrow and Thursday) and then after that I'd not wish to eat it again as it had fresh cream.

I love to test culinary capabilities by trying to make things out of leftovers. In all truth I find it really sad that people have the view that they don't need to watch money or wastage so they don't.

DH won't eat leftovers, whereas in our family we'd make a Sunday roast, then plate up 4 dinners for Monday night to reheat. It's definitely in his mind - if I defrost chilli and put it in the pan to heat up he can't tell if I've made it fresh or not. There is just 2 of us, I do make recipes for pies and lasagnes for 4 people so I can freeze a portion for myself - it's no different to a ready meal when I'm on my own.

I hate food waste. I just don’t understand throwing away food unless it really has gone off and is beyond use.

I often batch cook and freeze additional portions, but we don’t tend to have leftovers as such as for meat type meals we tend to buy the right size for the meal. But these days we mainly eat veggie food at home so don’t often buy joints etc.

People need to start taking a bit more responsibility for the impact their lifestyle has on the environment and food waste is probably an easy place to start. Meal plan, shop sensibly and you shouldn’t have to throw food out as you’ll use it all or make enough to freeze etc. A lot of resource goes into food production and it’s awful so much of it is wasted.

I have a family of foxes that come for supper each night so no waste here either.

How are people reheating lasagna BTW? I don't have a microwave! Will oven do?

As a child I used to put my lasagna in a sandwich I could try that I guess

@BatsAreCool Mushrooms keep for ages.

Get this, my mushrooms come in a paper bag without a date on it!!!

I just use my common sense on whether to eat them or not.

I try and keep food waste to a minimum, but don't always manage to use all leftovers. Cold meat is easy to bung in a sandwich for work the next day, and cold pizza or quiche is fine in a lunchbox, things that need heating up are harder to use unless you can heat stuff at work. If there is only one portion left, you still need to cook the next day for everyone else, so doesn't always fit in. Some things freeze OK, but we only have a small freezer, so I don't like to freeze stuff unless I know it will be used fairly soon.

How are people reheating lasagna BTW? I don't have a microwave! Will oven do?

Yes the oven is fine....cover with foil or it might dry out though. Like I said up thread, i add a tablespoon of water to it and a little extra drizzle of oil/knob of butter on top.

Some food doesn’t reheat well. I don’t like a reheated plate of Sunday lunch, just not my taste.

But...use the leftovers in a stir fry and make bubble and squeak from the veg. Great!

I often take leftovers for work.

How fortunate for all the leftover haters that they weren't around in the late 1940s/early 50s when we had rationing. I can assure you that with the per person weekly allowances of 50g cheese and butter, meat to the value of 1 shilling and sixpence, 1 egg etc, every single scrap of food was eaten and between meal snacks non existent.

I live alone and always eat any leftovers. Also, if I make a stew, it would be ridiculous to make 1 portion, far better to make five or six and freeze the extra portions. Also as others have said, some things like stew DO taste better the next day.

Eliza9917 mine came in a plastic container with film across. They go slimy a few days after their BB date and I don't want to eat them.

People asked a question. I gave an answer. Honestly people can call me what they like but it won't make me eat things I don't want or spend time cooking a meal I don't want simply to freeze it or eat later.

If it's hard to stomach the answer why ask the question in the first place.

Stupid

As an aside @BatsAreCool I find that mushrooms with film over them get very slimy quickly (not envy) I buy them individually in a brown paper bag now or even better get yourself down to the frozen aisle for some and be a lazy bugger like me

Stupid

Ok I am out. I take it this thread is only for people to say how great they are on using left overs and no waste.

A discussion or conversation which is one sided or name calling isn't something I can be bothered with either.

Batsarecool - the question was asked because food waste is a huge environmental issue. It affects us all.

People asked a question. I gave an answer. Honestly people can call me what they like but it won't make me eat things I don't want or spend time cooking a meal I don't want simply to freeze it or eat later

But if you bought those ingredients to make a meal, it must be something you generally like to eat...ok, perhaps you didn't fancy eating it that evening but surely if you'd cooked it, would you not have wanted to eat it the next day?

"What do people mean when they say don’t like leftovers? It’s the same food you have previously eaten and liked..."

Doesn't taste the same when it's not fresh. I remember 'old' baked beans when I was a child. Put me off for life.

I've got teenagers therefore I don't have leftovers

There are lots of things which are bad for the environment but may be difficult to give up depending on your circumstances. E.g. if you live in a rural area, you are likely to need a car, and will use that car more than a city-dweller. People get this.

But cutting down food waste is easy and actually saves you effort. That's why people don't get it when other people choose not to do so.

Actively choosing to do something that's bad for the environment when the alternative is easier and cheaper does require some justification beyond 'I don't want to'.

We purposefully make huge pots of chilli etc for a meal and then freeze the rest. What's the difference here between batch cooking and "leftovers"?
It saves us time and money by cooking up a large pot and freezing portions of what is leftover for a decent ready meal for any of us.

They go slimy a few days after their BB date and I don't want to eat them.

Take the cling film off and store in the fridge and you won't have this issue.

I'm beginning to think that better cooking, more sensible storage and a healthy disrespect for bb dates would solve some of the issues.

Yay, it's sanctimonious hour!

My late father would never have cold meat from the Sunday roast on Monday or ever, so my brother and I would always make a point of calling round and we were given the cold joint to take home!
Some food actually improves when re heated.

It's not really shocking. Food has become too cheap for a lot of people and we can buy more than we need.

Lasagne is best when re-heated!