Person who cooks the meal has first dibs on the leftovers

[Rach247]

I purchased the ingredients and made a pasta bake last night for the family. Nothing exciting but quite tasty nonetheless (I put tinned salmon in and lots of cheese). Husband ate three portions. There was a bit left over and I fancied it for my lunch today, to make a change from sandwiches when WFH. I went into the kitchen at 1pm to find my husband finishing it off.

AIBU to say that whoever cooks the meal has first dibs on the leftovers?

Don’t worry OP. It’s one of those topics on AIBU where you’d get a totally different answer on another day:. Quite possibly depending on the exact words used , the views of the first couple of posters or the way the wind is blowing.

I agree with this. It seems a lot of fuss over who eats leftover food.

YANBU although its more a question of manners than a hard and fast rule

in your favour is the fact that he'd already eaten more than his fair share
against- the use of ready made sauce- it does sound like you just mixed up several ready made ingredients and put them in the oven which is less physical and mental effort

take my tip and FREEZE your left over portion, he is much less likely to eat it😉

I agree, thats why I asked how big this pasta bake was that could feed a family, the dh has 3 portions (whatever that is) and there is still some left over.

😂

in your favour is the fact that he'd already eaten more than his fair share

Did he though? I mean what is a portion?

Not necessarily but I’ve been in that annoying situation where DH has eaten a shedload and my stomach has been rumbling, my mouth watering and I’ve gone to the fridge and it’s all gone. It’s just so infuriating when he’s already had 3/4 of it as well!!

I have a lasagna in the oven right now, I'm tempted to start a thread with pics and even a tape measure to ask how many portions Mumsnetters would think it will be. Tonight it is literally just lasagna with no sides at all.

take my tip and FREEZE your left over portion, he is much less likely to eat it😉

This is genius provided you have a microwave at work

freezing leftovers to eat the next day? A conversation would be better

I wouldn’t assume ‘dibs’ as such, but if you were both in the house at lunchtime then I think it’s really rude that he just dove straight in rather than seeing what you both wanted for lunch, and maybe shared it with a side salad, some bread, etc.
What did he assume you were going to have, or did he just not give you a thought at all?

If your husband is eating 3 portions the portion sizes you are serving aren't big enough. The poor blokes hungry

Nah - my husband’s stomach size is elastic depending on how much he likes something. If it’s delicious he’ll eat at least 3 people’s worth. If it’s just ok he’ll eat a normal portion and say it’s plenty.

Clearly this was a very good pasta bake (do you have a recipe OP)?

YANBU. 3 portions?! Greedy c*nt.

I do most the cooking. DP often has a second portion or a bit more that evening. He always leaves the leftovers for me to have the next day.

@ZeroFuchsGiven please don’t think I’m a tiny eater who serves miniature portions - couldn’t be further from the truth! We just have two small children who didn’t eat much.

@minipie this is exactly how he is! As other posters have pointed out, it really wasn’t a very exciting pasta bake. I think the copious amount of melted cheese on top really elevated it 😂

I dish mine straight into a lunchbox if I know I need it for work. I always have a hot meal at work cos I do a 17hr day. I don’t think I’ve cooked this though and dibs are mine on the food.

You should have said that you wanted it for lunch.

Everyone had a meal from it-surely it's then open season?

Wouldn't most people have leftovers of something that they enjoyed rather than a sandwich or the like?

The thing with calling dibs is that you actually have to call them. Then in that case the leftovers are all yours. Dibs aren't automatic.

YABU for not having said with elaborate casualness that you 'might' fancy the leftovers for lunch.

If you did a deadly response is permitted.

You're not doing a Massive Salad to go with it? YABVU.

THIS ^

Do you really not think it’s a bit off that he didn’t even ask if I wanted any?

Then there are some families needing to use food banks.

This just reads really weird to me. do you keep score of who has cooked? And they mentally own the food because they have cooked it?

unless I said to DH ‘please don’t eat that, I have earmarked it for work tomorrow’, I don’t think I have any claim over it. It just goes in the fridge for whoever wants it next.
if DH cooked lasagne and was pissed at me for eating the leftovers without asking because ‘he cooked it’- I’d think he was insane for thinking he could claim possession of a lasagne made for the family with family money.

This. Unless someone says that they'd like to take the leftovers for lunch, its a free for all at ours.

We also don't dish out leftovers based on how hungry people were the night before. Everyone eats as much as they want at meal times and then leftovers are separate.

We have this convention OP. Dh has just made a lovely mushroom risotto I have asked him if I can have the left over for lunch.