Leftovers

[blueyedgirl5946]

Just wondering, does your family eat them? We do. If we don't eat it immediately, it can stay in the refrigerator for a day or so. After that, I will freeze it. Eventually we do eat everything.
My husband said if we have a yard dog, he would starve.

Do you have any favorite recipes to use up your leftovers. One of my favorites is to use the rotisserie chicken to make chicken salad.

 

[Kieka]

I am very much not a leftover person. Don't ask me why, but I rarely eat or take leftovers. I think it is that they don't taste the same or I don't want the same thing that soon. There are a few rare items I will eat as leftovers; mostly meats that can be diced into omelets or served in a different manner and a dish or two that are better the second day. My Mom though is a leftover fiend and will have a fit if you even consider throwing out food unless it is obviously moldy or bad. It tends to work out because she will usually take my leftovers. She got a vacuum sealer she uses all the time to seal up food to freeze for later; we have a full size standing freezer that is full to bursting with frozen leftovers.

 

[Winchester]

We do! Rick loves leftovers for his lunch and I will purposely make enough of dinner for him to take a bit in his lunch the next day; he'd rather have that than some kind of sandwich with deli meat. I like to think it's a little healthier, too. We also have a vacuum sealer for some things.

I make a rotisserie-style chicken (recipe is in the Chicken and Poultry thread) and leftovers from that are used either in a deep-dish chicken pot pie or to make a BBQ chicken pizza with red onions and smoky Provolone. Sometimes with a regular roast chicken, I'll make creamed chicken to serve in popovers or over cat-head biscuits. Leftover roast beef will be used for steak gyros; I've used leftovers to make small beef pasties, too. We had a standing rib roast back in January; the ribs and meat will go into beef and noodle soup in the next week or so. Leftover ham will go into omelettes or scalloped potatoes or mac-and-cheese or ham and bean soup. The good thing about using leftover meat in soups is that you don't have to cook it for a long time because the meat has already been cooked....it helps on a busy week-night to have a fairly good supper without a long cook time.

For me, the thing about serving leftovers is that I try to make them not seem like leftovers. Rick doesn't care if I use leftover chicken in a chicken pie; he really likes chicken pie! And BBQ chicken pizza. Or creamed chicken with waffles or biscuits or popovers. He's not a big chicken fan, but he does like those meals. So, to me, it's kind of like being a bit on the frugal side; if I know I can get 3-4 meals from a roasting chicken or a nice ham, that's good. Especially if they're all somewhat different meals. And thanks to the vacuum sealer and the freezer, we pretty much have our choice of what to have for dinner.

 

[blueyedgirl5946]

Winchester your talk about the vacuum sealer reminds me that is something I used to have to. I wore it out and didn't replace it. My children were gone by that time. By all means, a freezer is a wonderful way to be able to pull out a meal ready in 15 minutes or less.

 

[nansiludie]

I really like leftovers, especially if you have a couple days worth. That way you can have a bit of variety for dinner. I also like roast leftovers, chicken, pork, ham, all sorts of nice meals to be made or sandwiches.

 

[Kat0121]

I'm not a big leftover person but we rarely have any because it's just the 2 of us.

 

[Winchester]

Our son was a big leftover lover, too. He always preferred to take a lunch to school instead of buying lunch. He loved to take pieces of roast chicken in a sandwich, a thermos of soup with muffins and a cupcake or some cookies. Sometimes I'd put some peanut butter on celery sticks and wrap them up for him to go with his sandwich. (Peanut butter on celery sticks is a big thing in my family; we all love them.)

Once I was working third shift and didn't get home until after he had already gotten on the school bus. We had had pork chops the night before and there were two chops left in the fridge. He took them in his lunch! Complete with some roasted potatoes. And a chocolate peanut butter cupcake. When he came home and told me about his lunch, I couldn't believe it. He used the silverware at school and bought some milk. He said it was a really good lunch. But I was a little embarrassed that he'd take something like that. Everything was cold; there was no way to heat it. He said he was fine with it. He used to take leftover lasagna, too, and not bother to heat it.

To this day, if he's in our area, he'll stop in at the house for some lunch. He'll go down to the freezer and see what's there. Heat something up, throw it all in the dishwasher, and leave again.

 

[furmonster mom]

I'm all about leftovers. My hubby on the other hand... it's not like he won't eat them, it's more like he just forgets about them. So most of the time I end up eating his leftovers, lol.

We were both raised frugally, and food was a thing you didn't waste. Even these days, I try not to buy more than we can eat, because I hate throwing food away.

 

[kristenann]

We don't have a lot of extra money these days - I'm in medical school so my husband is the sole provider currently so we eat all our leftovers. I will bring them for lunches or eat them for breakfast even.

But when if we had money to spare, I truthfully despise cooking so leftovers are a great excuse not to cook. I'll often make at one meal enough food to last for several days. I get my variety in via fruits and veggies but for the main meal I have no issue eating the same thing for a week straight lol.

My husband would like to eat leftovers less, but he likes to cook less than that!

 

[blueyedgirl5946]

I love to be able to open the freezer and throw a meal on the table in fifteen minutes or less. It is easy to do with frozen leftovers. Actually we both think some foods are better leftover.

 

[AbbysMom]

I normally cook for there to be leftovers and if I end up with a small amount leftover that neither of us want for lunch, etc. I often put it in the freezer for my mother.

 

[muffy]

When I worked I would fix my dinner and bring any left overs for my lunch the next day. Doing all of that walking to buy my lunch everyday wore my knees and back out. Besides it saved time and money. It got to be expensive to buy lunch everyday.

 

[blueyedgirl5946]

AbbysMom I know your mother appreciates the leftovers. When my brother-in-law was still living, I used tin pie plates to make frozen dinners for him when the leftovers were not enough for us another meal. I put foil on them, wrote on the tops what was in each one. Then I took them to his house and deposited them in the freezer part of his refrigerator. When he didn't feel like cooking, he had ready made meals that he only had to warm in the oven. Leftovers can be a blessing.

 

[AbbysMom]

I know your mother appreciates the leftovers.

She was asking me the other day if I had more for her.

 

[neely]

My hubby and I don't mind leftovers but I find I cook in quantity more during the winter months. I guess I don't want to worry if we get an unexpected snow storm. That way I always have a dinner or two until we can get out to the grocery store. Tonight I'm cooking a pasta casserole and will have leftovers for two more meals. I'll make a salad and garlic bread on the side to go with it.

 

[blueyedgirl5946]

AbbysMom Before my best friend moved away, I remember I was sick and didn't feel like moving, let alone cooking. She called me asking if I needed anything. I asked her then to bring me some leftovers out of her refrigerator.

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

it's just me, one person (well, and my cats...), so though i do make all my meals at home, i most times am eating leftovers. it's one serving fresh from the oven and the rest of the servings are leftovers, kind of thing here. i don't mind eating leftovers at all! they're good home cooked meals that all i need to do is (sometimes thaw,) heat, and eat!!