Leftovers

My question is . I’ve seen a million of your great food pics . The meal I prepared is more than likely used in a way the next day . Do you freeze for the future, toss , or eat . ,?

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I usually eat Ieftovers for breakfast or lunch. I freeze them on day 3.

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I tend to make extra servings of things I know husband weat as a leftover , and plan to re-purpose “accidental” leftovers, and occasionally it works out.

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If I don’t finish, then I usually refrigerated for next few days.

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We plan for leftovers - usually reheated in the same form (soups, stews, pasta) but also repurposed into frittatas, quesadillas, or sandwiches.

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Depends on what the meal is. Something like meat sauce, stews, lasagna, soup, roast chicken or turkey - yes, I freeze in smaller portions for use in later meals, often repurposing them into a different recipe.

Other meals, I’ll make a smaller portion of the initial recipe so it gives me enough for leftovers for 1-2 more meals, like work lunches.

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About half the time, we intentionally cook substantial quantities of food with the goal of having leftovers to put in the freezer for future meals. And even if we don’t do it on purpose, when we have leftovers, we eat them within a couple of days. We have a large Tupperware collection!

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All of the above.

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I make sure to have leftovers because I cook according to my husbands 24 on / 48off schedule (he is a battalion chief at a fire department). So I cook on the off days and make sure he has enough for a couple meals in case they don’t cook on shift plus the kids eat leftovers or some form of it on the day he is gone.

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after 5 days or so I throw it out or give it to my dog (unless she reject it)

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Occasionally I deliberately cook for leftovers, but typically don’t.

The freezer items are frozen goods intended to be used within a week or so but tossed out several months later. My freezer is vital to the good health of our economy.

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When there were more of us at home (5 or so) a pot of sauce, chili, a pulled pork etc cooked on Sunday afternoon for use the entire week. By Thursday any leftovers into the freezer for lunch or something.
Now, we pretty much cook to eat once. Left overs are usually meals ordered out, the portions are typically larger.

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I cook once and eat several times. I cook several things on Sunday, usually Sunday l lunch and then something else to have during the week. I take leftovers or repurpose things to have for my lunch during the week. It bothers me to no end not to have a meal plan for each day.

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I batch cook on Sundays with a specific eye to leftovers that will be used for meals later in the week (or a few days in a row, whichever makes more sense). That being said, there are times that food has also found its way to the freezer when we’ve decided that enough was enough. Those are often welcome on days where I didn’t make a plan or have little energy to cook.

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“Cook once, eat thrice” is a saying I remember. My husband’s sister is married to a guy who is averse to leftovers and won’t eat them. I’ve witnessed him putting a whole turkey carcass with an incredible amount of meat left on it into the garbage can after Thanksgiving dinner. He doesn’t cook. I don’t know how she tolerates the man.

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Chili, lasagna (and meat sauces in general), carnitas (and other Mexican proteins), refried beans, various sauced potato dishes, pizza dough, hummus, and my garlic bread mix are all better the next day.

So I’ll do a fresh serving, refrigerate one or two more, and freeze the rest (except for the garlic bread mix).

To keep hot dishes as fresh as possible, I’ll put them ASAP in a vessel I can put in my prepsink filled with cold water to cool. Then into the fridge, or single sized containers for the freezer.

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:open_mouth: :astonished:

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That would be grounds for immediate divorce proceedings, in my book. My post-Thanksgiving turkey becomes turkey-andouille gumbo, turkey broth, and occasionally turkey salad, too. And I save the skin to crisp up in the toaster oven and eat like savory peanut brittle. (Mr. travelmad478 is somewhat grossed out by this, but that just means there’s more for me.)

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What’s that?

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I made Turkey Tom Kha Gai last Thanksgiving, which was a nice change from the turkey makeovers.

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