The Problem with Leftovers
Submitted by Stuart Broz on Fri, 04/17/2009 - 7:29am
I have a confession to make.
I'm horrible about leftovers. I have a tendency to make far too much food.* This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I also have a tendency to forget that I have leftovers in the refrigerator. Things often get forgotten until they are no longer good to eat.
Part of the problem is that I tend to be less excited about leftovers than I am about the next meal that I'm going to make. I think that I need to have a paradigm shift. Instead of leftovers, I need to think in terms of, ummm, madebefores. I need to think of leftovers as ingredients in that next meal. I don't really do that now. Instead, I put leftovers away with the thought that I'll eat it, sometime.
For example, last night I tried that drunken spaghetti. I added some onions and zucchini. Verdict: pretty good, but the wine flavor was a bit subtler than I expected. There was a ton left over. I put it away without plans. I should make some plans for it, though. How about tossing it with some turkey sausage and ricotta? That sounds like something I could get excited about.
*I have good evidence that this tendency has a genetic basis.
Comments
me too
I have the same problem. I'm trying to explore different ways of dealing with it, by making smaller meals, meals that can be components to other things, and trying to get a little more excited about having the same leftovers again and again (and again).
me three
Yeah, I have that problem. I tried to "solve" it by freezing things. This has only ended up filling my freezer with things I'll simply never finish....
Cooking smaller helps but it's hard.
Stuart's housemate, the human garbage disposal
I can solve that problem for you. *points to belly*
Simple solutions
I think everyone has this problem at least some of the time.
One night during the week I plan to serve leftovers. Most often, that's the night I make something out of multiple dishes of leftovers:
* Soup. a little bit of everything, more liquid than not.
* Stew. a little bit of everything, more not than liquid. :)
* Quesdillas. No starch. Everything with cheese between two flat pieces of bread (preferably tortillas, but any flat (or flattened) bread will do).
* Stir fry. Using rice or noodles as starch. Anything else goes. Serve with a sauce.
* Pan hash. Using potatoes as starch. Anything else goes. Serve with a gravy.
* Tacos. More protein than anything else. Serve with cheese & salsa.
Leftovers of leftovers can always be reused for some other dish of leftovers again, and again; but usually I break the cycle and package the leftovers of leftovers as lunch. :)
I think some people are just
I think some people are just not capable of using leftovers. That's ok, I can be a bit like that - I'm not fond of freezing things and reheating them as a rule, but this is what works for me:
-planning your meals so that you will have extra of something in particular to use in a very different dish. Make sure the second dish is just as good as the first and isn't just a reheated mess.
-embrace curries - the flavour deepens and they're even more awesome the next day.
-do a food/leftover swap with a friend, neighbour or family member. Cook double and give half to your friend and take half of what she made. One lot of cooking, 2 different meals.
- making up emergency supplies in the freezer. I got very ill and couldn't cook and my backup (schnitzels that I'd crumbed already, curries, lasagne, etc) saved us from eating bad food when I really needed something nutritious.
- before you put something in the fridge: ask yourself - am i REALLY going to eat this in the next day or so? be honest. if the answer is that you're going to eat it NEVER - throw it out, donate it, get rid of it.
And yes, I'm a hopeless over-caterer.