Feeding Frenzy

By FCM

June 16, 2008 7:35 PM | Link to this

Seldom do the same thing two nights in a row. Sunday’s BBQ might show back up on Wednesday in the same form. However, like you stated, some of it may show up in lunches or be incorporated in other meals.

Using the BBQ for example. Let’s assume the ribs (mentioned in a previous blog), grilled chicken, potato salad (another blog), slaw, marinated veggies (a must at our BBQs), and brownies for dessert.

Meal idea:

My grandmother used to make 1 to 2 plates in those plastic compartmentalized plates with snap on lids. She would label them then put them in the freezer. Homemade TV dinners for another time. Sometimes dinner would be each person grabbing one of those and heating it. Other times these might be a single persons lunch or dinner due to a work schedule.

Some things at my mother’s (ziti) do make repeat performances for lunch or dinner in their original form. Overall no, we are not leftover lovers.

By Stacey

June 17, 2008 11:17 AM | Link to this

While I’m not necessarily a leftover lover, somethings taste better the second day. I love leftover Italian food, dressing and anything with a lot of herbs because I think it continues to “marry” as it sits in the fridge. With the increase cost of food and overall cost of living, I rarely through anything away these days. As FCM said, leftovers can be transformed into casseroles, soups and other things so that it may not be recognizable. If I serve something in the same form, I will change the sides so that I doesn’t seem like the same thing.

By Melissa

June 17, 2008 11:21 AM | Link to this

We enjoy leftovers at our house. There are only 2 of us so leftovers are inevitable. We eat them in their same form. One of our favorites of late has been Chicken Puffy Tacos - we had left over chicken mixture and made fresh taco shells the next day. It was even better than the first day because the chicken mixture flavors were even more savory. The same happens with pasta dishes. One thing I won’t reheat is any kind of seafood! ICK!

By You're Kidding

June 17, 2008 11:35 AM | Link to this

Leftovers? No such thing in my house. We have some pizza left from our meal. Perhaps some brats from a cookout. Mac and cheese? By bedtime, it’s gone courtesy of my resident garbage disposal — my husband!

By Erin

June 17, 2008 11:35 AM | Link to this

Leftovers are awesome!

I usually like to make an extra-big batch of whatever I happen to be making, then leave some of the leftovers for the next day’s lunch or maybe another dinner and then separate the rest into lunch-sized servings and freeze them.

That way, I don’t get tired of whatever it is and I have plenty of lunches available for whenever I want.

Another thing I love to do is add extras into whatever I’m making to stretch it so I DO have enough to do this with … For instance, I’m making a chicken and vegetable casserole? That’s easy to add to … I just cook extra rice and add in more frozen/canned veggies, depending on what I have on hand, and voila! I have at least two dinners and three lunches.

Ditto with pasta … If I’m making spaghetti, I tend to go overboard with the amount of pasta I cook, too. Again, lots of leftovers.

If it’s NOT something I can stretch this way, I generally tend to use the leftovers in something else … If I’m making chicken, for instance, I might use the leftovers in a casserole or make sandwiches with it or fix different sides to go with it or something like that.

I’m known among my friends for being the queen of using leftovers creatively!

By Erin

June 17, 2008 11:37 AM | Link to this

Leftovers are awesome!

I usually like to make an extra-big batch of whatever I happen to be making, then leave some of the leftovers for the next day’s lunch or maybe another dinner and then separate the rest into lunch-sized servings and freeze them.

That way, I don’t get tired of whatever it is and I have plenty of lunches available for whenever I want.

Another thing I love to do is add extras into whatever I’m making to stretch it so I DO have enough to do this with … For instance, I’m making a chicken and vegetable casserole? That’s easy to add to … I just cook extra rice and add in more frozen/canned veggies, depending on what I have on hand, and voila! I have at least two dinners and three lunches.

Ditto with pasta … If I’m making spaghetti, I tend to go overboard with the amount of pasta I cook, too. Again, lots of leftovers.

If it’s NOT something I can stretch this way, I generally tend to use the leftovers in something else … If I’m making chicken, for instance, I might use the leftovers in a casserole or make sandwiches with it or fix different sides to go with it or something like that.

I’m known among my friends for being the queen of using leftovers creatively!

By Critic

June 17, 2008 11:53 AM | Link to this

I have discovered a method for heating hamburgers in the microwave that gets them as close to the fresh-off-the-grill flavor as possible. So I always grill up extras for lunch. Chicken doesn’t do quite as well, but it still makes a good leftover lunch.

By Becky

June 17, 2008 12:38 PM | Link to this

I love leftovers..As another poster said, there is only 2 of us, so we always have something..With my being from a house with 10 kids growing up, I don’t know how to cook for just 2-3 people…

By mechi

June 17, 2008 12:38 PM | Link to this

I most definitely do leftovers. Like others have said, makes great frozen tv type dinners that can be eaten later, tastes better and more healthy than the prepared frozen dinners. I never save certain foods like french fries, most seafood, most fried foods, etc, somethings are better just freshly made.

By micha

June 17, 2008 1:09 PM | Link to this

The only thing that gets eaten the next day at our house is leftover fried meats. My teens have grown up with southern home cooked meals and a fried pork and chicken just ain’t going in the garbage if they’re around. One other thing I’ll sometimes do is make a real meaty spaghetti sauce and freeze the suace only for another night. I don’t do left over noodles though…those are nasty the next day! I absolutely hate throwing away so much food, but my family just won’t eat something that’s sat in the fridge.

By JH

June 17, 2008 2:26 PM | Link to this

There are some foods I can eat for leftovers (chicken, beans and rice, BBQ ribs). But, please do not try to serve me cabbage the second day or any vegetable,ug. I like those crisp tender and the next day, they are too soggy.

By JJ

June 17, 2008 3:16 PM | Link to this

Oh I used to toss anything left over. But with gas prices, and the general cost of living rising on a daily basis, one must get creative with food.

We don’t normally dine out, but our schedule has been so hetic this summer and it’s been rather hot, so yes we have dined out a bit lately. However, we take 1/2 of our meals home with us. It’s just two of us in my house, and my 17 year old is rarely home anymore, so I get the leftovers. I have no problem with that, since I don’t really want to fire up the grill or oven for just me.

I too believe that Italian food is best left over. I ordered lasagna, two salads and bread sticks from Athena’s Pizza by the lake. I had lasagne and salad one night for dinner, had the other salad the next day for lunch, and polished off the lasagne that following night. I got three meals for less than $20.00.

The other thing I have been doing lately, is grilling a couple of day’s worth of chicken, and putting it in the fridge and freezer for later. This saves a ton of time, and my kitchen doesn’t get all heated up. We have been eating alot of salads lately…….

By lovelyliz

June 17, 2008 4:57 PM | Link to this

My families biggest issue with leftovers isn’t that we won’t eat, but with our hectic schedules, it’s hard enough to plan a reuglar meal. if we have leftovers, there is no telling how long it would be before we could get around to eating them and after a couple days even the best start to ripen a bit.

By lovelyliz

June 17, 2008 4:59 PM | Link to this

My family’s biggest issue with leftovers isn’t that we won’t eat them, but with our hectic schedules, it’s hard enough to plan a regular meal. If we have leftovers, there is no telling how long it would be before we could get around to eating them and after a couple days even the best start to ripen a bit.

By Nickie

June 17, 2008 6:20 PM | Link to this

Things that take a while to make and freeze well are jambalaya, gumbo, dirty rice, etouffee and some soups. We always make enought for several meals, eat soe now and freze the rest for meals over a couple of weeks, Fantastic! Like other posters said, spaghetti sauce freezes well, too. Pasta can be served as leftovers. Put the cold pasta in a colander and pour some very hot to boiling water over it and then serve with a hot sauce over it. Just like it was boiled 10 minutes ago.

By rj

June 17, 2008 6:38 PM | Link to this

There are only 2 of us and it’s rare that we don’t have leftovers at least 2 or 3 times a week. Tonight the wife is making a torte and we will eat it at least 3 meals. When we eat out we either share one entree or bring at least 1/2 home. Chili’s fajitas are a classic example. One ‘single serving’ entree is enough for 2 people to have 2 meals !!!!!

By Mike In Woodstock

June 18, 2008 12:00 AM | Link to this

For some reason whenever my wife makes spaghetti, it tastes better the second night than it did the first.

By Fulton

June 18, 2008 3:54 AM | Link to this

Do I eat leftovers? Of course I do! Ya’ll are trippin’, times are HARD! Besides, most meals taste better the next day anyway.

By Maniac is accurate

June 18, 2008 7:43 AM | Link to this

Turkey and dressing leftovers I will eat until they are gone. And, no, I don’t make turkey sandwiches and turkey soup out of them. I like them in their originally intended form time after time after time. Yum.

I like other leftovers, too. My mom never got tired of telling the story of when I was a kid, when I pulled out some leftover pot roast and asked, “Can I eat this, or are you saving it to throw out?” She thought that was the funniest thing ever.

By Jane

June 18, 2008 9:08 AM | Link to this

I used to hate leftovers when I was little, but as I got older and started to cook/buy groceries, I realized there is a lot you can do with leftovers, including bringing them for lunch. Plus I hate throwing food away if it can be avoided because it’s just wasteful. For pretty much everything that’s cooked in my house, there’s at least another serving or two.

One time I took some leftover pot roast, shredded the meat, and added taco seasoning for some very authentic tacos. Sometimes you just have to experiment…LOL

When I was in college I had some friends who would cook food for a week on Sundays - it’s not leftover because it’s new! But it was nice because they didn’t have to spend the time each night during the busy week to cook a whole meal.

I’ve found also that when food is in see-through tupperware (and you can actually see what it is), it gets eaten more quickly. I have to remind my brother of what’s in the Cool Whip bowls…haha…then he’ll be like, “Oh wow - I forgot about that!” and he’ll dig in.

Or, if you jsut have enough for a side dish, save the side and add it to another meal the next day. Like vegetables, etc. It’s not so monotonous if it’s just part of the meal that is leftovers.

DON’T BE WASTEFUL! :P

By Southerner

June 18, 2008 11:09 AM | Link to this

barbecue? What kind of sauce did yall have with it? I can not stand it when yankees say this. “We are going to barbecue”. YOU ARE GOIN TO GRILL!!!! Do not say barbecue unless you are going to throw a brined pork shoulder in a smoker for several hours, pull it and put it with sauce. moron.

By FCM

June 18, 2008 6:26 PM | Link to this

The big green egg in the backyard make you think I am not grilling Southerner? moron. Don’t jump to conclusions.

By FCM

June 19, 2008 10:18 AM | Link to this

Oh yeah, and Southerner we aren’t grilling when we do burgers etc on the grill….we are having a ‘Cook Out’.