WhoElse Does This?

[Vera]

Talked to a friend yesterday and we were talking about leftovers. Her daughter, who lives four doors down from her, gives my friend and her husband leftover food from their dinner. I asked, "what if you are at your beach house and not home?" She replied, "they throw the food out". That almost literally made me sick. Why would you do that and what is wrong with leftovers? I appreciate that I don't have to cook and make a meal the next day. I have only known one other family, back in the 80s, that did that. We were over for a cookout and there were hamburgers and hot dogs left over. The host said to take the food home since they would just throw it out. It just doesn't make sense to me. Do you do this or know someone who does?

[MudderBear]

This irritates me as well. I do know of a few people that did that, not sure if they do anymore. Afterwards, when finding out it all went in trash I was shocked!

[rosie]

Ugh we don't waste anything ! If we don't finish it I vacuum seal and freeze. Just makes me crazy people do that. My sis ( GOD rest her soul) had a step daughter. After Thanksgiving dinner she sat the turkey carcuss outside for the cats. Didn't pick it. Just the whole thing outside
Sometimes I forget something and it gets to old but I try not to do that. We love leftovers. I usually cook extra so I get a day or 2 off.

[Sabine]

Neither one of us likes leftovers, no matter what you call it or morph into something else , it is still leftovers. It's just the two of us , so am very careful of what I cook and how much I cook to avoid leftovers.
I wanted to add that now that it is cooler I make a big pot of vegetable beef soup , now that I put in smaller containers and freeze it for another meal down the road. Same with chili. I have a great recipe for a sausage pasta recipe that I made a couple of years ago and we liked it. So I half the recipe , so that we don't have leftovers . I don't have a free standing freezer, don't want one, so my freezer space is limited.

[CharleneG]

I’ve known a few people that did that and I was shocked to hear it! I can’t imagine doing that. Ken and I both grew up eating leftovers and we did that throughout all our years together. I only cook for myself now, but I still make recipes that will have leftovers on purpose. If I make a 4 serving dish I’ll set one serving aside to have a couple of days later and I vacuum seal the other two servings individually and freeze them for those nights when I don’t know what to make. With the cost of food these days I can’t imagine throwing out leftovers. Besides all that, sometimes the leftovers taste better than the first time!

[livetobake]

I call them planed overs so I can freeze the food for later, even small amounts that I can incorporate into other items from the freezer and make a new meal that is different than what it started out as. Sometimes it is the same, just depends on what I have and what sounds good at the moment. Throw it out?!! Never and never. It is a waste that I just can't do.

[AllieK]

I cook specifically to have leftovers. I do not like to cook, so make what I cook last 3 days if I can. Casseroles, soups...one pot meals

[Sabine]

LOL, and I do just the opposite. Steak, baked potato, salad.... pork tenderloin , gravy, mashed potato, some vegie .... chicken parmesan, salad ..... brisket burger , friend potatoes , veggie .... you get the drift, no leftovers.....plus a couple of times a week we go out to eat, that helps. Everybody is different and has different tastes, there is no right or wrong.
Of course some people chose to eat the same thing every day, not because of leftovers.

[Vera]

It is absolutely fine to make enough food and eat it all but to throw perfectly good food out in the trash just because....., well, I am not in favor of that.
we seldom go out to eat dinner because there is nothing close to us. If I am running errands during the day, I will stop to get carry out for that night's dinner at times.

[Sabine]

We have several restaurants close to us. Of course most of them closed down when covid hit or they only did take out or curb pick up, which I didn't care for. So I started to cook more , no matter if I liked it or not.
But now all the restaurants are open for dine in again, which is great. Unfortunately our most favorite Mexican restaurant has left and some other restaurant took over, it is called " Hawaiian Brothers " they have spam for their main attraction, supposed to be a Hawaiian specialty. Basically it is a drive through place. So if anybody on this board is familiar with Hawaiian brothers restaurant let me know how you like it.
I totally agree with you Vera, throwing good food out is wrong , do something with it and use it up.
I find that cooking for two people is very hard to plan. I have several cookbooks ( cooking for two etc. ) and it really is not much help for me.

[CharleneG]

I like having leftovers, but what I don’t do is have them the next day. I need at least a day or two between servings and I only reheat what I’ll have for that meal.

[Chayote]

I like having leftovers because John and I rarely eat the same meal at night. I love eating out but that rarely happens now. John likes mashed potato so if I need to make it for him, I do enough for a couple of meals. We avoid binning food but it occasionally happens. We no longer have a dog so inevitably some scraps get thrown out. All my greens, mixed with shredded paper to absorb any smell, goes into the green waste bin. I'm able to freeze a couple of meals for him at a time but I only have the freezer above the fridge. In the new house I will have a large upright freezer and am looking forward to that.

[Chayote]

Forgot to mention that in most States in Australia, there is a charity called Second Bite. The collect unused foods from restaurants, supermarkets and manufacturers. It's then distributed for free for people struggling to feed their families and to people sleeping rough.