s/o Don't like and/or won't eat leftovers

[Cecropia]

:leaving:  I do this. 

 

Me too!  (But just me, I don't make other people eat it)

 

Yesterday's hot dogs over a couple hearts of romaine, hamburger salad, pizza salad, omelet salad, you name it.  Whenever someone points out how disgusting my dinner is, I just smile and say this is how I maintain my girlish figure.  I really enjoy them though!

 

I had a roommate who would make a box of mac n cheese or hamburger helper for dinner and throw out whatever she didn't eat.  It bothered me so much that I offered to pack them up and have the leftovers later.  Count me in as someone who would have probably considered that a deal-breaker in choosing a husband...

 

I love to cook but the idea of having to cook a fresh new dish every. single. day. to avoid anything left over seems like it would suck all the joy out of it.  Part of that must be all the dishes it would generate, and I can't stand washing any more dishes than necessary.

[Emba]

I won't say it would have been a dealbreaker if DH had revealed to me during dating that he didn't like leftovers, but it would have given me pause. I had a coworker in an unhappy marriage, and one of his "things" was he wouldn't eat leftovers. He also wanted her to fold all of his tee shirts this one way, and some other things like that. They married young, and he went from living with mom to expecting his wife to do all the things his mom had done.

 

My DH on the other hand, is blessedly unpicky about food. If he didn't have to cook it, he's happy to eat it. We have leftovers all the time. I cook more than we'll eat on purpose. But I have thrown out recipes that didn't reheat well.

 

It would have also given me pause, but for different reasond if DH had been the type of bachelor who ate out every meal.

Edited August 7, 2017 by emba56

[regentrude]

I grew up with a grandmother who lived through two wars and a mother who was born in 1941 and lived through the post war famine in Germany as a young child. Throwing away food was a sin in our home. It would not have occurred to anybody to throw away leftovers. Actually, we all liked reheated lunch for dinner (lunch is the big cooked meal). Reheating was done in a  pan on the stove.

If I have leftovers, DS will usually devour them for dinner. If it's something he does not like, I eat it the next day.

 

I find it extremely difficult to cook exactly the amount that will be eaten, since that depends on the number of people who will be there and the teens' appetites. What is plenty one day may be insufficient the next. I err on the side of caution of too much rather than too little.

[Pam in CT]

I grew up with a grandmother who was an extremely good cook -- much more inventive and curious and intuitive and with-a-sense-of-the-chemistry-of-food than either my mother or I -- for whom working out a way to transform leftovers into something else, some new dish, was like a sport.  She threw nothing out, but it's not like the original re-appeared warmed over -- everything got retooled into something else. Leftover rice or crusty bread => pudding.  Leftover chicken and veggies => pot pie.  Leftover potatoes => breakfast casseroles.  Leftover fish => curry (in an era and place where a 70+ white woman making curry was somewhat unusual).  Leftover veggies => a slew of soups and stews.  She could work out how to use up just about anything, without "repeating" the original thing.

 

I'm not nearly as good a cook as she, but I guess that's where I got my sense that "leftovers" are just another kind of faster-to-prep "ingredient."  

[mellifera33]

 Leftover fish => curry (in an era and place where a 70+ white woman making curry was somewhat unusual).  

 

 

 

I'm impressed. After reading my grandmother's cookbooks, and seeing that she still the original spice set she received as a wedding gift back in the 40s, I had the impression that if somebody was going to venture out and try something as radical as a curry, they might add 1/4 tsp curry powder to a 8-serving recipe.  :lol:  They sure were afraid of flavor in the 60s. 

[Pam in CT]

re spicy Grandma:

I'm impressed. After reading my grandmother's cookbooks, and seeing that she still the original spice set she received as a wedding gift back in the 40s, I had the impression that if somebody was going to venture out and try something as radical as a curry, they might add 1/4 tsp curry powder to a 8-serving recipe.  :lol:  They sure were afraid of flavor in the 60s. 

 

 

She was awesome, and very flavorful, lol.  She loved going into neighborhood restaurants in NY's outer borough enclaves.  And she'd sally right back into the kitchen to introduce herself to the cook and start talking ingredients and pan sizes and searing methods.  My brother and I were absolutely mortified at the time.  I sure wish I could talk with her now.

[mamaraby]

Leftovers make for good lunch. I don't particularly enjoy cold sandwiches and making another meal won't happen so in our house we have leftovers. Sometimes for dinner when I'm tired and don't want to make another meal. Sometimes I make something new with what's already been made in the fridge.

 

I think not eating leftovers may have been a deal breaker for me, but tbh the bigger deal breaker would have been a partner who was not willing to be adventurous with me when it came to food or if he could not handle spice. Some of my best loved memories with dh involve making dinner when he's home. Folks here usually give me their idea and then trust me to take their vague notion and turn it into reality. We had mixed results this weekend, but even though tonight's meal had deficiencies in my mind, they'll all polish off the leftovers tomorrow.

 

I don't have picky eaters or those with sensory or other concerns, though. I imagine that I would do some things differently were that my reality. I would expect some help in that case from the people who lived in my home just because that's our family culture and I'm not a short order cook. It is very difficult to figure out just how much food to make in order to avoid leftovers. I am definitely one who would err on the side of too much.

[Frances]

Leftovers make for good lunch. I don't particularly enjoy cold sandwiches and making another meal won't happen so in our house we have leftovers. Sometimes for dinner when I'm tired and don't want to make another meal. Sometimes I make something new with what's already been made in the fridge.

 

I think not eating leftovers may have been a deal breaker for me, but tbh the bigger deal breaker would have been a partner who was not willing to be adventurous with me when it came to food or if he could not handle spice. Some of my best loved memories with dh involve making dinner when he's home. Folks here usually give me their idea and then trust me to take their vague notion and turn it into reality. We had mixed results this weekend, but even though tonight's meal had deficiencies in my mind, they'll all polish off the leftovers tomorrow.

 

I don't have picky eaters or those with sensory or other concerns, though. I imagine that I would do some things differently were that my reality. I would expect some help in that case from the people who lived in my home just because that's our family culture and I'm not a short order cook. It is very difficult to figure out just how much food to make in order to avoid leftovers. I am definitely one who would err on the side of too much.

I would have to say that in my experience, people can become more adventurous eaters as they age. When I got married, I was quite picky, but not due to any sensory issues or allergies. I honestly hadn't really tried lots of the foods I thought I didn't like, despite growing up with varied and generally health meals offered. But my husband's family gently teased me quite a bit and I gradually became more and more adventurous and now will eat or try just about anything. In fact, just about any type of ethnic food is always my first choice for eating out. My diet is also much healthier now. I also think that being in academia for so long had an influence. There seemed to be an underlying vibe that well educated people should be adventurous eaters and not picky.

[Beebug123]

I am not a big fan of leftovers. My stomach is a bit sensitive and I am always nervous that leftovers will make me sick. There are a few things I will eat leftover, but only the very next day. Thankfully DH is a big fan of leftovers for his lunches to take to work so I usually try to cook enough that there is one serving left over.

[KungFuPanda]

There aren't many foods my family wants two meals in a row, or even two days in a row, but they're fine eating things again if they're lunch on the third day or frozen and served a different week.

[Lizzie in Ma]

LOVE leftovers especially those meals that are so much better the second day like soups, stews, shepherd's pie etc.

We all will have them for lunch the next day.

[meganrussell]

We LOVE leftovers. All you have to do is add a little milk to something like Mac and cheese, or butter to pasta, or extra sauce, before reheating. It keeps food from drying out. We are major leftover eaters. I like them for lunch the next day.

[DawnM]

We eat leftovers ALL THE TIME.  In fact, my kids love it when we have about 4 different things left at the end of the week and they can pick what they want (like a restaurant, they used to say when they were younger!)

 

Now, we have fewer and fewer of those times.....dang teen boys gobble it all up before we can have "restaurant" night.

[Carrie12345]

Why is it surprising that some people don't like leftovers? It's like being surprised that someone doesn't like a certain food.

It's surprising to me because I don't think of leftovers as a kind of food. Sure, there are some things that are not as good reheated (and some that are better!) but it's never occurred to me that they might be considered inedible if they were enjoyed 24 hours earlier.

[Kassia]

There aren't many foods my family wants two meals in a row, or even two days in a row, but they're fine eating things again if they're lunch on the third day or frozen and served a different week.

 

I always freeze our leftovers and then serve them again for dinner the following week.  I intentionally cook enough for at least two meals.  Makes life so much easier -  for meal planning, prep, and cleanup.  

[highspirits]

Maybe we are the only ones, but we've been known to eat the exact same thing for dinner 3 nights in a row to use up all the leftovers. I generally try to avoid having to eat the leftovers for lunch AND dinner on the same day, but it's been known to happen.... :)

 

 

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[creekland]

Maybe we are the only ones, but we've been known to eat the exact same thing for dinner 3 nights in a row to use up all the leftovers. I generally try to avoid having to eat the leftovers for lunch AND dinner on the same day, but it's been known to happen.... :)

 

We'll eat them as we want them and that can be multiple meals in a row (breakfast, lunch, and supper).  One example I can think of is stuffed peppers.  They're time consuming to make (the way we like them the best), so when I make them, I'll make 20+ or so at a time.  They're good when fresh cooked.  They're superb as leftovers.  Absolutely no one complains when they are breakfast, lunch, and dinner the second day.  They salivate.  No one has to eat them - they could get whatever they wanted.  Someone else would gladly take their share.  That's not just my thinking.  It always comes up as a spoken option. ("If you don't want yours, you can have _____ and I'll take it off your hands.")  Anyone - or multiple folks - can be the speaker.  No one has ever taken anyone up on the offer.

[dsmith]

My in-laws rarely eat leftovers, and dh will eat them only if it was something he loves. We usually send leftovers that aren't going to be used to our neighbor. He is almost 80, still working, and is happy to have them. Occasionally, if it is a large amount we send them to my sister-in-law's family. I'm on a special diet, so I purposely cook enough to have some extra meals. Any leftover vegetables from the main dinner I will eat the next day or for a late night snack as long as they don't have any butter on them. I love leftovers!! When I was growing up we never threw out food. It was eaten for lunch or another night for dinner, but we had a large family and rarely had any leftovers. 

[ScoutTN]

Leftovers are necessary in our family.

I cannot afford to throw away perfectly good food nor to waste the time saved by cooking once, eating twice. I often cook extra to freeze or eat in the next 1-2 days. Dh's lunch is almost always leftovers. I don't expect anyone in my family to eat the same thing 3 or more times in one week, but twice is normal.

Edited August 7, 2017 by ScoutTN

[Ravin]

My kids won't eat leftovers unless it's something they really, really liked, and then usually they had seconds so there probably aren't any leftovers.

 

I like leftovers and am happy when no one else eats them so I can take enough to have meals all week at work (lunch/dinner).

[rocassie]

I'm okay with certain things as leftovers, but I don't want to eat it the day after.  I will often cook something, say a whole chicken, and use the leftovers to create a new meal like chicken noodle soup.  If I were to make a large batch of soup, we will have soup that night, but then I will freeze what's left in smaller batches to pull out periodically for a meal.  Generally I cook enough for one meal and leftovers for my DH to take to work unless it is something everyone will eat as leftovers.  About once a week we will often have a "leftovers" dinner - what's in the fridge is open for the taking.  Child A likes this leftover, here's your dinner.  Child B likes this leftover, here go to town. And on down the line.

 

My dislike of leftovers comes from having a terrible of a cook mother.  On Sunday she would make a big batch of whatever meal.  We would have the leftovers for every meal until the leftovers were gone. All of the leftovers would just be reheated day after day.  

Edited August 7, 2017 by cbreeding

[Paige]

I think food is complicated because we live in a wealthy nation with many choices and an abundance of food.

 

In my house growing up, if you didn't eat leftovers, you didn't eat. There was no budget for extra food and making smaller meals to avoid leftovers is not the best financial choice because it's usually cheaper to make a little more and eat twice. You want cereal instead? No. That would mean taking someone's breakfast. My parents were actually solidly middle class, but my dad grew up very poor and was very money conscious until he was much older. I think literally having to go from farm to farm begging for food as a child scars a person and he had some post-depression (as in economic depression) issues. 

 

I didn't like bologna. But I ate bologna sandwiches 5 days a week because it was what we had and it was cheap.

 

I serve leftovers to my kids and don't really care if they like or don't like them. Most of the time they are ok with it. DH doesn't care. My DS dislikes it and I let him choose not to eat or to have cereal or something, but I would prefer he learn to value how eating leftovers saves money. He's going to be food poor as an adult if he doesn't get real. He'd prefer to eat out and be a fancy foodie every day. 

[creekland]

He'd prefer to eat out and be a fancy foodie every day. 

 

This really has no correlation to whether one likes leftovers or not.  All three of my boys love being foodies and introducing us to new foods now that they are grown.  They still love leftovers - even if it comes from a restaurant.

[Paige]

This really has no correlation to whether one likes leftovers or not.  All three of my boys love being foodies and introducing us to new foods now that they are grown.  They still love leftovers - even if it comes from a restaurant.

 

I know, it was an illustration about how DS has expensive tastes. He is going to be unable to maintain a reasonable food budget if he doesn't learn to suck some things up. He can be a foodie and eat leftovers and save some $$. He can be a minimalist, practical, and cheap eater and avoid leftovers without breaking the bank. If he wants to be a foodie who eats out or cooks and eats a new gourmet dish every night and refuses to settle for less, he will be poorer than he needs to be. 

Edited August 7, 2017 by Paige

[Carol in Cal.]

I'd prefer to eat out and be a fancy foodie every day.

What I resent is the idea that someone can refuse to eat leftovers on that basis while sticking everyone else with them.

I don't horribly mind eating leftovers, but they are not the best food we ever serve.  Fresh food is.

So if someone in the household is eating fresh food all the time because he's refusing to eat leftovers, and I'm stuck eating leftovers just to use them up, and almost never getting freshly cooked food because of that, I resent that after a while.

 

[Carol in Cal.]

I'd prefer to eat out and be a fancy foodie every day.  But I am more mature than that.

 

What I resent is the idea that someone can refuse to eat leftovers on that basis while sticking everyone else with them.

 

I don't horribly mind eating leftovers, but they are not the best food we ever serve.  Fresh food is.

So if someone in the household is eating fresh food all the time because he's refusing to eat leftovers, and I'm stuck eating leftovers just to use them up, and almost never getting freshly cooked food because of that, I resent that after a while.

 

Edited August 7, 2017 by Carol in Cal.

[marbel]

I know, it was an illustration about how DS how expensive tastes. He is going to be unable to maintain a reasonable food budget if he doesn't learn to suck some things up. He can be a foodie and eat leftovers and save some $$. He can be a minimalist, practical, and cheap eater and avoid leftovers without breaking the bank. If he wants to be a foodie who eats out or cooks and eats a new gourmet dish every night and refuses to settle for less, he will be poorer than he needs to be. 

 

He'll learn to adjust, once he has to.   :-)

[Zinnia]

We'll eat them as we want them and that can be multiple meals in a row (breakfast, lunch, and supper).  One example I can think of is stuffed peppers.  They're time consuming to make (the way we like them the best), so when I make them, I'll make 20+ or so at a time.  They're good when fresh cooked.  They're superb as leftovers.  Absolutely no one complains when they are breakfast, lunch, and dinner the second day.  They salivate.  No one has to eat them - they could get whatever they wanted.  Someone else would gladly take their share.  That's not just my thinking.  It always comes up as a spoken option. ("If you don't want yours, you can have _____ and I'll take it off your hands.")  Anyone - or multiple folks - can be the speaker.  No one has ever taken anyone up on the offer.

 

This is my family with tacos.  Taco leftovers are fought over.  Dh remembers coming home from kindergarten and feeling like he had won the lottery because the taco leftovers were still there.  Until his 19 year old sister wised up and took her lunch break at 11.  LOL

[cintinative]

dh doens't like leftovers- but he will sometimes cooks.. . . his complaint is no one else will eat them . . .

 

I am learning about my food sensitivities- and one of them is mold/yeast - and some leftovers will develop them faster than others.  most people won't be affected, but me . . . I had one small double-whammy thing knock me flat on my back within a couple hours.   spicier stuff does better .. . .

 

Sort of tagging on this, I have a friend who is on a special diet to prevent migraines and one of the things this book suggests is to not eat leftovers more than a day (two days?) old. It has something to do with the chemicals that form in the food during that time. There are lots of other things she has to avoid as well, but anyway, this special diet is somehow helping her frequent migraines.

 

My dh does not like leftovers but he does not cook for us and does not do dishes so I don't feel bad. We just don't eat enough of the meal the first time to justify not having it again.  

[gardenmom5]

 he literally gets nauseated thinking about eating leftovers and always has.  He will go without eating instead of eating most leftovers.  Not to be mean or privileged.  He feels like throwing up.  He HAS thrown up.  I think it is a combination of sensory issues and difficulty with the idea of germs.  He has in admittedly irrational issue with associating leftovers with germs.

 

does he get nauseated if he doesn't know they're "leftovers", or only if he does?

I'm also nauseated by leftovers - some types more than others.  for me, we've determined it is sensitivity to the yeast or other bacteria (molds) that are growing in them.  

 

the thought of  most prepared fresh foods from the grocery store makes me nauseated.  (which should have been a clue . .  along with since I was a child, I could only eat cut-up strawberries if they'd been cut up within 3- 4 hours, max.  longer makes me nauseated.)

I can't eat yeast breads without being ill.  (some, which are super fresh, are ok.)  it's now gotten bad enough it hits faster so I notice the connection . . . .

 

eta: I have to give up brie and baguettes . . . . moldy (the rind is mold) fresh cheese - and yeast bread. . . . .

Edited August 7, 2017 by gardenmom5