Personally, I happen to LOVE leftovers. My brother in law refuses to eat them, though. Either way, I think getting to CHOOSE to love or hate them is totally a uptown problem, unique to the times we live in. Our country has certainly seen their share of ups and downs, haves and have nots–so when I read this NPR article about how leftovers have come in and out of fashion {usually coinciding with our financial abundance or scarcities}, I wasn’t totally surprised.
The article gave a pretty interesting history of leftovers. They kind of became their own culinary category during World War I. Cookbooks cropped up with ideas of ways to use left-overs in a new and creative recipe. By the 1940’s and 50’s, people were getting a little crazy with their leftover prowess. Crazy as in “ham banana rolls with cheese sauce.” {Is it just me, or do NONE of those items go together?} Then, by the 1960’s, Americans’ cash flow and abundance soared, and wouldn’t you know it, leftovers became a little less chic.
While I don’t get crazy coming up with new recipes for my leftovers, I ALWAYS use them up. Maybe I have a deep appreciation for them because I am the cook in our house? I know they mean I won’t have to spend more time in the kitchen. Maybe it’s my complete distaste for food waste? Maybe it’s the fact that leftovers save money and warm-up really nicely the next day in the HH’s lunch? Maybe it’s all of those.
Even further, I personally love the idea of having leftover holiday ham or turkey to put into soups and casseroles. It makes taking the time to roast the pig or big ol’ bird worth it. I think some food tastes even better the next day–turkey sandwiches and cold pumpkin pie for breakfast, anyone? Oh, and when I think I can’t stand the sight of the item for one more day, I go ahead and freeze it for later. I LOVE leftovers that much.
How about YOU, do you mind eating leftovers? Or would you rather move on to the next meal?
~Mavis
Becky says
Not only do I love leftovers, I plan ahead for what I’m going to use those leftovers for. Its not uncommon here for 4 or 5 meals to come from one ham or turkey!!
Cheryl says
My dh eats leftovers for lunch the next day if he doesn’t need a sandwich. We either eat them for lunch, or I freeze them for the next time I want mashed potatoes, rice, or something like that. Food is too expensive to waste. If you go on YouTube there is a BBC program called Hugh’ war on waste. People throwing food away one day pass their expiration date. I am sure we waste here in the Us too.
Deborah says
We have “Encore” meals. (Shh, really leftovers). Most are better the second day anyway. We might skip a day between the meal and the encore meal, but try to use up all that is leftover. My dear mother used to make a pot of soup on Fridays with the leftover tidbits from the week. She had a container that she put them in the freezer in. Love them. And hubby does most of the cooking now. We are both retired.
Mavis says
“Encore meals,” is awesome. I’m totally going to start using that.
Angela in Ohio says
Around here we call that having CORN for dinner. Clean Out Refrigerator Night CORN!
Mavis says
That’s awesome! CORN. Love it.
Jeannette says
I love leftovers! It’s the only way I know of to ensure my family gets a healthy meal every night while keeping my life sane.
Amy says
Same here! We’d all be living on convenient toddler food if i didn’t incorporate leftovers into our lives
Amy says
I have learned how to properly re-heat/re-use leftovers over the years so now I don’t hate eating them. My husband said he hated leftovers until me, and then I taught him so now there is far less food going bad. I made rice with some black bean broth i had in the freezer and told him after he ate it (and loved it) . “eeeewwwww!” he says -_-
Miriam says
Agreed. If you have baked meals, a toaster oven is usually the best way to heat it up and preserve the delicious, crispy textures. If you only microwave, yeah, you’re going to hate leftovers because microwaves destroy good texture.
Tammy says
We are big fans of leftovers! On week nights, I make enough food for dinner so my husband has leftovers for lunch the next day. On Friday and Saturday I make enough dinner so that we can all have leftovers for lunch and dinner on Sunday.
Debbie N says
We always eat leftovers here unless it is something that came out horrible. Good leftovers actually get fought over here. Sometimes, I will make extra knowing that everyone will want more.
I think it is very wasteful not to eat any leftovers. There are somethings that people who don’t eat leftovers are missing out on. Eggs with leftover chili, egg taco with leftover steak added are just a few I can think of.
Andrea says
We very seldom eat leftovers because we rarely have them. If we have leftovers I have to plan for them. But I don’t like leftovers much. Growing up we had to sometimes eat leftovers for a week. My dad would cook a big pot of beans and we would eat it until it was gone. The eating of the same thing over and over kind of ruined leftovers. Therefore I portion control meals so there will not be any or I make leftovers into something else.
Laurie says
We seldom throw out leftovers. I plan for them so I can have a hot lunch later in the week. If we don’t eat all of the leftovers right away, I freeze them. When my adult kids come for dinner they always take home my leftovers. They like their mama’s cooking 😉
Kari says
99.9% of the time our leftovers get used. The .1% even makes me feel guilty, but I guess it’s called life. I usally plan for a leftover day of “bits and pieces.” Sometimes we have quite the combination on our plates, but that’s ok. We’re still using them up and not going hungry. If I have a lot of something, I may plan another entire meal of that a couple days later. What I know we can’t get to right away goes right into the freezer to be used later. My parents instilled in me the “waste not, want not” idea, and I’m trying to pass that on to my children.
sarah says
Here it depends on the leftover items. so now i just plan for that. chicken is not a favorite but ham is. Beef stew will get an encore. And if hubby is away i get to make something like a lasgana to nibble on. but if he’s here he would rather have a pot of meatballs.
MerryMouse says
Of course! I also plan on cooking something big (roasts, hams, etc) in order to make my favorite “left-over” dishes. Plus, lasagna and spaghetti are ALWAYS better the next time. My granddaughters are familiar with a favorite buffet restaurant, so when they come over to my house they are so excited to have an “Izzy’s” lunch! I set out little bowls with all my leftovers and they get to “choose” what they want and take their plates through the line. Great fun!
Cheyanne says
I ABSOLUTELY eat leftovers! I have to! I live in a 2 person household and neither of us want to cook daily. Especially in the fall/winter it’s not uncommon for us to make 2-3 pots of soup a week and then (usually it’s mostly me) keep eating that pot of soup until it’s gone. This year the budget is a lot tighter and my partner has really embraced leftovers/soup. He even learned how to make corn chowder yesterday
Anne says
We always eat the left-overs but if for some crazy reason we don’t, then our dog scores. I usually take them for my lunch at work. Much better than the frozen meals my co-workers eat.
Ellen in Clackamas says
I laughed when I saw Deborah’s post. My Mom totally did that…put together bits and pieces but instead of soup she mixed everything in a pot,added tomato sauce and called it “Refrigerator Goulash”. There were some interesting combos. I don’t do that but I do eat any leftovers I can. I think it’s easier to fix these days with the microwave…no need to dirty a pan to warm something up. My Daughter’s SO won’t touch them though…what a waste of food they have in their house.
Butterflyweed says
Love leftovers. Almost every meal has something about it that is a “leftover”. I always roast an extra sweet potato or make extra rice. I know lot’s of people hate leftovers but I think that’s from our mothers heating the exact same dried out sad meal for several days- not good. I think the key is reimagine the leftover and add something fresh.
Erica says
My husband used to hate leftovers, but he really likes my cooking so he tolerates them now. I try to change them a little sometimes, but I don’t go crazy.
We started inviting friends over on Sunday nights and everyone brings their leftovers or something easy. It’s fun and a great way to get rid of those recipes that made way too much for our family.
Alison R says
What the what????? Some of my best creative genius started with leftovers!!! We use every bit every day/week/month/year!
Betty D says
I grew up on left overs. We grew most of what we ate and in those days you learned to like what you dont like . So not a picky eater now…and still love those left overs. We had potato’s almost every day. From left over mashed potato’s mom made potato cakes. Mom would make extra gravy biscuits for the dogs/cats. Never had dog /cat food. With my family we loved the left over Easter eggs. We take toasted bread break into pieces and pout creamed eggs over it. Then with out Thanksgiving Turkey left overs the toast with creamed turkey poured over it. So delicious. Sometimes durn the yr and I have extra bread/eggs I need to use up….creamed eggs….
Jen Y says
I’m with you – I intentionally plan for leftovers to give me days out of the kitchen, even though I do love to cook.
My husband & I fight over leftovers. I’ve been known to hide or negotiate for them. 😉
With the convenience of microwaves & toaster ovens they make such fast meals & my toaster oven makes many things taste like the first time around or even better.
Margery says
We eat leftovers a lot, since I went from feeding 9 a day to 4 but still can’t seem to only cook for 4. Beef has always been one. On Sunday we have roast beef, Wednesday we have beef stew, and Friday the leftover beef stew has more veggies added and it’s beef pot pie, or shepherds pie. If it’s a really big piece of meat I will also make beef hand pies and freeze them for quick lunches. With ham we have baked ham on Sunday, then egg casserole, cheese potatoes with ham added, and ending the week with a soup w/ ham in it.
When I make rice for a meal I make extra and have leftover fried rice later in the week with egg, veggies, and leftover meat from the fridge a great way to use up pieces. And some weeks we have buffet night, where I lay out all the leftovers and everyone enjoys. Leftover mashed potatoes are great as potato pancakes.