Comments on: Make Your Leftovers Work for You

By: Janis

Janis — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 15:33:11 +0000

I grew up as the family cook and have a hard time cooking in quantities for less than 6 to 8 servings. Since there is only DH and myself, this is a problem if we don’t want the same dish for 3 or 4 meals in the same week. Because I forget to put stuff in the freezer – or else it’s a recipe that doesn’t really suit freezing – we try to eat leftovers for lunch or repurpose them into something “new” like you did with your stroganoff. For instance, we had butternut squash risotto yesterday. Leftover risotto is not that great, so this evening, I will form the leftovers into patties, coat with cornmeal and lightly pan-fry before topping with a fresh tomato sauce.

For single lunches, I like to keep extra cooked grain or starch on hand (rice, pasta, potatoes) so that I can top it with bits of leftover veggies and zap it with a little cheese for a mini casserole.

Another thing I did was get a crockpot cookbook with recipes intended for 1 to 2 people. This is helping me get better portions so that we have smaller quantities of leftovers.

By: Danielle

Danielle — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 12:39:13 +0000

I’m so anti-wasting food that I’ve stopped shopping all together. I haven’t been to the market/produce stand in almost 2 weeks and while I don’t have anything that I can just heat and eat, I still have plenty of food for dinner and leftovers lunch.

Also, why is it that brussel sprouts never really go bad? They could be the perfect fresh vegtable.

By: sara

sara — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 03:08:16 +0000

i’m horrible with leftovers. it’s really sad how much food gets wasted in our house. i much prefer to have fresh, hot food. my hubby has been diligently working to eat all leftovers… i think the secret to not wasting food in my house is to not make such big portions.

By: Eugene

Eugene — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 21:24:06 +0000

I am looking for some idea and stumble upon your posting :) decide to wish you Thanks. Eugene

By: Erin

Erin — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 21:08:41 +0000

I’m a big leftovers for lunch fan too. I normally plan that in when I make dinners. My thing lately is the freezer. I make big batches of soup…taco meat…sloppy joes…so many things. We’ll have it for dinner then I throw it all immediately into the freezer. Scott’s not as big on leftovers as I am…but put a week in between those meals, toss in the fact that the leftover dinner from the freezer takes 15 minutes to put on the table…and I have a winner!

Plus…before veggies go bad, i’ve started chopping and freezing them. Then I have a whole boatload of “fresh” veggies to go in soups, fried rice, whatever.

i’m officially through day 9 of lunches brought from home. VERY proud. However, don’t think I can do it tomorrow. Must buy lunch…MUST!

as a sidenote…last night we wound up eating pancetta pea pasta. I know you aren’t a big pea fan, but this pancetta from Trader Joes is the perfect thing for a quick dinner (and pancetta is just so damn tasty). it’s already diced and can go straight from the freezer to the frying pan. LOVE it. I normally buy like 6 packs at a time and just have it stocked up in the freezer. Along with the pizza dough. Can’t get easier than that!

By: Kayris

Kayris — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 03:14:35 +0000

We usually take them for lunch, or I leave them for my babysitters to eat on Monday and Wednesday. A lot of times I count on leftovers to have something to take to work, and then we eat it all the night before, so I end up with something boring like canned soup or tuna. My husband feels very strongly about not throwing food away, so he’ll eat something that’s on the verge of spoiling rather than toss it.