[DreamerMama]

We have made a new designation for all our leftover food. One night a week we search the fridge and re-heat everything edible. My kids really dig it.<br><br>
So, the other night we had;<br><br>
BBQ sandwiches, spaghetti, soft tacos, cantaloup, and celery with peanut butter (the celery was going bad).<br><br>
We had just a little of everything for everybody.<br><br>
Totally cool and no more food going bad. I get a night off...no cooking! <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/orngbiggrin.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="orange big grin"><br><br>
So, what do you do with leftovers?

 

[polka hop]

*

 

[stayinghome]

Leftovers are my true guage as to whether they liked a particular meal or not- if they did, they'll eat the leftovers, if they didn't really like it, well, it'll sit in the fridge until it's unrecognizable... <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="/img/vbsmilies/smilies/bag.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="Bag">:

 

[GoodWillHunter]

I try to give them to the kids at lunch the next day... For instance, lunch today will be chicken alfredo... <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/yummy.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="yummy"> And cantaloupe

 

[Rainbow]

yup- all of us eat it for lunch the next day. That way I don't have to buy much in teh way of lunch foods.<br><br>
However when we move we're going to have our "big meal" at lunch when DH comes home for lunch hour. So then we'll probably eat leftovers as smaller meals at the typical "dinner" time.

 

[Alkenny]

Leftovers? What are leftovers? <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/headscratch.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="headscratch"> I have an almost 9 year old garbage disposal...I hate to see what it'll be like in 8 years when he's a teen and his little brother is his age! <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/jaw.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="dropjaw">

 

[myjulybabes]

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<div>Originally Posted by <strong>Zaq001</strong></div>
<div style="font-style:italic;">We have made a new designation for all our leftover food. One night a week we search the fridge and re-heat everything edible. My kids really dig it.<br><br>
So, the other night we had;<br><br>
BBQ sandwiches, spaghetti, soft tacos, cantaloup, and celery with peanut butter (the celery was going bad).<br><br>
We had just a little of everything for everybody.<br><br>
Totally cool and no more food going bad. I get a night off...no cooking! <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/orngbiggrin.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="orange big grin"><br><br>
So, what do you do with leftovers?</div>
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My mom used to call that "find it and eat it night". LOL We hated it because with 4 kids, we'd fight over who got the "good" stuff. Everyone wanted the tacos, noone wanted the tuna casserole.<br><br>
We either eat them for lunch, or dinner, or sometimes forget about them til they stink up the fridge. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/shy.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="innocent">

 

[Cranberry]

I like to eat up leftovers. Dh likes to leave them in the fridge until they rot and become science projects. uke<br><br>
I hate to throw food away. So wasteful. I try to keep this in mind when cooking. I don't cook lots of something if I know I am the only one who is going to eat it... like a big veggie pasta dish. I won't be able to eat all of it or I will get sick of eating it and then have to toss it. (Dh doesn't eat pasta without a meat-like product in it or near it. Ds will eat plain pasta, but not a fan of the veggies.)<br><br>
I think I am running a restaurant here.

 

[pickle it]

Leftovers...isn't that what tortillas are for?<br>
A lot of times I wind up with several very small containers of different things,<br>
not enough for a real meal even for one person (except maybe the 2 year old's lunch). So, I heat everything up, put each in a small bowl, warm some tortillas, and its serve yourself. Or, if there isn't enough to make real fat wraps, scramble the required number of eggs and add little bits of meat, beans, veggies, whatever.<br>
Huevos whateveros! <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/yummy.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="yummy"><img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/yummy.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="yummy">

 

[Arduinna]

depending on what they are we either eat them for lunch or dinner the next day or they are made into something else (if that is possible).<br><br>
leftovers aren't generally a big problem here, since we usually make stuff we know we like

 

[willibug]

I try to do the same thing as you, Zaq001. My dh calls it a "fridge scrape!"<br><br>
And the BEST part about it is the cook's night off!

 

[Icequeen_in_ak]

Our leftovers usually get eaten the next day... or, if they don't... I've been known to make a fridge soup... where I take just about everything and throw it into a soup or stew. It can sound disgusting, but it's been a hit just about every time (mental note... leave out the stuffing if you ever have that left over... YUCKY in soup LOL)

 

[famousmockngbrd]

Stuffing in soup! <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/grossedout.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="gross"><br><br>
We do the leftovers at lunch thing, too - but I like the "scrounge it all out of the fridge and eat it whatever it is" idea, too.<br><br>
Sometimes I take advantage of the small amount of leftovers and give them to Cole for dinner while DH and I have something he doesn't like but we do, like chinese takeout.<br><br>
I hate to waste food, too. I also hate having to clean out those horrible bowls that have become home to a whole ecosystem of mold and who knows what else. Have you ever forgotten about a bag of broccoli or some other veggie for a month or so and then discovered a bag full of green liquid at the back of the fridge???? ACK!

 

[Pynki]

we have dogs.. Whatever dh and the 4 of us others don't eat.. The dogs certainly do.. Composting.. We don't have no stinkin' compost heap.. We have DOGS!! :LOL

 

[Cranberry]

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<div>Originally Posted by <strong>famousmockngbrd</strong></div>
<div style="font-style:italic;">Have you ever forgotten about a bag of broccoli or some other veggie for a month or so and then discovered a bag full of green liquid at the back of the fridge???? ACK!</div>
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Not broccoli, but cucumber, YES!! I hate finding a mushy, liquid cuke in the fridge. EEEEEWWWW.... uke

 

[famousmockngbrd]

Cranberry, I can not attest to it actually having been broccoli. It could have been anything - I'm not even limiting it to a green veggie, it could have acquired it's green-ness at a later date. :LOL<br><br>
One time I found a bag of liquid potatoes in my cupboard. I only knew they were potatoes because they were in a bag that said "potatoes" on it. My MIL came for a few weeks after Cole was born and did some grocery shopping, then put some stuff away in places that I don't usually put them in, yk? These spuds were in the cabinet I keep my nice vases, extra coffee pot, etc. in (why she thought this was a good place for the taters, I don't know)... Cole was about 6 months old when DH and I were like, what's that awful smell? And where are all these flies coming from?? We opened the cupboard and lo and behold... there was THE BAG. (cue the scary music!)

 

[DreamerMama]

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<div>Originally Posted by <strong>famousmockngbrd</strong></div>
<div style="font-style:italic;">Cranberry, I can not attest to it actually having been broccoli. It could have been anything - I'm not even limiting it to a green veggie, it could have acquired it's green-ness at a later date. :LOL<br><br>
One time I found a bag of liquid potatoes in my cupboard. I only knew they were potatoes because they were in a bag that said "potatoes" on it. My MIL came for a few weeks after Cole was born and did some grocery shopping, then put some stuff away in places that I don't usually put them in, yk? These spuds were in the cabinet I keep my nice vases, extra coffee pot, etc. in (why she thought this was a good place for the taters, I don't know)... Cole was about 6 months old when DH and I were like, what's that awful smell? And where are all these flies coming from?? We opened the cupboard and lo and behold... there was THE BAG. (cue the scary music!)</div>
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<br>
OMG!!!! Freakin funny. We had a box of raisin bran multiply...iykwim. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="/img/vbsmilies/smilies/bag.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="Bag">:<br><br>
I can see that happening to us, my kids put things away in mysterious places too. Also, I get green muck at the bottom of my crisper without fail at least once a month. Shudder. Once a year, I say "holy bat crap, my frindge stinks!" and clean the fridge. Then I get all laps about it and figure no one can see my fridge....right? Right, just my messy family, and they don't give a flit about it anyway.

 

[Kabes]

zaq001- My mom called that EGGHO (sounds kinda like land ho). It stands for Each Guy Gets His Own. My bro and I hated it! There we would be in the car coming home from after school activities & work for my mom. Of course, someone had to ask "Mom, what's for dinner?" . Then on occasion there was the dreaded answer "Iwe'll have EGGHO tonight." Since, we often did the leftovers for lunch thing sometimes this meant PB&J or whatever you could get yourself. Now that I'm a mom it doesn't seem like such a bad idea - only the kids are still too young.

 

[LisainCalifornia]

I only like one day old left overs for me and the kids because bacteria *really* grosses me out. Did you know that the bacteria count grows each day, until on day 3 or 4 it is crawling with it?? Can you tell I am slightly OCDish about food?? <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/privateeyes.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="private eyes"><br><br>
One weird thing about my kids is that they will eat something I cook one day, but then totally turn their noses up at the left overs. I hate that!<br><br>
I remember that when I was growing up my mom use to make this big stew-soup with everything in it, and we would eat it every single night until it was just "gruelish" by the 5th or 6th night. I finally showed her an article I found somewhere that said you should not keep leftovers for more than 3-4 days (because illness can result), and she so stopped with the gruel. Still one of my fondest childhood memories <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/smile.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="smile">

 

[Annie7]

We eat alot of different bean, rice, and veggie dishes. Usually I have those long oblong "flatbreads" on hand. Just about anything tastes good in a wrap! Sometimes hot leftovers, sometimes cold. Pretty much always a hit.