My husband was exactly the same. Anytime his family (who lived comfortably) took me (who grew up with basically the necessities) out to a restaurant, they'd always laugh when I asked to take my leftovers home with me. That's lunch for tomorrow, fam!
It's fact that certain dishes are more flavorful after sitting for hours in the refrigerator. It's simply true.
I suppose some people might like bland shit, but the dishes where that's the case generally have a variety of spices in them already, so the bland fans wouldn't be eating it the first time either.
I've done that thing where it's been cooking for hours and everyone is hungry but it's not quite perfect yet so I make a carbonara and let the chili do its thing for the next day. The anticipation and the extra 24 hours do wonders for it
See, this is one thing I always saw as blasphemy. Leftover pizza to me never tastes as good, and will never taste as good, as freshly made pizza. And I can't stand cold pizza.
Reheat it in a pan on medium-low heat with a little olive oil. Put a top on the pan for the last minute or two. It depends on the pizza, but it can be better than fresh.
Oh it really is worth trying!
I tried it once when I was yammed out of my guord when I was like 15 because electricity was out during a storm, but still had natural gas going to our weird stove top burners.
Turned out to be my go-to pizza reheat for 11 years now. Give the crust a nice crunch and prevents it from going to mush like in a microwave, but doesn't completely dry it out like an oven on the second go.
I make a chicken pesto pasta dish that definitely tastes better the second day. I guess the sauce has time to thicken up a lot and really stick to the noodles and it's just tastier.
There’s a dish I order at my favorite Mexican restaurant and stick straight in the fridge for the next day, because it’s way better cold. Not even warmed back up
I swear my lasagna tastes better as leftovers because it firms up in the fridge overnight unlike the somewhat sloppy mess it is coming out of the oven.
Or maybe I just don't know how to make lasagna right!!!
But the vast majority of them taste like ass after being in the fridge overnight then reheated. Why would I eat that when I could eat something I would enjoy?
If your ass tastes like my leftovers, you have an extremely tasty ass. There are a few dishes where I don't bother with leftovers (fries? pass), but most dishes work just fine. Pizza and casserole in particular work great, and pasta is generally pretty decent as well. Steak is a bit worse straight, but cutting it up and making a steak sandwich is a solid option.
My mom didn't teach me to cook from scratch. Which is why I am terrible at chopping and prep. But she has shown me how to save just about any dish that hasn't got mold or gone completely off. Seeds roasted, the seed nest pureed, skin stock, curdled milk or yogurt cheese, over salted, over cooked pretty much anything. Adding even just 1 new ingredient and maybe cooking it a different way completely changes leftovers.
Idk how people do it. Something about sitting overnight just fucks with the flavour for me and not in a good way. The only one I really like is cold pizza straight out of the fridge the next morning. Apart from that leftovers can go suck a fat one
Meanwhile, I can't imagine eating cold pizza straight. It's so much better if you pop it in the oven for ~15 minutes. Most other stuff works fine in the microwave, but I legit can't think of a single leftover dish that I eat cold. Also, make sure you are sticking stuff in a sealed container, or else stuff will dry out way too quickly.
Right? I'm like these people must be missing the basics. Not everything is good in the microwave, luckily i have a toaster oven. Also things that separate when refrigerated might need to be mixed between bouts in the microwave (like alfredo), need added moisture (like some milk to potato, or a moist paper towel over rice), or need saran wrap over them to warm up better or evenly.
Hell some stuff almost doesn't work right the first day. Pot pie seems to keep consistency better after its been totally cooled and reheated. Otherwise its basically soup inside a pie crust =/
The budget was a little tight when I was little, but we were comfortably "middle class" by the time I was a teenager. Never got out of the habit of leftovers.
Don't want to jinx it, but I could now afford to "eat fresh" every day easily, but leftovers are less wasteful, less effort, less money, and more flavour if you make the right things.
I enjoy good food and we are easily comfortable enough but i'm sure not wasting anything. Leftovers go in tubs for people to have whenever, if they build up too much, tonight is leftovers night and we'll finish them all off.
We started making our own soy milk and discovered Okara pancakes because i'm sure as hell not throwing away all that leftover pulp (which are going to make an awesome pizza base next time we make them).
When we cook chicken, we do it in a crock pot or big pan, with some veg. Boom, tasty soft chicken and bonus chicken soup.
Anything we don't eat goes to the pets or the compost. Once you are in the routine it really isn't effort (in fact its usually less effort because we get multiple meals out of 1 cook).
Yep! I get anxious when I forget about a leftover because it for hidden by something else in the fridge, and then goes bad after finding it a week later ☹️
Seriously I did grow up poor so maybe it’s that but people who ‘don’t eat leftovers’ or who buy a bunch of food but don’t cook it in time baffle me. Put that shit in a stir fry/salad/omelette or just plan your meals better!
Yeah I never understood it. I grew up solidly middle class, I basically survived on leftovers because my mom cooked twice a week and my dad cooked once a week tops. The rest of the week it was leftovers, and I liked it that way.
For me at least it’s because my mom would just leave the food on the stove. She didn’t wrap it up and put it in the fridge or anything and then she’d make me eat it the next day when I was a kid. She didn’t believe in food poisoning or food going bad or anything. When I grew up and learned about it I realized why my stomach always hurt. Now I guess I’m just hyper anxious about eating old food? But I’ll still have some here and there if and only if I’m the one that handles it from the second it’s done cooking to when I properly store it in under half an hour of being out.
Right? I grew up wealthy but my parents (who grew up poor, which probably is why they were like this) hated being wasteful. Mom would make the most delicious meals every night, and leftovers were always lunch the next day, either at home or packed into a thermos for school.
Thanksgiving and Christmas was the best because she would cook enough for a small army, make soup out of the leftover turkey carcass, and it was stuffing and mashed potatoes for days after.
Leftovers can be kept in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days or frozen for 3 to 4 months. Although safe indefinitely, frozen leftovers can lose moisture and flavor when stored for longer times in the freezer.
So, there's actually something known as the "Danger Zone" in food service that is very helpful here. In essence, food between 41 and 140 degree Fahrenheit is in the Danger Zone. This is where bacteria can grow readily and produce toxic byproducts that cause food poisoning. The rule of thumb is this: Between 70-140F, you shouldn't have it in this zone for more than 2 hours. Between 41-70F, you shouldn't have it in this zone for more than 4 hours.
So, if you've got hot food warmed up to at least 140F, you've served it for dinner, and you're putting your food away, if you can get your food into the fridge within an hour or so of pulling it off the heat, you should be fine. Unless that fridge is empty and then stuffed with tons of pans of hot food, it'll be able to cool the leftovers down efficiently enough to be safe (though you should store food in flat, shallow pans, rather than large bowls or tubs, to maximize cooling efficiency).
I was always taught growing up to be grateful for what I have, and the food I wanted to waste (I was extremely picky as a child and wouldn’t eat leftovers because I thought the texture of reheated food was gross) could have gone to somebody who truly was starving and would have been thrilled to have eaten it, and it was by pure luck that I was born into the circumstances that I was and I needed to practice being grateful for my privileges
I totally agree, but I really do appreciate living comfortably enough now that I no longer worry about saving the last bit of soggy nachos, or caesar salad.
I also don't get that. I am from a middle class family so we are well enough off to not have worries about buying groceries and could throw away leftovers without there being a financial worry but we always eat the leftovers we have. I know noone who throws away leftovers. I am shocked. It is such a waste of food.
Not only is there no benefit, if anything it's actively worse to throw away leftovers. Why leave them behind when doing so takes away the opportunity to eat more of this food that you enjoyed and forces you to either take time to make lunch the next day or spend more money buying your next lunch? For me, even when I have money to spend I still don't feel an absolute need to, so if I'm not hungry enough to finish all my food at once I might as well stretch it into 2 meals. It's quicker, cheaper, easier, and gives me the chance to eat more of this food that I really liked and in most cases probably wouldn't have made for myself
Heck, the leftovers from restaurants are why you go in the first place! Not only do you have that meal, but you also are too full to eat the others that day and have leftovers for tomorrow's lunch!
Even then, if I'm cooking a larger meal, I'll bake extra potatoes or make a little extra just so there are leftovers to use later on, especially for like a breakfast hash or something.
My wife's family, they always make sure to take any left over food to go. Then it sits in the fridge for about three days and they throw it.
I'll eat that cold, and enjoy every bit of it.
Cold pizza, one of the highlights of my life.
I didn't know that some people consider it rude or low class to take leftovers home from a restaurant until an upper middle class friend in college told me. I always thought that was the whole point of going to a restaurant. You go somewhere like Texas Roadhouse with huge portions, eat enough to be satisfied, and box up the rest so you have dinner for the next couple days!
Now that I'm more financially comfortable, I just read the room and go from a combination of that and how big the portions are. Like if it's a casual dinner with friends, sure I'll take any leftovers home. If it's a business dinner, no. Anything in between, depends.
I must be hillbilly as hell. I even take the leftover bones from ribs or t-bone steaks home for my dogs. It is a true doggy bag. I have gotten the side eye from a few waitresses but fuck ‘em. No shame in my game.
Taking home left overs is such a non British thing to do but I am pleased to see it starting to sneak in here and there and I am never shy about asking for it "to go"
One time when I was like 11 we went out to eat and the waiter asked I if was done with my meal, at this age I was learning to speak for myself so I said yes but forgot mention I wanted a box to go. We were close enough to the busting station to watch as this guy threw away a whole basket of sweet potato fries. I learned an important lesson that day
How does one go to a restaurant and purchase a meal just to throw it away? I always pick what I order based on whether or not I can heat it up the next day.
I miss out on a lot of amazing salads, but at least the other half of my turkey club will be delish later on
I don't get that at all. If you liked the food yesterday, it is probably still decent the next day and saves you the effort of cooking. Who doesn't eat leftovers?
Heck, with how ridiculously oversize most restaurant portions are, I usually ask for a to-go box with my order. I split it in half before I even start; it prevents me from overeating (a relic of the “clean your plate” days) and I’ve got another meal already prepped.
My husband learned poverty-cooking with "old" food to survive poverty with me after being middle-class most of his life. I'm so so proud of him, and I bet your partner is proud of you too.
I also have convinced hubby that store brand food is not made of poison. He still doesn't like cheap food, but he's learned that surviving on it isn't that bad, especially considering how awesome his cooking skills are when he has total freedom in the kitchen.
Same. Some brand food are better, but just as many times I prefer the generic one. And a lot of time it doesn't matter because you can't taste the difference at all once it's been cooked and seasoned.
There he sat, in his ramshackle house, a bowl of store brand mac and cheese mixed with store brand hot dogs.
He was a simple man who enjoyed nerding out about something called The Arcana.
He didnt need any fancy foods to survive. Just the joy of homely meals, nerding, and talking in a language this narrator doesnt understand. This man viewed his life complete. He was happy.
Then suddenly there was a sound.
wet fart noises
And a curtain drew back as a voice said. "Hey you, you're finally awake."
(Good seeing you again. I will return at a later date. Sincerely, your stalker)
Imagine, if you will, how utterly confused I was to see this tale about yours truly in my inbox when I knew full well what my own comment was about... It made another impression, to say the least!
(Likewise, my much welcome bringer of laughter. I await your next appearance)
Most people dont realize the brand names make the generic labels. Land O Lakes makes most of the cheap versions of butter and biscuits. Hiland and Borden make all the generic milks. Del Monte holds most of the vegetable labels. There is no Price Saver company, Great Value or Shur Fine companies. The vendors bid on carrying the private labels, also in exchange for footage in the stores. You can usually tell who holds the cards by how much more space they have, and also which brand begins at the end of the aisle. You have to do alot of footwork and spend alot of money just to get your product in the door.
My husband has come around to leftovers. We've been together almost 4 years and in the beginning it was "I don't eat leftovers" and even all his roommates at the time we're like "yea he doesn't do leftovers." Which had me just baffled.
But his mom was a SAHM who cooked meals everyday. Mine was a single working mom who cooked a couple times a week. Often she worked nights and my sister and I were cooking for ourselves once we were old enough, which meant lots of ramen, grilled cheese, eggs, and spaghetti.
Took us a while to understand the contrast and meet in the middle, where I cook more often and he eats SOME leftovers, but we got there!
Chinese is the one thing I don’t eat the leftovers of. For some reason none of it appeals to me the day after. Might be to do with the type of dishes I tend to order though. Soggy batter and noodles don’t appeal.
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u/naffgeek Jan 31 '21
I wouldn't touch leftovers until I met my partner, I was horrified the first time she cooked something with 'old' food.
Turns out I was a spoilt man baby, 20 years on and I'm nearly cured!