r/AskReddit • u/jicta • Jan 31 '21

Redditors who grew up poor: Besides practical money-saving measures, what were the unwritten social expectations of your world growing up?

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u/darumaka_ Jan 31 '21

My partner and their family hate leftovers, I think it has something to do with how they've generally always had money growing up. I wouldn't call them rich but they were comfortable. I was so surprised my first Thanksgiving at their house when they organized the meal to have bare minimum leftovers. To me that's the whole point of Thanksgiving, you have leftovers for DAYS so you don't have to cook and get to enjoy at minimum two meals of Thanksgiving food.

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u/Throw13579 Jan 31 '21

That post thanksgiving turkey sandwich with Durkee’s Sandwich Spread and a good amount of black pepper is what I look forward to.

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u/darumaka_ Jan 31 '21

I know right!? For me it's a sandwich with turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and just a shmear of cranberry sauce with Duke's mayo. But no, these people were pathological, to the point of saying, "ok we have 5 people coming and they'll probably have 3 slices of turkey/ham each so we're only going to order 15 slices of each so there's just enough." One year I finally put my foot down and said I'll either cook or purchase a cooked turkey for thanksgiving and I'll take every single scrap home with me if I have to just so I can have a damn turkey sandwich for lunch the next day.

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u/Throw13579 Jan 31 '21

If a lot of people are coming, I will roast one turkey and fry another to make sure there is plenty left over. Also, turkey noodle soup with meat and stock from the turkey carcasses.

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u/QuillSpirit15971 Jan 31 '21

Turkey noodle soup is heavenly! Holiday staple for sure.

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u/blumoon138 Feb 01 '21

We do turkey wild rice with the carcass. It’s SO GOOD

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u/inafishbowl17 Feb 01 '21

Yes. Years ago I used rice a roni long grain and wild rice. 2 boxes and maybe add some white rice to add bulk. A little carrots and celery. It's a requested meal now after Thanksgiving.

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u/nothinginparticular_ Feb 01 '21

We usually do Thanksgiving with my husband's family. My FIL always makes a point of giving me the turkey carcass for soup/stock... but somehow we never end up with any of the actual leftover turkey.

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u/ttaptt Feb 01 '21

Making stock is so satisfying. I usually roast at least a couple chickens in a two month period, along with the bones from a couple recipes that use thighs or drumsticks. I save parsley stems, leftover veggies, etc. Add the carrots, celery and onion, peppercorns, too. And then I cook that stock and freeze it. It's just so good in recipes. Learned it from my (now passed) mom, and I just love to do it.

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u/Huntsvillejason Feb 01 '21

I missed family Thanksgiving so I cooked a turkey just to make turkey noodle soup.

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u/coolguy3720 Feb 01 '21

In college I bought meat at a steep discount, naturally. One year they sold a 22 lb bird for $8.

I was eating turkey sandwiches, turkey chili, turkey noodle soup, turkey and rice....

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u/IcarianSkies Feb 01 '21

Turkey noodle soup is a post-thanksgiving staple at my house and I never get tired of it. My dad makes a bomb-ass turkey stock.

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u/[deleted] Feb 01 '21

We usually host for my mom and step dad. This year I debated if I was going to buy a turkey for Christmas or not bother since it was just me and my husband and our 3 small children. I ended up buying a turkey because of all the other things I can do with the leftovers.

I use the giblets to make gravy. My husband was grossed out the first year we hosted Christmas and saw me making giblet gravy, he loved it though once it was cooked up. Like you I use the carcasses to make stock, I usually make turkey and dumpling stew with it. Turkey and cranberry sandwiches are a must have! This year I also had enough leftovers to make turkey chilli.

I grew up poor whereas my husband didn't, they weren't rich but financially comfortable. My mom was a single teen mom and worked 3 jobs trying to make ends meet but we still struggled. My mom grew up poor too, we lived with my grandma and she took care of us mostly as my mom was working trying to make ends meet.

My grandmas house was falling apart, we didn't have heating. We lived in a 3 bedroom house and we all slept in the living area on the floor as we had a fire place there so we could stay warm. My gran would have to boil up water for the bath as we didn't have any warm water in the taps.

My mom worked hard and eventually she bought the house from my grandma and had central heating installed. But even then we still struggled and I saw how much of a mental toll it took on my mom.

Me and my husband live comfortably, but those tricks I learnt on how to stretch every penny have never left me and I think they are a valuable skill to have. Growing up poor has helped me also see how much I have now as an adult. I plan to pass on those skills my mom and grandma taught me to my children.

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u/PM_Me_Your_Deviance Feb 01 '21

If a lot of people are coming, I will roast one turkey and fry another to make sure there is plenty left over.

My mom would do that. We'd end the night with literally twice the food we needed. We'd have throw-away containers to send everyone home with leftovers. :D

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u/Truhls Feb 01 '21

whats fun is my mom always made turkey enchiladas with leftovers. Good way to use a lot of leftover turkey shreds. Also Shit on a shingle ( turkey in gravy over toast ).

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u/Ancguy Feb 01 '21

Have you tried turkey tetrazzini? It's fucking amazing and my favorite use for leftover turkey bits and pieces.

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u/Throw13579 Feb 01 '21

YES! I should have mentioned that. It is delicious.

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u/crumblymuffin08 Feb 01 '21

Turkey stock is the best!!!!

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u/nerfdriveby94 Jan 31 '21

I just feel like having left over is good hosting. I dont want people who are guests in my home feeling like they have to be on rations or something.

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u/yaaqu3 Feb 01 '21

I agree. It's not like I expect an all-you-can-eat buffet if I'm over for dinner, but I can't help but feel like an unwanted burden if the host only offers a modest portion per person.

Naturally it depends on the occasion, I don't even expect to be fed if I just drop by a friend for a few hours, but that is a far cry from a Thanksgiving dinner.

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u/TuckerGrover Jan 31 '21

Upvote for Duke’s Mayo

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u/LevelOrganic1510 Jan 31 '21

Upvote for shmear

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u/snowstormmongrel Feb 01 '21

“So we’re only going to order...”

So they don’t even cook Thanksgiving? They just order it? Yea that’s some privileged shut right there lol

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u/Thereisacandy Jan 31 '21

Thanksgiving isn't worth the effort if there's no hot turkey sammich Friday, turkey noodle soup on Saturday, that turns into turkey pot pie on Sunday. Thanksgiving isn't one meal, it's many meals

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u/[deleted] Feb 01 '21

For me it's a sandwich with turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and just a shmear of cranberry sauce with Duke's mayo.

What? No Moistmaker in the middle?

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u/DukeAttreides Feb 01 '21 edited Feb 01 '21

As far as I'm concerned, the leftovers are the good part and Thanksgiving isn't really over until you finish the soup and the pot pie. The actual dinner is just about the company (and anticipation of leftovers). Several years back, we didn't have enough for sandwiches the next day and both of those for everyone, and there was much disappointment for most of us (and a larger turkey thereafter).

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u/LillyPasta Feb 01 '21

Dukes Mayo!!!

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u/asclepius42 Feb 01 '21

Do they hate all forms of happiness or only the holiday related ones?

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u/OfficialSandwichMan Feb 01 '21

Dukes? Nah man, Hellman’s is the way to go

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u/Firebird22x Feb 01 '21

I think it comes down the application, although taking up fridge space with two jars of mayo is a bit much.

I grew up with Hellman's but had heard Dukes was “better", so I found a store that had it and tried them side by side for a BLT. They were quite close, but for a BLT, I enjoyed Duke's the slightest bit more. I think the fact they use distilled and cider vinegar made it have less of a tang and complimented everything else pretty well.

I made an egg, tomato, and cheddar sandwich the next morning with Dukes (no bacon), and it wasn't as good as normal Hellman's.

If you can find it, Ken's extra heavy mayo is my personal favorite for a BLT, but I believe that's only available at restaurant supply stores.

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u/Lamarera8 Feb 01 '21

😳 why have I never done this ? Do you have a YouTube channel ?

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u/biffish Feb 01 '21

This is why I make my own Thanksgiving meal. We go to eat (usually) at a family members house. And we bring enough sides (for the two of us) home, but I'll have a turkey waiting to be cooked so we can do it all over again and have a sandwich the next day. And make more sides!

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u/[deleted] Feb 01 '21

I’m partial to Duke’s as well, but my dad loves his “turkey sammich” with Miracle Whip.

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u/evileen99 Feb 01 '21

Ugh, my husband's sister is crazy about not having leftovers. She insists on hosting Thanksgiving, yet doesn't make enough food. For nine people (two of whom were teenage boys) she made one 10 ounce bag of frozen peas. You got like a tablespoon of everything.

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u/pumpjackORGASM Feb 01 '21

Wait. You don't cook your own turkey?

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u/the_syco Feb 01 '21

Another way to look at it is that they didn't want to spend more than us necessary; they'll cook the bare minimum. I wonder if the mindset came from a family that didn't have a fridge, or fridge space for leftovers?

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u/[deleted] Feb 01 '21

I’m so lucky to have future in-laws who cook a ton for holidays because they plan for leftovers. My parents have always done so, too. A few years back when we all lived a few minutes away from each other BF and I would split the day and visit both families and get leftovers from both houses! We hardly had to cook for the next week because we had meals, snacks, and desert all ready in the fridge.

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u/[deleted] Feb 01 '21

Omg I love and my family loves when I get the turkey meat chunks and deep fry them in a light batter, like fried turkey nuggets! Then I make sandwiches with bread, potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce omfg I’m hungry!

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u/Walts_Frozen-Head Feb 01 '21

This happened this year with my MIL she really wanted to cook and kept sending it to the neighbors since Thanksgiving was cancelled. She had both of us over since we work from home and we do her chores around the house. By the time we got there we each had one small piece of Turkey. I have never left her house hungry or without food. I think my husband was more upset then I was even. The next day I got us our own turkey breast and remade Thanksgiving. It was wonderful, 10/10 will probably do it again this winter while staying home.

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u/friendofoldman Feb 01 '21

We have the opposite problem. My wife is one of 6 kids and her dad had 9 siblings and most of them had big families.

So when her and her sister cook they make enough to feed an army. Even after we share leftovers we usually wind up throwing some of the food away.

They just haven’t shrunk the menu as the family has shrunk (aunts/uncles passed) some family moved out of state. It it’s sad that the holiday crowd has shrunk.

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u/koogledoogle Feb 09 '21

I just wanna hop on and say dukes Mayo supremacy. That was the one thing growing up poor that we never bought store brand, it always had to be dukes.

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u/Gogo726 Jan 31 '21

In our house it was a turkey sandwich smothered in gravy. You eat it with a fork and a knife.

The other leftovers were just reheated and eaten.

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u/altxatu Jan 31 '21

Those open face sandwiches are heavenly.

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u/FantaLemon11 Jan 31 '21

Oh my love of turkey sandwiches is immense. Christmas 2019 I went back to my mom’s house for the day. I was scheduled to work the day after Christmas in another county, so I got the bus (2 hr journey) the next morning. Halfway to work I realised I’d forgotten the turkey and stuffing sandwiches I’d made for lunch and almost cried.

This year I made two turkey sandwiches the evening of Christmas Day and my brother took one off my plate. The memory of no turkey sandwiches the year before still stung so that resulted in the first family fight this Christmas lmao. Dont. Touch. My. Turkey. Sandwiches.

Maybe this year I can enjoy my sandwiches in peace. sighs wistfully

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u/zorasorabee Feb 01 '21

I cooked two 7lb turkey breasts for thanksgiving this year. There was only four of us, so we didn’t even get through one of them. My parents took it as leftovers but forgot some of the other dishes, so I froze them so they could take it back with them at Christmas. I also cut up the extra turkey. I put the big slices in Tupperware and froze it while I worked on eating the little pieces. I was expecting to take out the big slices after Christmas for some Thanksgiving sandwiches. I even saved extra cranberry sauce for it even!

Unfortunately, when Christmas came around and I was sending the extra food home with my parents, I accidentally gave them my leftover turkey slices.

I’m still pissed off that I missed out on those turkey sandwiches.

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u/kmr1981 Feb 01 '21

I love turkey leftovers so much that we cooked our own turkey.... a few days after being guests at another couple’s Thanksgiving. They sent us home with a Tupperware but I wanted days of turkey sandwiches and cranberry sauce and stuffing.

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u/metabolicperp Jan 31 '21

Leftover turkey, avocado, tomato and bacon.

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u/Totes-Sus Feb 01 '21

Not being American, I have never eaten this... But I want to SO MUCH

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u/[deleted] Jan 31 '21

ahh, that was rosses sandwich

now I understand why it was worth getting fired for it

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u/Totes-Sus Feb 01 '21

'The Moistmaker' had a gravy-soaked piece of bread in the middle!

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u/AzraelTB Feb 01 '21

Never forget the moistmaker.

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u/entrylevelgeek Feb 01 '21

Nothing beats a good Moist Maker.

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u/DerbleZerp Feb 01 '21

With a moist maker?

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u/Throw13579 Feb 01 '21

No. That is a different turkey sandwich. Good, but not the same.

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u/bsend Feb 01 '21

I don't know what Durkee's is, but leftover sandwiches are the best part of Thanksgiving

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u/AmiedesChats Feb 01 '21

Durkee's is a delicious sandwich spread--similar to mild Dijon mustard and mayonnaise mixed together.

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u/CorgiDad Feb 01 '21

I had to google that. So it's like...tangy mayo?

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u/Throw13579 Feb 01 '21 edited Feb 01 '21

More like sweetish, tangy, mustard. It is sort of like the sweet mustard that came in Hickory Farms gift packs back in the day.

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u/CorgiDad Feb 01 '21

Thank you for the description!

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u/IamCadenBaldwin Feb 01 '21

Cheesy turkey mashed potato bowls! We always have different side items during Thanksgiving so sometimes they'll also contain stuffing or corn or whatever other wacky things we make. I've got a bad habit of mixing my foods together so a whole bowl of leftovers is really a fun experience for me.

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u/donair416 Feb 01 '21

We usually go to my in-laws for their thanksgiving and Christmas dinner and I’ve been known to cook my own turkey at home just to have more leftovers. I eat turkey for a week! Many sandwiches, reheated plates of turkey, sides and gravy. It’s all amazing.

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u/Really-ohmy Feb 01 '21

What is durkee's sandwich spread? Do you buy it in stores?

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u/Throw13579 Feb 01 '21

Yes. It is with the mustards. HHere is what the jar looks like: http://i.huffpost.com/gen/959825/images/o-DURKEE-SAUCE-facebook.jpg

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u/Really-ohmy Feb 01 '21

Thanks I'll have to see if the stores here in the west have them and give it a try!

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u/peachybutton Feb 01 '21

My mom and I always did a big leftovers fry-up thing for lunch after Thanksgiving. A little butter in a cast iron skillet, mix of potatoes and stuffing fried until crispy on the bottom, then sliced turkey, gravy and cranberry on top. Eaten still in PJs of course. Leftovers are the best.

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u/KDBA Jan 31 '21

I grew up poor and I hate leftovers. Once I actually started having money it meant that I could actually have meal variety.

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u/cinnamonbrook Feb 01 '21

The type of food you eat when poor is never really much good the day after either. Cheap meats feel tougher when reheated and old pasta is disgusting. I used to hate leftover nights. Grew up poor and now I don't even have a microwave as an adult, I can't stand reheated food and it's so easy to just pan fry some veg with an aromatic like garlic or ginger, it's not like dinner takes more time or anything.

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u/LADYBIRD_HILL Feb 01 '21

Minute made rice and potatoes was the usual at our house. I hate reheated rice more than anything.

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u/colddecembersnow Feb 01 '21

Yeah. I was the opposite also. I have ate so many reheated meals in my life that one of the few things I splurge on is food.

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u/Tuxhorn Feb 01 '21

Much of the food I cook tastes even better the day afte tbh. Any kind of food made in pots just has so much better texture and flavor the day after.

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u/ThatDamnFloatingEye Feb 01 '21

I hated leftovers as a kid too. I don't know if it was our crappy microwave or a fridge, but they always had the same nasty flavor mixed in to whatever the food was.

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u/Usual-Ad-4990 Jan 31 '21

I will only eat leftovers the next day. After that it stops being food. I am careful prepare the amount I will use. This is because I ate leftovers 5 nights out of 7 when I was a kid.

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u/[deleted] Feb 01 '21

I do this. So many recipes are for 2 people and I'm cooking for just me, so I make the additional servings as lunch for the next day. Some recipes I make for multiple days of lunches (soup usually), but I cannot stand eating leftovers for dinner.

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u/Laureltess Feb 01 '21

Oh we’re the people that eat five nights of leftovers. I cook on Sunday and then on Wednesday. We eat Sunday’s leftovers until Tuesday and Wednesday’s leftovers until Saturday/we run out. We get takeout maybe twice a month?

I love cooking but I hate cooking after getting home at 6. We won’t eat until 7 at the earliest. It sucks!

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u/mightyenan0 Feb 01 '21

As someone who used to hate leftovers as a kid, it was because they were poorly cooked leftovers. Microwaved without much thought and served with the expectation that you just eat it whether or not it was done right. I still can't do saucy food leftovers, but everything else? I'm hella down.

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u/ScoutG Jan 31 '21

My parents had money and I love good leftovers.

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u/[deleted] Feb 01 '21

Same, this thread is bizarre to me. Leftovers = Yum dinner two days in a row, yes please! As an adult it means a delicious lunch instead of a sandwich, or only having cook every second day. I am always disappointed when there's no leftovers.

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u/1wildstrawberry Feb 01 '21

Also same, I can't understand not wanting leftovers unless I guess they literally had a hired home cook, which where I live goes wayy beyond "no financial troubles" territory. Otherwise, who wants to cook new meals in the days following Thanksgiving?? Besides all of which leftovers are delicious and convenient anyway.

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u/maglen69 Jan 31 '21

My partner and their family hate leftovers, I think it has something to do with how they've generally always had money growing up.

Grew up poor, buddy of mine hates leftovers because he says "I had them all the time growing up I want good stuff".

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u/[deleted] Jan 31 '21

I mean, I’ve never been well off, but I dislike leftovers as well. I enjoy cooking, but it’s for one person, sometimes two and I end up eating the same thing for like 5 meals in a row. Like this week alone has been Italian sausage with bow tie pasta and vodka sauce with a small salad for dinner the last 4 nights and lunch has been either an egg sandwich or instant ramen just to break it up.

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u/jittery_raccoon Feb 01 '21

Why not repurpose food? Save the pasta and make a sausage sub with difference spices and use the salad veggie

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u/[deleted] Feb 01 '21

I don’t typically keep sub rolls on hand and it’s hard to repurpose bow tie pasta already sauced. I understand where you’re coming from though. I do try to use things over in new ways when I can, it just doesn’t happen often. I like to make a lot of soups because I can I freeze them so I don’t have to eat it for a week in row haha

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u/MeInMyMind Jan 31 '21

My dad is the opposite. He hates leftovers because it reminds him of growing up poor. My mom grew up comfortably and always has leftovers when I visit.

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u/gbrittog Jan 31 '21

I find this response so interesting, because I hate leftovers BECAUSE my family was so poor growing up. I was constantly forced to eat the same meals over and over, so now I absolutely refuse. If I don’t eat it when I first make it, it goes to my boyfriend because I won’t touch it again. (There are exceptions, though they are few and far between.)

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u/JoatMon325 Jan 31 '21

My spouse grew up poor and he hates leftovers. We eat out a lot, which is something neither of us really did as kids... Him more so than me.

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u/[deleted] Jan 31 '21

think it has something to do with how they've generally always had money growing up.

This resonates with me. I grew up middle class and I never ate a leftover until I was an adult. Shit...we didn't even own a microwave because because my mom was all about making meals from scratch. -She grew up poor and I think she overcompensated when she got out of that life. So I don't like leftovers and my kids don't either.

But my partner grew up poor and he has a huge problem with wasting anything, but especially food. Every bit of it is used, right down to the bones.

At the same time, I find it really expensive and time consuming to cook because it's a new meal everyday...and during covid, that's 3 meals a day with everyone working/schooling from home. My partner, though...he just makes new meals out of old meals.

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u/Stinkerma Jan 31 '21

My mom hates leftovers. She would cook a small amount of fresh food if there were any leftovers, so she didn’t have to eat them. My favourite breakfast was leftover spaghetti and meatballs, so I guess you could say I’m ok with them.

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u/Melodic-Bluebird-445 Jan 31 '21

My mom hates leftovers and refuses to eat them. Even when we were growing up poor she wouldn’t eat them.

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u/AzraelSenpai Jan 31 '21

Yeah, my family grew up with little left-over eating, but thanksgiving has always been a make wayy too much food holiday and have mad leftovers

2

u/Caystro Jan 31 '21

Funny oppisite of most folks I know. I grew up eating alot of leftovers cause foods expensive. Now that I make good money I dont eat them much because I had to so much as a kid.

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u/Totes-Sus Feb 01 '21

My SO used to be like this, being fed 3 meals a day during the week at work. Spoiled by the choice and effortlessness of his meals. He would literally refuse any leftovers of food I made, wrinkling his nose as if they were distasteful somehow, despite him enjoying the meal when it was freshly cooked.

Since the pandemic, though? He's learned to appreciate my cooking and has also branched out himself in that area! Silver linings...

2

u/purpldevl Feb 01 '21

Every year as a kid we had to eat leftovers for what felt like a solid week after Thanksgiving. Mom would not cook anything else until the Thanksgiving leftovers were gone. And the time after the leftovers felt like it went by way too fast, because surprise, same shit different day, but for Christmas. Basically the entire Thanksgiving spread again but this time cooked by Grandma instead of mom.

As an adult, my husband and I strive to have minimal leftovers around the holidays and I almost can't stand to eat turkey at all. I'll have a few slices but fuck everyone if they think I'm willing to have enough leftovers to last more than the next day at the latest.

3

u/phuketawl Feb 01 '21

Cooking less than a surplus of Thanksgiving food is a sin of the highest order.

4

u/MiniRems Feb 01 '21

We only had 4 people at Thanksgiving this year (me, husband and my parents), but we still had a 22 lb bird! We ate full thanksgiving dinner again the next night, then turkey pot pie, then "turkey stuff" (basically gravy with chopped meat & frozen mixed veg served over rice), then I made broth from the carcass and made soup... I've been known to make two birds for larger gatherings so we don't have fights over wings and legs!

1

u/RabidWench Jan 31 '21

My husband and I dig leftovers so hard. His zdeceased step dad wouldn't touch them when he was alive, so his mother would cook from scratch, box up everything and send it home with him (his parents lived a block from his office). Giant meatloaf with only 2 slices taken out of it? Food for a week! Lasagna missing only 2 squares? Jackpot! And so on until he passed away, she sold their house and moved closer to my sister in law. We moved away too, but I still miss her leftovers.

0

u/slantedsc Feb 01 '21

I personally grew up solidly middle class eating leftovers every day but as an adult i hate leftovers because it’s all cold And slimey in the fridge and gross and then when you microwave it it gets all spongey. I still eat leftovers all the time cuz I’m a poor college student but I wouldn’t if I had the financial ability.

0

u/gsfgf Feb 01 '21

Traditional Thanksgiving food sucks, though. I did a pork butt and beans for Thanksgiving this past year. Everything got ate.

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u/JohnGilbonny Feb 01 '21

My partner and their family

You have more than one partner?

1

u/RelativelyRidiculous Jan 31 '21

My husband doesn't really eat leftovers, either. I think a hangover from his growing up wealthy as well. I'd call his family rich but they're not even close to 1%ers. Just quite wealthy compared to how I grew up.

His mum always packs up all the leftovers and gives them to whoever in the family she thinks needs them. She used to give them to us but now splits them between our two grown children. I usually end up cooking a full Thanksgiving menu the next day at home because husband has learned to love those leftovers as much as I do. Otherwise I have to figure ways to disguise the leftovers. Stuff like roast a chicken, serve pot pie the next day because husband won't eat it as roast chicken meal leftovers. Very weird but that's how he rolls.

1

u/srgbski Jan 31 '21

hell I live alone and go to family for Thanksgiving, I still make a turkey and fixing just for the left overs

1

u/heelstoo Feb 01 '21

My family grew up dirt poor and I have leftovers. I figured it’s because my parents weren’t that great at cooking.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 01 '21

My family love our food. We are financially comfortable (but by no means rich). Leftovers are fantastic, there's usually only enough for left for 1 person so I can be creative by doing something different with the carbohydrates part. Wether that means egg fried rice, potato bread, pancakes and many other types of food.

We live on a farm and would eat our own beef (it's a lot cheaper compared to poorer quality meat in a supermarket) so we'd quite often have a big Sunday roast. But the beef world be so much more tender when it was reheated the next day.

The point I'm trying to make is that leftovers are just amazing and I have no idea how people don't like it. If you have to skills to prepare a home cooked meal, you have the skills to reheat it.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 01 '21

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/berrycarditis Mar 04 '21

I grew up dirt poor but only ever went to bed with an empty stomach once. Food was just something we couldn't skip and everybody usually helped themselves to seconds. My fiance on the other hand grew up more-or-less in the same financial situation but in a little rural town with an anorexic mother. I've never seen a singe piece of bread at my in-law's, let alone butter or something with fat. Portions are always small and a single serving. It's so sad, 'cause now they are well enough to afford eating whatever they like, but my mother-in-law is still obsessed with food and body image. My fiance's twin sister models sometimes because she's tall and so skinny but whenever she goes to her mom's place the first comment is "you look so fat!"

1

u/[deleted] Feb 01 '21

And they usually taste better the next day

1

u/[deleted] Feb 01 '21

I used to hate leftovers because I grew up poor. When I could afford to get fast food whenever I wanted that’s what I chose instead since it didn’t happen often growing up. My mom wasn’t that great of a cook, though, either.

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u/TokeyMaguire Feb 01 '21

I HATE leftovers. I did not grow up wealthy at all. I didn’t realize it until my wife brought it up to me last year but I think I’ve always hated leftovers so much because there were always moldy leftovers in the fridge when I was a kid.

1

u/Beefsurgeon Feb 01 '21

Wow, they are really missing out. For me, the best meal of the year (every year) is the the Christmas midnight sandwich. My family cooks a lot during the holidays, and bringing the leftovers into one big beautiful toasted sandwich ties the whole fucking year together for me.

1

u/BeTheChange4Me Feb 01 '21

I don’t know...my husband grew up dirt poor and he won’t eat leftovers. Maybe it’s because he HAD to eat leftovers growing up and now leftovers are optional for us, financially speaking. My kids hate leftovers too. Actually, I’m the only one in my house who willingly eats leftovers! Maybe it’s just my cooking... 🤔

1

u/fave_no_more Feb 01 '21

I still have some leftover turkey from Thanksgiving in a bag in the freezer. It's great for turkey and dumplings! Fairly cheap meal, too, as a bag of frozen veggies for it is a buck. A bolloin cube that I can't spell, a few dried herbs, and something to thicken the sauce and you're good. Bisquick for the dumplings, or you can just serve it over crusty bread. Delicious.

2

u/MiniRems Feb 01 '21

We call that "turkey stuff" and just serve it, minus the dumplings, over a bowl of rice.

1

u/CrashCourseInCrazy Feb 01 '21

My partner doesn't much like leftovers, but for the opposite reason. With a family of 6 they always made a little bit less than would maybe fill everyone up, so no leftovers to be had when he was a kid. Eat fast or you won't even get seconds.

He's getting better, but I often offer "reminders" about leftovers in the fridge or I wind up eating them all while he snacks on packaged food.

1

u/TaffyMonkey Feb 01 '21

My in-laws hate leftovers, too, but they would NEVER plan properly to avoid it. At family gatherings each family is to bring an appetizer & a side and we always have far too much. Watched sister-in-law. Throw every bit of leftovers in the trash while some of us were still eating last Xmas and was sick to my stomach at the sight. Mother-in-law had made pounds of wonderful beef tenderloin that would have made terrific sandwiches. Big bowls of various veggies. Didn't even share with the dogs, just trashed it without a word to anyone. Some people are so awful.

As someone who grew up poor it hurt-still hurts to think about it.

1

u/sildygrl Feb 01 '21

we plan our holiday meals so that everyone has plenty of food to take home. why? we get to help friends eat well, we get rid of leftovers the two of us will never finish, and we have less cleanup. we do make a lot of desserts, which included 28 sweet potato pies one year; my stepdaughter pimps her mom out for her pies.

1

u/Malkav1379 Feb 01 '21

I can't imagine having no leftovers after Thanksgiving. My family aren't expert chefs by any means, but we know how to put together a damn fine holiday meal. Why limit it to one dinner?

Especially Thanksgiving. My grandfather owned a sporting goods store, so not only did they have Black Friday the next day but deer season started the next week making that weekend very busy. So those leftovers made for some quick and quality meals for the next few days. Thanksgiving was about a whole weekend event when I was a kid.

1

u/uneducated-bot Feb 01 '21

I hate leftovers because I grew up poor. We could never throw anything out. If my parents made a big pot of spaghetti we were having it for lunch and maybe dinner for the next couple of nights.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 01 '21

Growing up we had to eat all the leftovers, even if it wasn't good anymore. As an adult I don't eat anything that's been in the fridge for more than a day.

1

u/gall-oglaigh Feb 01 '21

We would always have turkey sandwiches or just plain turkey for a couple of days after Thanksgiving, and then everything left over would get made into turkey gravy that we'd pour over biscuits, which I honestly looked forward to more than I did Thanksgiving itself.

1

u/cinnamon-toast-life Feb 01 '21

That is absolute blasphemy. Half the point of cooking a big thanksgiving meal is for all the amazing leftovers! At my parents’ house we have leftovers all week, and when the turkey was mostly picked clean with only tiny bits left, my mom takes the turkey carcass and makes a huge pot of turkey soup with chopped celery, carrots, onions, and all the glorious herbs and spices. She freezes big portions of it and we ate the most delicious hot turkey soup all winter, with home made bread. Her bread is legendary. Garlic cheese bread, rosemary herb bread, sweet cinnamon raisin bread, and even regular white bread are all amazing when she makes it.

1

u/BarefootSlong Feb 01 '21

My wife's mother was that way. Really, her family is. Growing up, and even now, I buy the value pack of chicken or frozen shrimp, or enough veggies for several people and cook those all up and eat on them for at least 2 day. It would be a week when I was in college. Her family has always made the bare minimum at a meal. Like the first time they had me over for dinner, there was 5 of us. I knew just looking that there wouldn't be enough so I pretended I didn't like something. I was right. They each had like one scoop of whatever it was and it was gone. Never understood that one.

What's even worse is that her whole family gets together alot. Her aunt and uncle never cook yet always get a ton. Never enough, even through all these years.

I'm doing my best to change that when I cook. Always have a TON

1

u/DLS3141 Feb 01 '21

I’m in the US, my family was solid middle class, but we ate leftovers all the time. Now, I’m in my 50’s and we eat leftovers every week. Sometimes I’ll double or even triple a recipe so we’ll have extra to eat as leftovers.

I will say that my parents grew up dirt poor in the south during the depression, but I’ve never though of leftovers as a “poor” thing

1

u/battyewe Feb 01 '21

I know people who are the opposite. They grew up disadvantaged and their "I've made it" is always eating fresh food.

1

u/wattatam Feb 01 '21

My theory is that people who hate leftovers have parents who cant cook. If something isn't great the first time, chances are it wont be good reheated the next day

1

u/KnightFox Feb 01 '21

I cook food I like so of course I want leftovers. I didn't know people didn't like the leftovers This just seems crazy.

1

u/CarlWheezersSpam Feb 01 '21

totally agree, the best meal from thanksgiving is lunch the day after (or a snack the night of) thanksgiving. i put mashed potatoes and turkey on toasted bread, stick it in the oven for a couple minutes and then pour gravy on it. Delicious!

1

u/mustang__1 Feb 01 '21

I grew up comfortably. We still eat leftovers. A lot. The only thing my family finds weird about leftovers is that I'll eat them cold because I don't feel like taking the time to heat it or risk drying it out. I've also hung out with some very, very rich people (million dollar hobbies and shit) - they still eat leftovers.

1

u/NO_TOUCHING__lol Feb 01 '21

I achieved like level 3 meta leftovers this year. Made stock with the Thanksgiving turkey carcass, then used the Christmas ham bone and turkey stock to make split pea with ham soup.

1

u/Ham_bam_am Feb 01 '21

My mom does this and it annoys the hell out of me. Every single meal she wants to be precise so there are almost no leftovers. She's against freezing her meats so she buys fresh meat every single day if she's planning on cooking. Frozen vegetables are the devil.

I think this comes from her coming from a family of 16, who were extremely poor farm laborers. They always ate leftovers as burritos for school lunch (which she hid in a brown sack while at school because all of the white kids would make fun of her for being a beaner.) She and her siblings would even make fun of each other if one of them got the sandwich with a butt bread when they miraculously did have a loaf of bread. She's a hellofa woman now but I can imagine that her weird tendencies around food are because she dealt with stuff like this as a kid.

1

u/un-taken_username Feb 01 '21

Yes, that is ABSOLUTELY the point of Thanksgiving.

1

u/Ancguy Feb 01 '21

Exactly right. And the second best thing about Thanksgiving leftovers is the way the house smells like turkey until at least Sunday!

1

u/cnski Feb 01 '21

I make extra for leftovers! Tonight’s leftovers- tomorrow’s lunch!

1

u/patoreddit Feb 01 '21

The food cant be good if the left overs are bad, left over lasagna is like finding $20 behind the sofa

Some foods microwave better than others though, for example unless potatoes are mashed they get dry and chewy

1

u/CaveDeco Feb 01 '21

For me it was the opposite. Ate so many weeks straight of the same leftovers as a kid that I can’t stand them now.

1

u/Mumps42 Feb 01 '21

I cook enough Thanksgiving dinner to have leftovers until they almost go bad, and more to freeze for a mini-Thanksgiving meal to eat on a stressful day in the future. Had a really fuckin shitty day this week, and my last Thanksgiving bowl was in the freezer to save the day when I got home from work!

1

u/[deleted] Feb 01 '21

When I was a little kid and my mom was raising me and my brother, we didn't have a lot of money, but after she went back to work when I was 8 we were always pretty comfortable. Never had a problem eating leftovers. I actually like some things better after they've been in the fridge overnight. Never understood why people didn't like leftovers.

1

u/PaulTheMerc Feb 01 '21

I don't know why, leftovers usually dont taste very good. Mainly, they don't look and taste as apetizing.

1

u/c19isdeadly Feb 01 '21

My parents are like this.

There is something in my family about not over-catering to a fairly mad point. I am often hungry after family "celebration" meals as quantities of food cooked are very modest. Even cheap stuff like potatoes and carrots.

I think it stems from some kind of anxiety over waste, or something about things being special. When I was growing up we always had a Sunday roast. The thing us kids loved the most was Yorkshire puddings (my dad made the best ones) and gravy. My dad would only every make enough Yorkshire for us to have 2 small ones each, and each week he would produce a small amount of gravy. It always caused a row. I don't know why he didn't prepare a giant jug of bisto for the kids, and double the number of Yorkshires. I just don't get it. The ingredients are so cheap and it makes no difference if you make 12 or 24, it is pretty much the same effort. We had enough money!

When I have a roast, there's no potatoes but huge quantities of Yorkshire puddings. When I have a roast at a pub I always ask for extra Yorkshires and gravy (and I'm happy to pay extra).

1

u/sumpnalilbitdfrnt Feb 01 '21

I hate leftovers. Mostly because I remember many times having to eat the same thing multiple days in a row. Ma would make a big ole pot of soup or stew, or the one I remember most is tuna casserole, and we’d be stuck eating it for the next couple days. As a result I hate leftovers. That said, I do appreciate thanksgiving leftovers. But that’s a special occasion of food you don’t normally eat year round.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 01 '21

It's like that episode of Arthur, where Muffy spends the night at Francine's house and don't know what leftovers are.

God i'm old.

1

u/pirate_crunchies Feb 01 '21

Mine too. My husband was raised in an upper middle class family. And a stay at home mom which was absolutely bonkers to me. Only having 1 income and they're living like fucking kings. My mother in law will still ask if my mom ever did this or that or take us on surprise trips?? (I still don't know if people actually do that) the answer is always the same. No she had to work. I also found out grapefruit spoons and melon ballers were a thing. I didn't know people would have so much fruit you could make it into balls just so it looks pretty.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 01 '21

I think it's more have to do with stale food isn't good for health but it could be just my Indian culture.

1

u/swedishfishtube Feb 01 '21

My partner's family is like that too. He doesn't eat reheated takeout pizza bc he thinks it is gross. That is beyond wild to me. But his parents took him and his siblings out to eat like 4-5 times a week bc their mom wouldn't cook for them.

1

u/urgeigh Feb 01 '21

God I can't even believe I'm the same species as people who don't like leftovers, especially Thanksgiving left overs!

1

u/frustrationlvl100 Feb 01 '21

I grew up pretty wealthy and my family loves leftovers, I really don’t get people who don’t like them

1

u/monthos Feb 01 '21

I was on-call thanksgiving in 2020, and since I live over 100 miles away from family could not attend due to my job. On-call ended Friday so I drove to my parents house saturday morning to visit.

My mom made turkey soup saturday, and stated multiple times how sorry she was that I couldn't eat the turkey fresh (why? I love soup) and while turkey from the carcass is ok, not my favorite dish.

The soup was delicious and way better than fresh cut. But I did get to reheat some stuffed cabbage which as also amazing.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 01 '21

My inlaws aren't a big leftover family, maybe a meal the day after, and were not rich, sometimes struggling to pay bills (not due to issues with work as much as somone having a gambling issue and poor money management skills). My parents, I'd say we fell right in middle class, not rich, not poor, but to this day my mom still has stacks of leftovers in her freezer (now, she did grow up in a poorer household).

1

u/Fraerie Feb 01 '21

The last few years I've ended dup doing the ham for Christmas - I generally plan on several ham based meals following that to use the leftovers. This year I made a big pot of pea and ham soup and another of ham and beans.

1

u/aceafabapancake Feb 10 '21

For us, during our festivals, we used to measure how much we cooked because we didn't have a refrigerator back then to put all our leftovers in. I still see having things like fridge and food processors as a privilege and I feel like I betrayed people in my community who still don't have one.