Is there a "Leftover Night" at your house?

[Jenise]

In another thread, Kim Adams said: I promised myself that I would try not to let some much leftover food go to waste so tonight is leftover night. George gets his pick between a flank steak galantine or 4 different pizza treatments (the crust made BTW with lots of soy flour which I'll not do again) and I'm opting for some Thai tofu thing I made on Tuesday.

That got me to thinking about a friend who does Leftover Night. She too can't stand to waste anything, and she manages to assemble these disparate dishes into a nice little parade of Little Plates that makes a neat little meal, especially for the unexpected guest like me who didn't get any of those dishes in their first appearances. I loved dropping in on Leftover Night.

Me, no leftover night at our house. Mostly, I cook just enough for two, and all the little leftovers there occasionally are get consumed by me for breakfasts. Larger quantities usually get converted into a new dish different enough to not look or taste like a repeat.

[Robin Garr]

Me, no leftover night at our house. Mostly, I cook just enough for two, and all the little leftovers there occasionally are get consumed by me for breakfasts. Larger quantities usually get converted into a new dish different enough to not look or taste like a repeat.

Same here, almost word-for-word. The only possible exception is if I make something like chili in a huge pot that's way too much to eat. Then I'll usually freeze it, and keep it until either it gets thrown out years later or we eat it far enough down the pike that it doesn't seem like a leftover any more.

[David M. Bueker]

We tend to make intentional leftovers. With our work week schedule there is usually little time for cooking, so I like to make at least 1 dish over the weekend that will be a good leftover on say Monday or Tuesday.

Unintentional leftovers typically become lunch (take it to work in gladware & heat in microwave).

NO matter how I plan, I'll have a few nights where I'll make a nice dinner and one or the other of DH or DS will come home and remind me of other plans...even if it doesn't involve dinner, they may get home so late taht they never eat any of what I've cooked.

I'll do lunch a time or two, but if it's too much--I like to use leftover night to clear out the fridge (and I'm trying hard to clean out the fridge of ALL leftovers once a week anyway)--but Gary hates leftovers, so I like to do this on one of the nights I manage to remember he's heading out.

B

We have at least one "musgo" (everything in the fridge must go) night a week. That include leftovers and aging produce. My kids recently started going to Tae Kwan Do classes twice a week and now we plan leftovers for one or both of those nights. Some musgo nights are just a line of old stuff buffet style. Other times we get creative and use leftovers as ingredients for new dishes.

I plan for leftovers at our house. Gene loves them for lunch, I usually snag any leftover salad or veggies for lunch. Since we have an RV and take off at whim, I like to have a nice selection of frozen, quick meals to pull from.

I'm almost always cooking just for myself, and I don't like the hassle of cutting down recipes, so I tend to cook 2-3 days in succession and then eat leftovers for the next week or so. For this reason I tend to favor recipes that reheat well.

-Paul W.

Me, no leftover night at our house.

Not with Tawny, the wonder mutt. I swear, before long Carole will have a place setting for her.

I like to have leftovers in the house. While we don't have one specific night on which we serve them, when we start getting an accumulation of containers in the fridge, we'll just declare that it's time to clean them out.

More often than not, there's more than we can eat, but if it doesn't go on the second time to the table, it's into the trash.

We also like to change the format of our leftover meal. For instance, earlier this week, Cindy made chicken cutlets parm. She probably served them with mashed potatos and a vegetable. (I don't know, I wasn't here) Last night when I arrived home from a long day of travel, too tired to go out, and not feeling like cooking, we busted out the chicken, heated it up and served it on steak rolls. It kind of makes it feel like something new.

On principle, no, I don't like having leftovers - only because of the boredom factor in having one thing for 2 or 3 days in succession. I don't mind cooking a tiny bit every day, and what I can conjure up doesn't take long anyway (i.e. a small pot of purple rice with a side dish of steamed butternut squash and a bit of butter over it - this is perfect for a simple mid-week dinner).

However, of course there will be times when I make more than can be eaten - like yesterday. Made rabbit cacciatore, and I still have some left over for today.

The good thing about some recipes, though, is that by day 2 it actually tastes better than day 1 - because the meat has become infused by the sauce.

I do LOTS of leftover nights, especially during the winter. I love to cook, but making something worthy of being called dinner takes too much time and energy on an every-night basis. In the winter, I tend toward soups, stews and roasts, and I might have three or four leftover nights in a row, cooking only vegetables fresh, and maybe throwing together a salad or side. In the summer, the menu gets much lighter and easier to do every night.

Dave

We don't like leftover steak or tri-tip - takes on an odd refrigerated taste. But when I make casseroles or soups, I always make enough for several days of lunches (and perhaps the occasional dinner) for my husband.

[Jenise]

I like to have leftovers in the house...we busted out the chicken, heated it up and served it on steak rolls. It kind of makes it feel like something new.

EXACTLY. Leftovers are opportunities. Tonight we'll be having cold prime rib from last night with a new potato salad. Just enough for two and it won't feel like a repeat.

[Jenise]

We don't like leftover steak or tri-tip - takes on an odd refrigerated taste. But when I make casseroles or soups, I always make enough for several days of lunches (and perhaps the occasional dinner) for my husband.

Refrigerated taste? I haven't noticed that, but then whatever it tastes of I adore cold meat (what I can't bear is reheating it--tastes spoiled to me.) Ever consider sprinkling a good vinaigrette over some cold steak and maybe adding something extra like garlic and fresh rosemary?

I get the "echh" taste whether the meat is refrigerated or reheated. If I was starving and that was all that was available, sure I'd eat it. But given a choice, no.

The rosemary and vinaigrette sounds wonderful but I would want that over freshly cooked meat. Love a salad with rare roast beef that's warm and tossing off a lot of juices.

I'm almost always cooking just for myself, and I don't like the hassle of cutting down recipes, so I tend to cook 2-3 days in succession and then eat leftovers for the next week or so. For this reason I tend to favor recipes that reheat well.

I'm in that same place. Even though I love cooking, after my typical 12-14 hour days, some nights I just don't feel like it. It's handy to have leftovers so I cook on easier days or the weekend. And I don't really care if I eat the same thing a couple times in the same week.

No freezer except the one on the fridge, so I tend not to freeze the excess.

And, of course, I come from a huge family (9 siblings), so I don't quite know how to cook small amounts. It never *looks* like enough! (I have gotten adept at asking my single non-cooking neighbors in for dinner when I go way overboard.)

Me, no leftover night at our house. Mostly, I cook just enough for two, and all the little leftovers there occasionally are get consumed by me for breakfasts. Larger quantities usually get converted into a new dish different enough to not look or taste like a repeat.

%^)

Kathleen and I are cooking for two and about half of the time consume at dinner what's prepared ... the other 40 percent of the time, leftovers are eaten by one of us for lunch ... the other 10 percent of the time, the leftovers are turned into all or part of another dinner meal ... examples would be turning leftover mashed potatoes into potato tacos or left over pork roast into Mexican green chile ...

The garbage can doesn't see much action in our home ...

Clink !

%^)

We always make enough...on Sunday...for leftovers once or twice during the week. With our work schedule, its nice to be able to re-heat something when we both get in late.

Richard