How many days do you eat leftovers?

[Anonymous]

It just occurred to me that I have a two-day max for leftovers counting from day one when I fix the food and the next day for leftovers. Anything after that, I trash it. I'm unsure why-- maybe it's a sign of having resources.

What's your limit?

[Anonymous]

Same. I try not to make too much food.

[Anonymous]

Usually my limit is a week. I try to eat fish within 2 days. But I grew up eating leftovers and I love them as a strategy to limit preparing full meals every day.

[Anonymous]

Dh prefers not to eat the same thing two days in a row...so we eat them on day 3 unless someone takes them for lunch.

[Anonymous]

Depends what it is.

I won’t eat chicken leftovers. For some reason it tastes vile to me. Other meat, probably 3 days if it still has good texture and taste. Non-meat maybe up to a week if it can be refreshed, like a piece of pizza or something.

[Anonymous]

For homemade vegetarian/vegan meals? 4 Days generally.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Usually my limit is a week. I try to eat fish within 2 days. But I grew up eating leftovers and I love them as a strategy to limit preparing full meals every day.

Same. Maybe 6 days on most things. I sniff test and also factor in ingredient freshness when it was prepared. We grew up having leftovers and I cook a few extra portions to have later in week. We also split some things like steak so we’re not having too much at dinner. Then it’s left for breakfast or lunch too.

[Anonymous]

I keep them for maybe 5 days (except fish). I usually repurpose them because I don’t like to eat the same thing every day. For example, a roast chicken leftover can be made into soup, pot pie or burrito. A brisket leftover could be made into a sandwich, udon, or taco.

[Anonymous]

For the people who have leftovers for several days, do you notice the savings in your grocery bill?

[Anonymous]

When I cook, I plan for 2 meals. If I make soup,pulled pork or a lasagna, I portion and put it in the freezer. Cooked freezer food gets eaten with a month or 2.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For the people who have leftovers for several days, do you notice the savings in your grocery bill?

I don't know because I've quite literally never done it another way. But I also strongly believe in not wasting food, and I cannot FATHOM throwing out leftovers because they have been in the fridge more than a day. So I guess that yes, using leftovers probably means I save money on the grocery bill.

[Anonymous]

Three days, sometimes 4.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For the people who have leftovers for several days, do you notice the savings in your grocery bill?

I don't know because I've quite literally never done it another way. But I also strongly believe in not wasting food, and I cannot FATHOM throwing out leftovers because they have been in the fridge more than a day. So I guess that yes, using leftovers probably means I save money on the grocery bill.

Same, I’ve always saved food whether I’m poor or well-off. So I don’t notice savings in my grocery bill from that. I do notice savings from eating less meat and shopping my pantry.

[Anonymous]

Depends on the leftovers?

Salad we don't do because lettuce and tomatoes get soggy (maybe I'll eat leftover dinner salad for lunch, but only with hearty lettuce and no tomatoes).

Meats or mashed potatoes and gloopy stuff...2 days max. I get squeamish.

Soup or stew? Maybe 3 days.

Rice is next day: it harbors too much bacteria too easily.

Restaurant food or Thanksgiving? 2 days.

Bean salads or similar? All week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Depends on the leftovers?

Salad we don't do because lettuce and tomatoes get soggy (maybe I'll eat leftover dinner salad for lunch, but only with hearty lettuce and no tomatoes).

Meats or mashed potatoes and gloopy stuff...2 days max. I get squeamish.

Soup or stew? Maybe 3 days.

Rice is next day: it harbors too much bacteria too easily.

Restaurant food or Thanksgiving? 2 days.

Bean salads or similar? All week.

I never heard that rice goes bad easily. I cook in a rice cooker and put leftovers in the fridge in the same container it was cooked in and seal it with foil. It can last a week this way.