“We don’t do leftovers”

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Do you guys not meal prep? I make my lunches for the week ahead on Sunday. It's way better for your health.

How is that way better? Wouldn’t the relative healthiness of your lunch depend on what you made?

Meal prep isn’t leftovers though.

How is it any different from leftovers? Seriously. That makes no sense. If you make extra food and then put it in a container-you do the exact same thing for meal prep. There is no difference.

Leftovers are when you make something, or order, serve it, and then put back what doesn’t get eaten and serve it another time.

If I cook something with the intention of using it a different day, that’s different. Tomorrow is the start of school, so I roasted 2 turkey breasts. I sliced them froze most of it in sandwich size portions, and left a couple portions in the fridge for lunches this week.

I also made a bunch of pesto and froze it in the tiny souper cubes. When we have pasta later in the week, I will pull out some pesto make a quick pasta salad and stick it in lunchboxes.

I might also make some soup or pasta sauce and freeze portions. Or two trays of enchiladas, one to cook today and one for the freezer. Or cook a double portion of rice and freeze one so I can make fried rice quickly on a busy day. Or make enough salad dressing to last a week.

None of those are leftovers. That’s meal prep.

If I make too much fried rice, on purpose or by accident and serve it again tomorrow, or put it in lunch boxes. That’s leftovers.

I do both, but they are different things. Generally, in my house leftovers might go in the lunchboxes, or might be something a kid pulls out for snack or second dinner after sports, but the meal that we gather around might have come from the freezer, or have an ingredient I prepped, but it won’t be leftovers from yesterday.

That’s just how we like it. I’m not 70. I’m not wasting food.

These ARE leftovers according to people who think a fresh hot meal every day is the only acceptable option. It’s not just what is scraped off of plates.

I agree . They are the exact same as if you cooked that turkey , are some and ate the rest in a different day. I can not imagine a world where that is not fine..
But apparently DCUM requires you to cook a precise meal everyday and start fresh the next. No enjoying some for lunch or a different night .

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Y’all be crazy. If you think I’m not eating the extra Peter Luger steak from last night because it’s (horrors) “leftovers,” you must think pigs have wings.

What is this "extra" steak you speak of?

My family will eat all the steak at the restaurant.

We don't do a ton of leftovers, we just plan well. But if there is leftover meat, then of course we will keep it and repurpose it. But generally, at restaurants we order a quantity we finish.

How do you gauge the portion size when ordering? And don't you ever get full quicker then you might on another night?

Dp

Agree what pp said about observing food brought to tables to gauge portion sizes.

When in doubt, my spouse and I order half what we think we’ll both eat, with the caveat “we can always order more”. We never order more and always leave with nothing.

How do you order half what you’ll eat? Most restaurant portions are way too big. Do you order only one entree? We order two, knowing we will bring some home.

This widely varies by restaurant.

If the portions are large, we split the entree and pad the check with wine.

We do bring home food if we are eating an early dinner and know we will be hungry later, maybe it was a heavy gym day. These are gray area leftovers.

I wouldn't feel right about splitting the entree at a restaurant. This is a little ridiculous.

If the server is compensated and happy, there is nothing to feel “not right” about.

We also entree share when we see several appetizers we are interested in, which is usually the case for sharing. Unless you are violating a restaurant policy or screwing the server, there’s no justification for feeling not right.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Y’all be crazy. If you think I’m not eating the extra Peter Luger steak from last night because it’s (horrors) “leftovers,” you must think pigs have wings.

What is this "extra" steak you speak of?

My family will eat all the steak at the restaurant.

We don't do a ton of leftovers, we just plan well. But if there is leftover meat, then of course we will keep it and repurpose it. But generally, at restaurants we order a quantity we finish.

How do you gauge the portion size when ordering? And don't you ever get full quicker then you might on another night?

Dp

Agree what pp said about observing food brought to tables to gauge portion sizes.

When in doubt, my spouse and I order half what we think we’ll both eat, with the caveat “we can always order more”. We never order more and always leave with nothing.

How do you order half what you’ll eat? Most restaurant portions are way too big. Do you order only one entree? We order two, knowing we will bring some home.

This widely varies by restaurant.

If the portions are large, we split the entree and pad the check with wine.

We do bring home food if we are eating an early dinner and know we will be hungry later, maybe it was a heavy gym day. These are gray area leftovers.

I wouldn't feel right about splitting the entree at a restaurant. This is a little ridiculous.

Seriously. That is embarrassing. Do you and your husband have an eating disorder? Restaurant portions are large-sure but at nicer restaurants they actually aren’t that big. And if you are gonna do this just don’t go out.

I’ve already said we only share in circumstances when the portion is large. When the portion is not large, we don’t share.

And if you are gonna do this just don’t go out.

You are free to refuse to serve me. As are the establishments that continue to welcome my business.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:These ARE leftovers according to people who think a fresh hot meal every day is the only acceptable option. It’s not just what is scraped off of plates.

Dp

Meal prep if it meets the definition of leftovers is justified to keep a family fed with limited meal preparation resources. That’s of course “acceptable” and the food quality is fine/good/acceptable

This is a decision made out of necessity and resources; it’s not a decision made because it can be said with justification the quality of the food improves.

Posters are saying this improves the quality of the food. I’ll grant this in limited cases with qualifications. As a general matter, fresh is better quality than leftover.

[Anonymous]

A former friend's girlfriend, now wife, was like this. She was obnoxious on a few levels, and wasn't usually the one cooking.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:"Microwaved old food from yesterday is better."

Sure it is, dear. lol

Certain foods absolutely are better on the second day due to marinating.

But better on my wallet and reducing waste? Win win for me.

Eating food that was marinated is not eating leftovers. Leftovers are what is “left over” from the marinated food you ate last night.

FWIW The London broil will repurpose well. I’m not feeding that to the dogs. The dogs are eating yesterday’s quiche. And that’s only if the crust was handmade; if you used a palm oil store bought crust, it would violate Genova conventions to feed that to war criminals.