Give me a bowl of yogurt, some fruit, and a piece of bread and jam and I am a happy girl. I just am not a big fan of eating savory leftovers at that time of day. The problem is, I’m not any more excited about eating them for dinner. And we won’t even talk about how little I want to eat them for breakfast!
Really, though, I’m not sure that my feelings about my leftovers really matter much. It’s silly to let food go bad simply because I don’t feel like eating it(or because I feel like eating something else). I’m just a spoiled American who is used to having tons of food and a multitude of food choices. Over the last few years I’ve been rereading the Little House books with my kids, and I’ve concluded that Laura and her family would think they’d died and gone to heaven if they got to eat my leftovers for lunch(or breakfast for that matter…they ate leftover (cold) jackrabbit stew some mornings. Bleah.) And it’s not just them that would be grateful…a lot of hungry people in our own day would be thrilled to eat my leftovers for breakfast, lunch or dinner as well.
I am very fortunate that my husband doesn’t share my disdain for leftovers at noon. Nearly every day he eats leftovers from the previous night with nary a complaint. Unfortunately, I’m not always successful at cooking just enough for the six of us(with one serving leftover for lunch), and thus, there are often leftovers for me to eat.
I’ve been working hard at eating my leftovers despite my disdain for them, but I can’t say that I’ve grown to love them. Maybe in time it will happen, but for now I’m just soldiering on, one leftover container at a time!
The Frugal Girl :: Breakfast, lunch, and my grocery budget
Monday 5th of January 2009
[...] I don’t love to eat leftovers at lunch, but I do if it’s necessary. Depending on the type of leftover, the kids will sometimes eat leftovers at lunch as well. A normal lunch for them, though, consists of fruit and yogurt smoothies(made from homemade yogurt, frozen fruit, bananas, and sometimes spinach), and bread(usually leftover from the night before), topped with whatever they want(peanut butter, jam, honey, etc). If we eat yogurt in a bowl instead of in a smoothie, we will sometimes have fruit with lunch(the smoothies have fruit in them, so I don’t really feel it’s necessary to serve fruit in addition to those). [...]
The Frugal Girl :: How to cut back on food waste
Monday 10th of November 2008
[...] leftovers for lunch. As I’ve mentioned before, I don’t love doing this, but it’s a surefire way to get them eaten up without having to eat them for dinner several [...]
basil80
Monday 20th of October 2008
I also love your site.
I used to hate leftovers and then I started changing up what I was eating just a little bit--making fried rice with leftover chicken, soup from leftover pasta with sauce, sandwiches with meatloaf from the fridge and things like that. It still helps clear the fridge, and I don't feel like I'm being forced to eat the same meal for a week.
Rachel
Saturday 18th of October 2008
I don't like leftovers either. Here's what works for us: If you are going to have leftovers, make a dessert. Looking forward to the "happy ending" makes it more bearable!
CanadianSaver
Saturday 18th of October 2008
We fight over some leftovers at home, but like you, there are some things that just aren't good reheated. I find that if I plan well enough, I can enjoy the yummy leftovers for lunch and it beats having to eat a pb sandwich or a pre-packaged frozen meal...