The Arc of the Left-Over

[fansee]

I believe in not wasting food. I believe in left-overs. What I'm not sure about is whether, if you cook for one person, as I do, and you deliberately cook enough for several meals, are those additional meals left-overs? I don't think so. I think that's Planning Ahead and Being Organized

Comments

[gilda_elise]

There's only two of us, so we do about the same thing as you. We often prepare meals that can be divided into several, and then freeze the extras. It's a real time saver.

[fansee]

It's so nice to know that I don't have to cook every night even if I have to make a salad or another side dish to go with the main course. By 6:00 p.m. or so, I often don't feel like spending much time preparing dinner. That's when left-overs rule. FanSee

[spikesgirl58]

Heh, you have the meal that won't go away! Still this is a lovely tip of the hat to singles who do cook and are creative. So many folks I know use being single for a reason not to cook. I say, you just need to put your thinking cap on, like you have, and cook on.

[fansee]

I don't cook every night or even most nights. Besides left-overs, I sometimes just have whatever's around: hummus with veggies and pita or pb&j on a toasted bagel or yogurt with fruit and granola or...you get the idea. I don't like to order in or even buy a meal already prepared at Whole Foods...not sure why.

I do like to go out to eat, but the dollar signs dancing in front of my eyes deter me. FanSee

[spikesgirl58]

You sound like many of my other friends. I'm a cook and it's one of the few things that really calms me down when I get stressed out.

[brianswalk]

Are you defrosting and reheating the same original hamburger over and over or am I reading this wrong? I didn't know you could do this without much stomach distress!

That said, when I go through the time to cook a masterpiece, I always make sure I have enough for 3 or 4 meals. I use ziplock bags to portion out servings, squeeze out any air, lay flat and freeze. Saves so much room in my little freezer, and makes meals easy on long days.

[fansee]

Are you defrosting and reheating the same original hamburger over and over or am I reading this wrong?

In this case, yes. I've never had ill effects from doing this, but the taste and flavor suffers on the third and fourth reheatings. I prefer to freeze individual portions right away, but that doesn't always happen.

I use ziplock bags to portion out servings, squeeze out any air, lay flat and freeze.

I like that idea. A lot. My freezer isn't huge, either. Thank you. FanSee

[itsjustc]

I put left overs into freezer bags in lots of "me" sized portions. I don't freeze anything with meat in so I will eat the meat bits before I freeze food and then as I take a veggie portion out of the freezer I will add fresh meat to it. That way I may have loads of small portions in my freezer but I'm not recooking the same thing several times.

[fansee]

I do frequently divide my leftovers into individual portions and freeze them, but didn't do so this time. I didn't realize I was going to keep adding to it and thought I would eat all of it at the next sitting.

I've never had any problems reheating the meat portions as well as the veggies and I've been doing so for about sixty years. FanSee

[bigj52]

Seeing hubby is away I've been cooking double veges and always cook more than I need with whatever I have that night. I freeze them in containers to save on the plastic. Also been making soup and freezing it in me sized containers.

[fansee]

Come winter, I will also be making soup but with highs predicted to be around 33C all week? Not so much. However, I have two nice-sized bags of corn frozen for winter. I make a killer chicken corn soup. FanSee