Leftovers

When cooking for the two of us, we almost always increase quantities to 4 or 6 then freeze a meal or two ready for future weeks. If you're using the energy for cooking one meal, makes sense to make extra. We have a list stuck to the side of the freezer where anything going into the freezer gets added on and when taken out for using gets crossed off. Always know what's in there (well nearly almost always) ?. It's lovely when we plan our weekly menu and use meals from the freezer, saving on shopping and cooking!

Leftovers. I usually put them in a nice Tupperware container, then leave them in the fridge so long that they go off, and throw them, and sometimes the containers away.

I can,t believe that people who appear on programmes such as Eat Well for Less and Save Money: Good Food , are for real. Surely they don,t need to appear on a TV programme to be given advice/lessons on how to save money on groceries and cook healthy food inexpensively.The amount of money they spend on food shopping is astronomical. How do they justify it all. I was a post war baby, we did,nt have much money, food was still rationed and learnt how to make inventive meals inexpensively.At school we were taught Domestic Science and learnt more from that. Some people have more money than sense and will never learn.They just want to be on TV.

Might be the wrong thread, but are other people infuriated by multi buy offers? I've just been doing an online order, and two things I wanted were both advertised as 'any two for £3', but they were in different groups!
My bargain hunting gene made it impossible for me to buy these items, which is probably cutting off my nose to spite my face.
I have written so many letters of complaint to various supermarkets about the waste this causes, all ignored.
I feel that if one supermarket just reduced its prices and let us buy just what we want, they would increase their sales, but suppose I must be wŕong, or someone would have done it.

Please do not feed your dog on leftovers. Dogs should not have human food at all. There is too much fat sugar and salt for a dogs digestion. If you have excess food cooked freeze it or maybe give it to someone who is not able to cook for themselves. I have several elderly neighbours who enjoy having something they can pop in the microwave.

I try not to waste food but in hot weather fruit goes off quickly. I bought strawberries and even in fridge they only lasted three days. Sadly I do throw away food sometimes or I often ending up eating something I don't really want just to avoid throwing it out.

I'm convinced these programmes (Eat well for less, et al) must target people who haven't a clue. That way they can easily show huge savings. They don't feature 'normal' spenders, imo.

Well I'm afraid I'm one of the wasters - head hung in shame! I have two freezers both full of food - bread, meat, frozen veg as well as other convenience foods - not necessarily ready meals as they're so unhealthy. My problem is that I am useless at planning so will get to the end of the day before deciding what we're having which results in not having time to cook from scratch due to work. I buy veg but end up not using it so it eventually goes off - having no sense of smell I can't tell if something has gone off other than looking at it or going by the sell by date. I often throw yogurts away for this reason although if they were my husbands (he doesn't like the ones I eat) he would and does eat his. I admire people who are so organised they can bulk cook and plan ahead so never throw anything away - we watch those programmes too and try to follow the guidelines but then end up going shopping and buying more. I do try to only prepare enough food for that particular meal so there's not very often leftovers to use.

Thank you, Gran5up! Sounds good. Will give it a go.

Banana bread:
2 and a half cups plain flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
Half teasp bicarbonate of soda
Three quarters of a cup sugar (white)
Sift into a large bowl then combine the ingredients below and add all at once:
2 beaten eggs
One and a half cups mashed ripe bananas
Half cup melted butter
1 tsp each vanilla and lemon juice
Stir well, don't beat
Bake in 9 x 5 inch loaf tin @ gas 4 for about an hour (or till done!) Cool on wire rack
Wrap in foil and store in cool place for a few hours before slicing.
Enjoy!
Sorry for old style ingredients, recipe discovered 1971 and loved ever since,grandchildren love to bake it and then, to eat it!

My 3 granddaughters (who live in Manila but come home every summer) stayed with us last week and, as usual, ate mountains of soft fruit. But I'm left with 4 now rather ripe bananas. Anyone got a foolproof recipe for banana bread?

As a small child during the years of food rationing, watching my mother produce really tasty meals from the small amounts we were allowed ,has I believe helped me to be thrifty and not waste food.I have no problem with using leftovers and as a freezer was something we had never heard of in the war years and I personally didn't own one until the sixties then I feel it a sin not to make the most of it.My late DH would take great delight when we invited friends in for a meal, jokingly I always
hoped, saying 'eat up or we will be having this next week.'

I have always cooked my own food from scratch and rely heavily on a small freezer just for me...I have all sorts in it...from individual meat portions to portions of mashed potato etc. I hate cooking so I prepare large batches in one go and then just put my hand in the freezer to pull out a complete meal from all of my portions. My husband and I do not eat the same foods at all....he is a red meat man, I am not...so no cooking for me, he does his own...they say opposites attract!

We are having the left overs from yesterday's barbecue tonight, cold barbecued spicy chicken and a couple of cold sausages, a small portion of home made vegetable tart I made for the vegetarian that came, some cold new potatoes that I might fry. I will make a fresh salad though. It's a shame to waste food.

DH heaps scorn on me for freezing little half portions of leftovers from the pan. The boot is on the other foot though when I can enjoy them as the filling for a stuffed pepper

What leftovers? Yesterdays fathers day leftovers will be finished today and tomorrow, apart maybe from the limp lettuce. Whatever is left over is always used, and rarely, if ever, is anything thrown away.

What leftovers.?...there's never any in our household. Which is probably why we're both overweight.... Seriously though, we do try to buy sensibly and use leftovers in soups or casseroles or similar. In the big power cut of December 2015, we were shocked to hear of friends throwing away the entire contents of their freezers "just in case". We didn’t touch ours until 24 hours after power was restored, and the contents were fine....

We never have any leftovers. I only cook what we can eat and buy fresh food that will be used before it goes off. I buy a large chicken and cook it then freeze portions to use. Other wise use fresh meat and veg

Take a ways......how can people afford them. I watch those programs with amazement......and the people who spend fortunes on clothes and toiletries.........vanity for the most part.

They seem totally unabashed when confronted with their own waste and greed, they will all be back to normal in a year because spending money is about more than what you purchase.

I have a funny story. Years ago we were out with friends for a meal. We all had steak and there were bits left on everyone's plate. I said I'd take it home for our cat, so everyone scraped their leftovers into my napkin and I took it home and put it in the fridge. Enter teenage son after a night out. He spotted the steak and scoffed the lot. He was horrified the next morning when I told him it was off everyone's plate!

....especially when you can make your own ready meals and takeaways by cooking two or three times as much as you need and freezing the rest; no going out in the cold and wet, or waiting ages for delivery and then paying through the nose for it

Welshwife I have a layer of water bottles at the bottom of my freezer to help with keeping stuff frozen during power cuts and also means the bottom is not so far down. I batch cook as well, buying a big joint, mincing it for bolognaise etc or chopping for stews. Any leftovers go in the dog!

Can't believe people spend so much on take aways. Waste of money for crappy food.

I am quite good at using up the left overs and at times I cook more of things such as potatoes on purpose - I did that last night and this evening we will have the spare ones sliced and sautéd - nice and tasty. We live a good 30 mins from the best food shops - locally the stuff tends to be poor quality for veg but the butcher is great and it is local meat. So I buy enough fresh veg that I think will keep for about a week and then if I run out or I need more I have frozen - as I steam all my veg it is good - even things like cauli and broccoli are OK.
I always make large quantities of bolognaise or lasagne and freeze batches for meals and casseroles. I do try to label so we don't have meals which are too peculiar! I was delighted when the chest freezer came to the end of its natural life as I could never reach the bottom and had to use the steps- nearly fell in head first a few times.

I only cook as much as we will eat, unless I am cooking to freeze. I know what size portions we eat and that is all I prepare.

The only time we have leftovers is when we have visitors, like this weekend. Our visitor has now gone. The potato salad and col slaw uneaten from yesterday will be eaten with a salad tomorrow evening. The vegetables left over from lunch will be steamed through and eaten with tomorrow's main meal and DH will eat the raspberries with his cereal tomorrow morning. End of leftovers.

my f/f is 50/50 and still my freezer is stuffed full. I try to cook eg a meal tonight and the remains is microwavable for tomorrow evening- no waste. I buy fish and chips around x3 a year and I cannot remember the last time I had a takeaway- not this century.

I also watch that programme Eat Well for Less and am shocked at the amount of money spent and the food binned. I would not dream of cooking eg 4 different meals for a family each time they dine because they were all such picky eaters. That is not the way to bring up children. Each family is amazed at the amount of money that they can save, it is not rocket science.