How long to keep leftovers?

As I live alone I always batch cook mashed potatoes and mince to last for 3 days. I eat one portion the same day, refrigerate the remainder for the next 2 days. If I don't fancy the same food three days running I make up individual cottage pies,lasagnes etc. and freeze.

Even when I was cooking for a family, I usually made enough for 3 meals, it hardly takes any longer to prepare and saves time on busier days.

Rabt away Milliej......its good for the digestion!

2 days in my house

Oh dear, nothing wrong with eating left overs, we never had any as a kid, too poor! Couple of days as said, in fridge, no problem.

What really annoys me is how much food is wasted by Supermarkets in particular. The other day a woman was complaining to a member of staff that the food she wanted was past it's sell by date, hadnt been removed from the shelf and she couldnt get any because it wasn't fresh.
Fresh....so much comes from the other side of the planet, is stored in deep freeze and goes off quicker than that.....but they say it's fresh. As for the woman in the store, I was so tempted to remind her of all the starving millions in other parts of the world...but didn't because I was too cross. :/

I think I'm in a ranting mood today, this is the second thread I've gone off at a tangent ranting.....sorry!

I find mashed potatoes freeze fine. After all Auntie Bessie does it all the time.

If I have a lot of potatoes in the veg. rack and know I will not get them all eaten before they form a forest, I cook up the lot, mash them with plenty of butter, milk and seasoning and freeze them in manageable portions. Tinfoil dishes are good as you can put them straight in the oven. Piping spirals onto foil or greaseproof paper and freezing them open, then storing them in a plastic box is also good, but they do take up quite a lot of space as they don't pack down very small when they are frozen solid.

Supermarkets sell cooked veg and meat dishes with 4/7 days before use by date. Their stuff may have preservatives in though, but even without, I'd happily eat things I'd cooked 2 days ago as long as it had been cooled, wrapped and fridged quite quickly. The only exception would be sea food/shell fish....I wouldn't hang on to left overs of those, not even in the freezer.

I put them in the fridge to make a quick lunch when I get home from work the next day. But some days for one reason or another I don't get to use them up. So I guess what I'm asking is it ok after say 2 days, cook on Monday and use on Wednesday?

I always try to use up leftovers the next day - if not as twizzle says - the best place is the freezer.

Don't know about mashed potatoes, but you could put any leftover spag bol or cottage pie in the freezer.