leftovers

I portion control and serve meals directly onto plates, no serving dishes on the table (except when we have visitors). We have lots of casseroles and stews and I never cook less than a pound of meat at a time, and I know that will provide six portions of a size that will be eaten.

That way left-overs are almost unknown in our household. I only have a small under worktop fridge, which is frequently half empty. I do have a big chest freezer as I grow a lot of our fruit and vegetables

I wish I could do that*M0nica*, but my husband is so changeable in the amount he eats. eg "Are you trying to fatten me up?" if I give him too much. Then other days he's really hungry.

I usually put leftovers in the fridge until they go off, then throw them away..

Me too MissA

Permanent marker stays on.

Peasant soup love it thickened with old bread .Every thing goes in the freezer .

Have it next day for lunch!

We don’t have leftovers, I cook a bit less now so it all gets eaten. Went blackberry picking and we have a plum tree in the garden which has so much fruit this year so we picked some and frozen some.

I think Fennel's problem was labelling the things already in freezer, if she can identify them. Using the various types of marker or label suggested doesn't work on frozen bags which immediately become covered in condensation. My solution is to write on sticky label, fold in half and staple to top of bag.

I often make double quantities, having thrown away all my plastic containers I put them in glass dishes with clingfilm (also bad I know) and stick a label on top. I inherited a roll of freezers labels from my mother but I am sure you can buy them. I do not have many left overs although did have some roast lamb from Sunday and made a delicious Madhur Jaffry indian curry. I also make soup with any left over veg. I tend not to freeze Yorkshire puddings as i find they are difficult to reheat.

Sheialsue well done with the plums. On the news last night I heard that the crop this year is very low! DiLs damsons are coming along nicely too and the tree is only 2 years old.

Don't use permanent marker on plastic boxes, it won't come off!

I use sticky labels which stay on, can't remember where I got them from. Our problem is rotating what is in the freezer so things don't stay in too long. DH is in charge of the kitchen so I have to make subtle suggestions

Permanent marker on bags to mark what you have or tape that you use when painting with permanent marker on boxes.

When you don't label you get interesting surprises. Once defrosted what I thought was soup stock. Prepared all the veg and discovered I had defrosted stewed apples. Added stock cube to veg and made apple sponge with the fruit. No waste in my house is that day.

Abueleana - good idea about masking tape. We have plenty, I'll write on that and use it to tie the bags.
Or Farmor's idea to staple sticky label to the bag.
I often make a large amount of something I know we're going to use in the future eg beef and bean stew for winter dinners.
I've just made 2 large root veg. 'cakes' which I'll split into 4 and freeze separately. And label as above.

nipsmum - [grin} - that's what someone called freezer roulette !

leftovers buy the new wide shaped black ink Sharpie which writes on absolutely anything, even things from the freezer, unlike the ordinary Sharpie. I think it even advertises that on the packet.

Old Freezer Food

How many of you out there are like me and buy more than you need then freeze the rest only to find a year to 18 months later the items are still in there because you’ve forgotten about them. Or am I alone?

Fennel that's absolutely my favourite book... makes me laugh just thinking about their stew. And then trying to open the can of pineapple chunks... so funny !

We have a carton in the freezer (used to contain ice cream) and all leftovers go in there - when it's full, we make soup with it. The last lot even had half a tub of hummous found lurking in the back of the fridge - a week past its sell by date but still fine (albeit a bit more "tangy") - worked well.

You can get indelible felt nib pens. I find the cheap sticky labels do stick even when frozen. If yours don't, write on a piece of ordinary paper and catch the top edge under the lid of the fridge dish the food is in.

Any left over meat can be minced and used for stovies. Vegetables go into soup.

Equally you could consider making smaller portions so there aren't any left-overs.

My husband loves to use every last bit of food and he's the main cook. Yesterday I wanted salad but didn't want the old brown iceberg lettuce. I bought a nice fresh one. He mixed the old lettuce with the new one and spoilt the whole salad. It's not as if we're poor, quite the opposite.

My carb. counted (type 1 diabetic) breakfast consists of muesli with raisins removed, oat bran and crushed linseed moistened with fruit juice I make from not very sweet plums. I make a batch, blend and freeze several portions. Unbeknownst to me my daughter made beetroot soup and froze a portion. I defrosted what I thought was my juice overnight and had the oddest meal ever for breakfast. I’m much too mean to throw good food away just because I got the combination wrong.

sue01 my favourite book too. I've re-read it so many times I nearly know it by heart!

Hi Fennel. And the funniest thing is that originally it was written as a travel book !!

It also contains my favourite quote about life;

Let your Boat of Life be light,
Packed with only what you need
A homely home and simple pleasures,
Someone to love and someone to love you,
A cat, a dog and a pipe or two,
Enough to eat, enough to wear,
And a little more than enough to drink,
For thirst is a dangerous thing .

Perfect... we've been married 50 years next year... and DH is 70... on the same day !.... definitely going to have some sort of Three Men In a Boat themed celebration !

Around 2 years ago I started a Freezer Book. We have a big freezer so it makes sense to keep a track of what's in there. Trouble is OH forgets to enter stuff he puts in, and, even more, forgets to cross out things he takes out!!!