I will eat a lot of leftovers, but not casseroles that have cream of mushroom soup in them.
I freeze stuff dh likes to eat often, such as spaghetti and macaroni and cheese.
I also freeze cooked ground beef to use for making pizzas, tacos and of course spaghetti sauce.

The only food I freeze and reheat for myself is cooked roast beef, pork chops and ham. Then I just have to cook the side dishes to make dinner.

I've never bought from Schwans. I see the truck up and down the neighborhood and have heard people talk about it but have never been tempted. I just assumed that the food was frozen so enlighten me. If Schwans food is frozen, what's the dif?? Their frozen food or your frozen food? If it's not frozen, can you eat Schwans' leftovers?

That's why I eat my main meal OUT!

Try reheating the next piece in a small fry pan, rather than microwaving it. Sometimes it is the way it is reheated that makes it taste bad.

I keep hearing about Schwans from forum folks, but am not aware of it in my part of Texas.

I was raised with my Mama's leftovers and enjoyed them.

When I cook enough to produce leftovers, I still enjoy it. I can't imagine tossing out large amounts of food. I also can't imagine eating out every day.

Schwan's is more expensive than going to the grocery store. Their stuff is good, but you can find food that is just as good in your grocery store...it is convenient to have them stop and just put the things in the freezer, but I quit doing it because of the cost....

My 95 year old little neighbor lady buys from the Schwan man. I think it is a bit expensive. Anyway, maybe you need to make a smaller recipe of whatever you cook or bake. Or, give some away to family, friends, and neighbors. Thats what I do when I make too much of anything.

Sue

We tried Schwans for a little while, found it to be too expensive, high in calories, sodium and fat.

The only thing I will get from Schwans are little novelty items I can't find in the store but other than that it's just too expensive and a friend that worked for Schwans once told me that their stuff is designed to only last a couple of weeks that way you buy more. I noticed that only after a couple of days the ice cream goes bad and the frozen veggies don't last that long either.

I bought a food sealer a couple of years ago and I love it. It's just the two of us and we are always eating left overs.

I don't like anything microwaved except popcorn. Maybe re-heating your leftovers in an oven or toaster oven might make a difference.

I use my microwave mostly for cooking frozen veggies...could EASILY do without it.

I've bought a couple of things from Schwann's. They set a truck up at a corner a few blocks from us. I think they just have it there on weekends. I just wasn't that impressed with them. I don't even remember what I bought, but I do know that it was around Thanksgiving two years ago.

Linda

I usually eat leftovers for lunch. Most of the time I don't mind eating them and sometimes really enjoy them. But some foods just don't make good leftovers though.
Clare

That's why I eat out. It is almost as expensive to cook for one as eating out.

I'm trying too, but some things just don't taste as good reheated as they did fresh from the stove/oven. And some things just don't taste good when frozen and reheated.

I've been trying very hard to portion-control our meals so there are few leftovers. This is difficult, because I never know just how hungry DH is and I'm trying to limit carbs and red meat. We have eaten so much fish, seafood, and chicken lately that I fear we will grow both gills and feathers!

Cooking for just two (one with health issues) ain't for sissies, and I imagine cooking for one is much more difficult.

I eat out a lot too, when I am home alone. I also don't like left overs very much. Another one who doesn't like microwaves and don't have or want one.

When I make chili, I make a big pot of it, and refrigerate the left-over. Its flavor gets better with each reheat.

Another dish that re-heats well is ham and beans.

I toss left-over salads.

yummy, re-heated scalloped potatoes!

We love leftovers. We use the beef in hot-beef sandwiches....don't care much for cold beef and pork.

I make an awesome slow-cooker dish using pork, and the next day we use the rest of it in stir-fries. So 2 different recipes with the same meat.

I use my microwave for cooking veggies the most. Not for re-heating meat. Has anyone noticed that food doesn't stay HOT when you use the microwave? It cools down immediately.

Gosh! I'm easy. I like to make Stews and Casseroles so, I have lots of left overs to microwave.

I waste a lot of food too living alone. My dog is the happy recipient of most of the good stuff. One of my favorite things is really rare roast beef, but I really don't like it left over so guess who gets it. Pasta sauce and meatloaf reheat pretty well as does chili and soups and stews. I grill a lot of chicken breasts and like them cut thin in sandwiches or sliced up and reheated with barbecue sauce. It takes a lot of planning to be economical whenn cooking for one or two people. I enjoy eating out at least once a week.

Guess I am one of the few that really like to have leftovers.Probably because I don't like to cook anymore.The Schwan's truck stops at the neighbors but in looking at their items I think it is too expensive and the reason it tastes so good it is loaded with salt.

we live on leftovers for lunches...but quiche...nothing with a crust can be very good nuked...

I don't own a microwave (I hate them) and I use my toaster oven to reheat leftovers if I have any. I always make enough for 2 people even though I am single; I take the leftovers to work to have for lunch. I grew up loving leftovers and some things such as salmon or artichokes are really good cold the next day. I love salmon salad or a salmon sandwich (made much like tuna salad).

Anyway I like leftovers and enjoy my own cooking so I don't have too much of problem with food being left. The only thing I don't keep is leftover salad, made with greens...yuk!

Susan

I like Schwans. But I mainly buy the odd ball stuff. They have the best onion rings that you can buy frozen. And I buy the frozen fruit when I can not find it on sale at the grocery store. We keep a couple things on hand for those emergency times. But leftovers are rare. I have two teen age boys at home. When we do have leftovers I either freeze them or eat them for lunch. I don't mind at all.

Trish

For Christmas breakfast I made a Quiche Lorraine with ham. Everyone liked it, but as I was cleaning up I cut the leftovers into single-serving slices, warapped them in foil and froze them. They are still in the freezer. I'm thinking I should throw them away.

I don't use the microwave. I reheated in the oven. (And it took longer than it did to cook it the first time. lol)

It wasn't as expensive as I expected, actually. I can't even by the cheese herb biscuits up here. And the poppers and tamales are cheaper than in the grocery store here.
Chicken Cordon Blue and Stuffed Chicken Parmesan are 2.75 a serving. Heck of a lot less than going out. And I can eat dinner in my ratty old house dress. LOL

I with most of you, I don't like using the microwave to reheat anything or to cook anything except to boil water or to use it for the steam bag veggies - I use my oven and slowly bring the re-heated food to a good temp in an oven that isn't too hot - about 275 - 300 - that seems to work best trying to re-heat it in a hot oven too quickly tends to ruin the leftovers. I don't own a toaster oven so I don't know anything about re-heating with that.

Learning to cook for two (or one) isn't really that complicated with a little practice. When I buy raw meat, I seal it with my seal a meal into servings for two and put it into my freezer, I can just grab and use then. I would never eat leftover quiche though. There are some things that simply aren't meant to be reheated and a quiche would certainly fall into that catagory I would think.

I just made a big pot of chicken and sausage gumbo. Now THAT will freeze up into portions for two just beautifully - all I have to do is make enough rice for the two of us, have some crusty, hot french bread and that's the easiest and fastest meal I can think of. I'll make up a lasagna and divide it into portions for the two of us to freeze, same thing with spaghetti sauce. That and a good mixed green salad and it's a meal. There are lots of things you can do ahead of time for fast and easy work night meals -

You have to experiment to discover what works for you to w reheat or freeze before cooking well.

I'm with the others, I can't imagine eating out every day, that is beyond me. It would be terribly expensive - with practice you can learn to cook for one or two and it would be very inexpensive after you learn how to shop and cook that way, it simply takes experimenting.

We go out for a really nice dinner once a week, and on the very rare occasion, we go out for breakfast. Neither of us like fast food at all so that isn't even an issue.

Schwans is expensive, but I have had good luck with their veggies. Yes I noticed that the ice cream does not to last as long, but I cannot eat alot of their meals--too much salt/pepper, and they seem to put peppers into everything and DH cannot eat them. I do like the new Alfredo cublets (they call them cubes, not big enough) for mixing with noodles, but I do had a little milk and seasoning. It is just enough to add flavor etc.
Our Schwan gal is great, but the other person was dumb. He kept "insisting" we buy this and that and got upset when we said no. He also insisted stopping every two weeks, even when we were not home. This gal is very accommodating and even calls some people when she is in town. But then most of the stuff is way too expensive for me.

I cook to have left overs. I don't make a lot of casseroles but not matter what I cook, I cook enough for more than one meal. I grill chicken for instance and I usually grill enough for two or three meals. It becomes grill chicken for the first meal that I serve as is with some veggies and probably a salad...store the rest and two days later if becomes fajitas or chicken enchiladas or chicken salad or whatever I am in the mood to make...Here at my house no one even thinks of it as left overs.

I hate to waste anything but I also don't like to eat the same thing more then once. Sometimes I end up throwing it out, so I make less.