I probably do make too much, based on the leftover containers in my fridge but they will be eaten for lunches and for a "must go" nights dinner. And some leftovers are re-packed and put in the freezer for another night.

I once worked with a woman that tossed out all leftovers right after dinner. When she re-married, her DH put a stop to it. She saw her food budget drop drastically and even the kids liked the leftovers.

I remember my aunt with whom I lived (she had 7 kids of her own) growing up would say--"don't refrigerate the garbage" She was on a strict budget and so would be careful to only make what was needed. I often find those things I save do only end up going down the disposal.

Home Economics is DEAD!!!!

--- Most individuals/families don't have a clue about how much money they spend on food and eating out because they do it without a plan.

--- People waste food because they haven't a clue what a serving size is and how to cook accordingly.

--- When it comes to food in the U.S., free-grazing and over-consumption is a way of life. There's always more where that came from......

Food waste is always one of my challenges when teaching food and nutrition classes or home budgeting classes. The "clean plate club" from WWII has now become the "I/they hate leftovers club" --- which in my books means lack of imagination and poor planning.

On my thrifty food budget I make "intentional leftovers" to save on time preparing food for future meals, and save on the amount of energy used to prepare it. The intentional leftovers are generally destined for the freezer as a part of a future meal, or refrigerated and intentionally incorporated in a meal a day or two later. I have worked from an eating plan each and every day since the early 70's, so it's now second-nature. Small amounts of almost anything can be incorporated into a tasty and nutritionally-balanced lunch at home or hubby's lunch he takes to work.

-Grainlady

I always cook or overcook on the we/ends so we have leftover meals through to Thursday.

This works well for me as I enjoy cooking but not necessarily during a work week. I don't mind heating up food and there's always lots to eat. It doesn't go to waste and it keeps us from ordering take-out which can be high in calories & expensive(we're trying to save money for travelling :)) I make nutritious meat & vegetable dishes that can be reimagined in a sandwich, wrap, over salad/rice/pasta or eaten on their own.

My husband has expressed that maybe I make too much but frankly, I'd rather have him eat what I cook than cookies & chips he'd grab if these meals weren't available.

He'd eat like a 14 year old boy :0

My brother & his wife throw out all leftovers which just dismays me but they both have an aversion to leftovers.

Yes, and we enjoy and get creative with leftovers. Food lasts much longer that people thin, in many cases.

I hate tossing food ;(

I have been working very hard to buy less food, and to also cut recipes into 1/2 or 1/4. I decided to do what the Europeans do and shop for food two to three times a week instead of for a full week. This has already resulted in significant money savings, as well as food savings. I was just tired of throwing dollars in the trash, I had to take some kind of action.

I feel the same way, WalnutCreek. I would really like to use up my fridge and pantry and do as the Europeans do. I feel I might be more creative that way.

I won't eat leftovers and husband won't let anything go to waste. Perfect!

Ack, angelaid!

We love leftovers. Seriously, I think I enjoy them for the plain fact that it's like eating for free. Free of the prep and minimal clean up.

I understand what the article is saying, but it's more than just 'love'. I grew up in a 'German' household where it was considered bad hosting to not have more than everyone wanted. It is hard to judge how much a crowd will eat. I've learned to quickly make the leftovers into frozen meals for future reference.

Now, with the death of DH, I've learned to buy 'one'. All the butchers know me and are ready with their one - and usually smallest - cut of meat. and the checkers recognize my 'one' potato or tomato and know that if I buy more I must be having company. I'm not big on leftover either, but have learned that they do come in useful for a future meal.

I only cook for two. Some nights there will be a little leftover and those get eaten for lunch (or breakfast sometimes) during the week.

When I make a pot of soup I intend for that to provide a few meals.

I try to plan 3 days worth of meals at a time. That way I only have to run to the store a couple times a week.

Can't imagine throwing away good food. Not in my DNA.

No, if I'm cooking large amounts it's because I've specifically planned for what to do with the leftovers.

My DH and I are Asian. To not have an overabundance of food for people at social events is a cultural "loss of face." Everybody divvies up the leftovers.

Sometimes, however, my family's enthusiasm for cooking runs away with us - five households, eight extremely good cooks - but we do try not to overdo it when we get together at family events, LOL.

There's a great big difference between cooking in quantity to use over time kind of leftovers, and the extra that sits in a container in the fridge until it gets moldy and then gets thrown away. I try not to have any of the latter, but plenty of the former. We don't care for warmed over foods, unless they're things that get better "in the pot" like stews and chili, but meats make a progression from roast to salad/sandwich to pie.

I'm learning to readjust my reality for entertaining. The hordes eat. But they used to eat more. I don't have the amount of help I used to either, and I've learned to do turkey parts instead of having to deal with the carcass because when the feast is over, I just don't want to look at it, and if I freeze it for later, I'll still send it home with the housekeeper. I've also learned that the old half cup of each side per person (that's at least four sides for a feast) is too generous. I still make enough to fill two bowls for sit down because when there are more than two dozen people, it takes too long to get to the other end, but the leftovers are easy to use up. No matter what, however, I will always make sure there's at least a serving and a half of everything left. That means that no one is leaving my table unsatisfied. If that turns into an irreproducible pot of what is known as "refrigerator stew", so be it. If it doesn't hold well enough and has to go in the compost, I'll feel a twinge of regret, but I won't weep.

What bothers me more is the amount of good produce that goes ungleaned because it's too expensive to pick it.

I don't have a problem with leftovers. I like to have them. If the food's good today, there's a very good chance that it will be good tomorrow. I'm careful about how I re-heat it, if I do, or like most people, it gets converted into something else.

I'm much like Annie, except my dogs get people food for treats in addition to their dog foods. They love it.

The only problem is, they expect it ;-)

I think there are two types of "over-cooking" - Intentional and Forced.

We are normally just two. Because we live in South Florida, we have frequent house guests. Because we love to entertain, we have large dinner parties on a regular basis.

Regardless of how many we are cooking for, we always make extra of anything that will last several days as leftovers or can be frozen for use at a later date. Most of the time, this is meat. I use a 22" Weber kettle with all natural charcoal for chicken and pork. If we want thighs for dinner, it's silly to waste a load of charcoal to just cook 3 or 4 pieces of chicken, so I cook a jumbo pack - 14 thighs. I'll eat them up to four days later, but they rarely last that long. This is Intentional over-cooking.

On the side of the plate, vegetables need to be eaten that night. Very few are worth the electricity to reheat them in the microwave. Rice is good for a couple of days, but really? It kills me to have to buy twice the amount of asparagus that will be eaten and toss the rest. Why don't they have smaller packages? Because the cost of packaging then becomes more than the value of the product. Even the fresh stuff is in larger quantities than we can eat at one sitting. We are being forced to over-cook and even with best intentions, there's food that goes in the trash.

I thought the article was to be about 'over-weight America' but yes, i do believe most waste food.

Hard to find that thinking on a cooking forum.

We both grew up in penny-pinching homes. We baby sat and cut grass and had paper routes and bought our own snacks. I loved yogurt as a kid and bought my own. Mom thought of it as expensive. Anything but Wheaties was wrapped as a birthday gift. We spent much of our time at friends houses : ).

We entertain a lot now and are very generous in an over-abundance of food but non goes to waste.

I don't call much 'left-over'. It is always planned if i make extra. A mixed sprouted grain Wednesday night in the steam oven with cod leeks and chard was an intentional large batch. I like it for breakfast plain. Then had it again last night with pan-seared pork chops and artichokes. Steam ovens do re-heat beautifully. Pups had some as well with their usual raw meal. (they get cereal kibble am).

My xBIL fits that profile. He hosted family Thanksgiving a few times and was about to toss everything in the garbage. I helped mom pull all of it together for stock and next day turkey sliders...pulled an entire bag of fresh bakery rolls out of the garbage, grrr. We made a big pot of soup enough for them to freeze quite a bit. (my parents live in the same town). So we took it back home.

A bit off-putting that he thinks left-overs are for poor people.

A bit off-putting that he thinks left-overs are for poor people.

******

It's hard to wrap my mind around that! I feel twinges of guilt when I leave food on the plate at a restaurant (because of volume, not quality). The thought of good food going in the trash gives me little pangs of guilt.

I do but we finish it off and if no one gets to it, it goes to the freezer. I love leftovers so I never understood one who doesn't like them.

Maybe Mom was a terrible cook and seeing that tuna casserole staring at you two nights in a row scars one forever?

;-)

To quote my neighbor, "To those that don't eat leftovers, you have just never been hungry enough to appreciate good honest food."

And thanks to Annie, my princess Emma now always gets some of our dinner. Annie spoiled her on a visit there.

And sometimes leftovers are not leftovers, just the same meal 4 to 6 weeks later when you don't feel like cooking or are out of time.

I bought plastic leftover containers (think food service-like) from Costco, and they are perfect for storing leftovers and making real "frozen dinners".

So far, they have held up to the dishwasher and multiple uses.

If it's just dinner for me, and I have no ambition to cook, it's great to reach in the freezer and pull out something delicious.

Thinking on it, my own food waste issues, such as they are, come from underpreparing. I'll make plans and buy what I need, then have a change in plans or get sick or something, and end up with a bunch of sad vegetables. If there's meat waiting, I can usually just toss it in the oven, or send it home with the housekeeper, before it gets near going bad, but I'll think I can rescue the vegetables in soup or something, but need something to put in it, so by the time I have it organized, they're already past using. :( (And I'd feel bad offering the housekeeper wilted vegetables.) It's not a huge amount, but it happens now and then, and it bugs the heck out of me. I'm hoping to learn more about smoothies and similar that I can put a lot of those in without having to create a recipe with new ingredients to slow down the process, and possibly freeze them as well.

pillog- in those situations, I can generally avert food waste by roasting veggies than can be roasted, and wilting what can be wilted (and usually put into soup or stew which gets frozen).

Tonight, I'm rescuing a kohlrabi that's been in the fridge for too long, and roasting it with carrots.

Peppi, I spoiled Emma just a little, but you know she was sitting on your Dad's lap and eating dinner anyway, LOL.

But she's just so darned cute, and Molly loves her.....

Annie

I over-prepare a couple of times each week. We love left-overs, and my son-in-law, who moved in with us after living alone for several years, thinks he's hit the jackpot.

Kroger has pork loin on sale this week, so last night I made two--I'll slice what we don't use today or tomorrow, and put it in the freezer with the pan juice, for quick meals later.

Very little organic matter from my preparations goes to a landfill--we feed the dog the meat scraps, vegetables, and bones she can eat, and the vegetable waste goes in the compost. I recook all bird carcasses for stock, then remove the cartilage and marrow for the dog--the bird bones are the only parts that go in the garbage, because I don't want the dog to find them.

If it's something my other DD's pigs will find delectable, such as rinds from a large melon, I'll freeze it in a plastic container until she can collect it, along with the egg shells I sterilize and save for her chickens. When we kept chickens, there was very little left for the compost, mostly coffee grounds and fruit pits.

My siblings and I were taught not to waste food. My kids and grandson have been taught not to waste food--if they can't finish something during a meal (rarely), they wrap it and save it for later, and I have no problem asking for a take-home container at a restaurant. We have frequent extended family dinners here, and I'm often appalled at how much food my nieces and nephews chuck in the scrap bowl. My dog is happy, though.

Mimipadv, yes, I do that too, if I have the chance, but it's the extended prep time/work that makes it harder to get the dying veg cooked that's the sticker, when it happens. The wasted veg does go in the compost, but I would so much rather compost be scraps rather than something nice that didn't get used up.

Finally back to this - too busy to look in until now. Thanks for all the interesting comments; seems most of us think alike. I was also taught never to waste food & having a compost pile really helps assuage some of the guilt of spoiled food.

1 of my sternly Catholic aunts' comments from many years ago still rings in my ears, " It's a sin to waste food." She wasn't even talking to me, but it made a deep impression!

I think the gist of the article is that a number of people make far more food than is realistic as a way of expressing love for their family/friends. Abundance represents their feelings, IOW.

My WI born & bred mom used to do this for get-togethers by providing too much in the way of 'appetizers', sides & breads/starchy dishes to fill out what she thought was the threat of not having enough, & much of it would sit out untouched because more & more people nowadays just don't stuff themselves the way they used to, it seems. She's finally come around, after so many times having plates of dips,crackers, chips & cheeses, stale & crusty from sitting out for hours.

I definitely cook ahead, making things intentionally to last for a few days, so I won't have to cook every night, &/or can have something for lunch the next day, but I don't think that counts as 'over-preparing'.

We eat up leftovers here. But I fall into a trap of my own making when I make too much meat on purpose and don't get to freezing or making it into something else. Plus I've been distracted lately as DS's migraines are worse right now so he's not cooking anything or eating much either. :( We're taking him to get the botox shots as suggested here since zero else is stopping them.

Anyhoo my problem seems to be two fold. one I can never make myself prepare complicated to me things like turkey pot pie since I can't make a nice pie crust. I secretly think it's partly because everyone else but me can eat the crust. Selfish I know. I found an almond flour based crust so will make myself learn that if it kills me. Two I also don't love or even like to prepare the veggies so that's the other hurdle. I've thought of cutting up extra veggies when I am in the mood to do that and cooking and freezing them. Maybe that would work.

Otherwise we buy veggies as needed and put them in the veggie keeper boxes to keep them fresh for longer. Right now I have a sweet potato that needs to be cooked up. Can anyone say sweet potato fries! yum! with hot mustard salsa! yum

fawnridge, re tossing asparagus. I always cook double what we will use and freeze whatever is left over to make with scrambled eggs. Folded up in a small zip top bag works great. Just break off four or five stalks and cut into inch pieces. Saute a minute in a little butter, proceed as usual. This works with steamed or grilled.

As for making more food then needed. I have 4 Young adult grands. Never want anyone wishing they could have the last piece. Leftovers are always used, saves cooking another time

Yeonassky, would you care to elaborate on hot mustard salsa?

For those of you that hate/refuse to eat leftovers, can you explain why? My boss is like that, and I've never understood why? For him, I think it's his germ phobia. Is that the case with others?

The article said the methane emitted from the wasted food is a problem. I'm questioning that being a problem, as the food will emit methane as waste one way or another, me thinks, whether it's eaten or sitting in a heap, as compost or trash.

I've never had a problem eating left overs. The only problem is if they get pushed behind stuff in the back of the fridge and thus forgotten about. This is especially a problem if I freeze leftovers.

Sally

This is an interesting discussion...I am a frugal person by nature and I don't like waste, so I do save leftovers to have for lunch. My husband was never a fan of leftovers but he's been taking them for work this past year (after 20+ years of sandwiches!). He actually enjoys having a hot lunch. I think his aversion to leftovers stems back from his university days. At a boarding house, a landlady would have boiled weiners for supper on Saturdays...what wasn't eaten that day would be saved over for the next Saturday. You learned quickly which ones to avoid, lol.

Sally, I think the methane thing is a canned comment, rather than a scientifically thought out argument. I.e., if food production, especially meat, creates excess methane (which is arguable, depending on whether the reduction in meat production would create other kinds of industry (or nature) that would generate just as much), then food waste is wasted, i.e., extra, methane.

Plllog it's really just a home made fairly watery (from tomato juices) salsa with hot mustard stirred in to taste. We love it with sweet potatoes. And Gai Lan. :)

So, more tomatoes than peppers? It sounds so interesting!

Here's the recipe from the web that I started out with

http://www.cooks.com/recipe/n328948o/basic-salsa.html

BASIC SALSA

1 (16 oz.) can whole tomatoes
1 med. white onion
1 tbsp. Dijon mustard, or French's (I use old fashioned mustard and add more to taste)
3 whole canned jalapeno chilies with onion and carrots (sometimes instead I use a fresh chili or 2 and a small amount of vinegar)
1 tbsp. sugar (i use one mango or 2 or 3 dates instead)
1 tbsp. oregano leaves
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground pepper

Blend
whole tomatoes until liquid. Add mustard, sugar, salt, and pepper and
stir until well mixed. Finely chop onion and chilies with onions and
carrots and add to tomato mixture. Crush oregano leaves and top salsa
with it. Add more jalapenos if you want it more spicy.

This salsa is good for topping on tostadas, tacos, and any other Mexican dishes.

It comes out a bit watery my way but delicious. :)

Thanks! I'm going to have to try it. I don't think I've had mustard and jalapeños together, except maybe on a hamburger. :) I think it would be easy to adapt to all fresh vegetables, but I'll try it the first time with the canned so I know what it's supposed to be like.

My pleasure. It helps to know what you and your family likes to adjust things. I tried a few variations until I got it to our tastes. Recipes are always a great starting point. Then the creativity kicks in. :)

For normal cooking, I always try to make enough for leftovers. I like leftovers!. I freeze it sometimes.

Where we have a problem is dinner parties. We always make too much food, people bring food too, we try to send food home with people but usually end up with a fridge full of leftover weird stuff that isn't necessarily suitable for a normal meal. Excess desserts are the worst.

I over-prepare on purpose for weekday lunches as many have already posted. When I learned to cook I was cooking for a crowd. Now that it's only two of us I still cook the way I learned. But I love having the leftovers for work days.

The art of using and moving food out of the fridge can be practiced. That's one of the main reasons I come here, I end up with some odd bit of this or that and need a creative way to use it up. POOFing sometimes results in great meals. I try not to let the epic disasters discourage me, lol! It's hard not to "over prepare" when you are single. I love leftovers and my freezer. But I have a lot of trouble using up and keeping fruit and vegetable dishes, particularly salads. I just don't have time to make a fresh thing every night, nor the time to prepare in advance. I am way too tired and stressed these days for that. I make a pasta salad or fruit something and then eat it for days and sometimes it rots before I can eat it up. That's why my menus have gotten pared down to just a few things and a lot of "convenience" food, which is costly and wasteful, but so is throwing out all the "on sale" produce you bought and never processed before it molded. Celery is one of my worst offenders! Love it in soups and salads, but it is my standard "throw out" along with greens, which I also love but just don't have the mental energy to cook often enough. Don't tell me how easy it is, when you are as tired as I am, nothing is "easy" even things you KNOW are easy.

Lpink, you touched on why I never got into joining a CSA or buying a side of beef - sometimes, and sometimes most of the time, life gets in the way of cooking, and then what do you do with the boxes of random vegetables that keep arriving, or the dozens of packages of frozen meat that need to be defrosted then slow cooked for hours before anyone can eat. Get home at 6 or 7 or 8, tired and hungry, and dinner needs to take 20 minutes, tops, or it'll be chips and ice cream - again . . .

l pinkmountain hit on several good points. Try roasting a turkey sometime for one or two people! Given the packaging of things these days, as it has been said you're often going to have "leftovers", which often is a bad term. Some things are better as leftovers. I think chili and meatloaf often fall into this category. I do not like leftover cooked vegetables very often, except things like salad. And there's the "freezer cooking" methods. Make 2 lasagnas and freeze one. Make a meatloaf and freeze half of it or make two of them and freeze one. I hate to waste food. But I dislike the idea of eating something for the sake of eating it too.

I really liked the sign at a buffet I saw a few times: Take all you can eat, but please, eat all that you take! I grew up in a family where it was a sin to run short on food when entertaining so there would often be leftovers. It was often common for someone to join us unexpectedly so that almost guaranteed leftovers.

I don't understand the blanket hatred of leftovers. But then again some don't realize what a leftover really is. Twice baked potatoes? Leftovers! Then comes the question of what to do with leftover leftovers.

From "A Christmas Story" 1983 [After the Christmas turkey is stolen by the neighbors' dogs]

The heavenly aroma still hung in the house. But it was gone, all gone! No turkey! No turkey sandwiches! No turkey salad! No turkey gravy! Turkey Hash! Turkey a la King! Or gallons of turkey soup! Gone, ALL GONE!

[AKA PREMEDITATED LEFTOVERS - Grainlady]

Hot fudge sundae, dinner of champions!

Overpreparing?? Leftovers! Usually Yum!

(Although Dad's attempt at recycling leftover fried rice into our morning pancakes the next day was an Epic Fail. Some things just should not be attempted -- having that rice simply reheated as rice would have been fine.)

ROTFL!!

John Liu, I was in a CSA last year that had a different business model -- you put in your money and when you got where ever they were selling stuff, you got to pick up whatever you wanted and as much as you wanted on a given trip, until you ran out of your share. It was a good deal.

I did lose out a little, because I broke my ankle last fall, and it was more important to get rides to the doctors, and for critical things like that, than out of the way (for my friends, not normally for me) to this farm share. But since it was fall, I didn't lose out much.

I wish more CSA's would (or could) adopt this model!