I'm a big fan of leftovers. I love cooking something sort of big one night and knowing that I'll be able to eat it for lunch or dinner for the next couple of days. However, I believe in treating my leftovers with consideration. I always reheat them (typically in a pan on the stove top) and will often give them a slightly new taste with a sprinkling of fresh herbs, a handful of cheese or some toasted nuts. I have a very hard time with leftovers that are just plucked from the fridge and eaten cold.
My sister, who has been in town for the last couple of days, does not have the same leftover philosophy as I do. She is happy to graze in front of the refrigerator, taking bites of congealed pasta straight from the plastic container or eating half a piece of cold pizza, putting what she doesn't want back in the box, toothmarks and all.
What kind of leftover person are you? Do you avoid them all together? Do you transform them into something new with each meal? Or are you in my sister's camp, willing to eat whatever is there as is?
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10-09-2007 @6:53PM Tamara said... I'm like your sister, cold leftovers right out of the tupperware container while standing in front of the fridge. The only exception is Thanksgiving leftovers, everything must be arranged into a multi-layered sandwich and re-heated accordingly.
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10-09-2007 @8:04PM Luis Antonio said... Depends on the food; pizza for example is great cold, but I'd get pretty damn queezy if I had to eat leftover chinese food cold, let alone anything mexican.
http://www.lavacahacemu.com
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10-09-2007 @8:27PM Greg Moore said... Im a college student, who discovered over the last summer, that i love to cook, so unless im cooking for my roommates (which doesnt happen unless they pay for the groceries) theres always lots of leftovers to everything i make, so generally i cook one night and get to eat it for 3 or 4. Its great cause im like you, adding new herbs and spices each night, just slightly altering the taste. Plus this semester compared to last year where i ate out considerably more, i have saved a ridiculous amount of money eating in and treating myself to homecooked meals almost nightly. I am definitely a fan of leftovers.
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10-09-2007 @9:20PM melissa.agnew said... I cook for leftovers. I don't usually add anything to them, but I always reheat. My lunch every day at work is usually something I cooked recently. My freezer is always stocked with "leftovers". Though it's been a while since I've had true leftovers, where I just have 1 or 2 more servings left from a meal.
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10-09-2007 @10:20PM The Secret Ingredient said... I LOVE leftovers-----tonight I had a cold turkey meatloaf sandwich from my Sunday dinner leftovers---love it---un-fussed with. But, give me a leftover chicken breast or ear of corn, and I'm all over making it into something entirely new and different!
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10-09-2007 @11:43PM ryan said... I always try to make something out of leftovers. Heck for lunch today I used the other half of yesterday's monster burrito shredded beef in a quesadilla.
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10-10-2007 @1:32AM Jim said... I don't do anything "special" with leftovers, but in the past couple of years I've come to DESPISE Chinese leftovers. For some reason, I just can't seem to get it to taste the same as it did the night before. I've tried microwaving them, heating them in a toaster oven, even putting them in a wok for a couple of minutes... nothing works. The broccoli will ALWAYS taste "off" no matter what I do.
So now I get the "combo" deal from my local Chinese place. It's a dollar cheaper than the regular serving, and although the serving is smaller it comes with an egg roll. I'm able to eat most of it, so I'm happy.
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10-10-2007 @9:24AM Ozymandia said... I've been known to just reheat something in the microwave, eat it cold right from the fridge, or turn it into a totally new mean depending on what it is. Pizza is better cold, IMHO; leftover steak works well reheated; and leftover chicken tends to get transformed into something else.
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10-10-2007 @9:13AM Liz Newcomb said... I'm with #4, leftovers are to be put in containers to take to work for lunches. I work downtown and all of the food choices are either unhealthy, expensive, or take forever, so having a microwavable meal at work is the easiest and cheapest solution.
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10-10-2007 @12:11PM Syrra said... I don't like leftover pizza very cold, I prefer it slightly reheated in the microwave until it's closer to lukewarm. Other leftovers I reheat in the microwave or on the stove in the quantity I want to eat. I almost never "graze" in front of the refrigerator (partly for food safety reasons), unless it's something like pizza that I can pick up and carry off with me. As a child, I once got in trouble for eating an entire bowl of leftover mashed potatoes. >___>
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10-10-2007 @10:06AM Gregg Sanford said... Obviously it depends on the food I've got on hand. However, when I'm at home I don't specifically cook things to generate leftovers. Maybe only when I know it would be easy to take to work. When I eat out I usually over order when the wallet permits me, that way I don't have to worry about lunch the next day. I think that the most used method of leftover disposal is in eggs. Either a hash scramble or fritata.
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10-10-2007 @10:17AM jsmylie said... Depends on the food! I can eat some pasta or rice dishes straight from the tupperware, but usually if it's pizza, casserole, or soup I gotta reheat it.
Of course, I still envy the people who turn their leftovers into other things (i.e. my mom: http://chewonthatblog.com/?p=313).
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10-10-2007 @1:40PM Pogo said... I'm a transformer. Leftover jambalaya becomes an omlette filling. Leftover Thanksgiving turkey, veggies, and a little gravy makes a great gumbo. Big believer in what Alton Brown calls "refrigerator velcro" -- use leftovers in: fried rice, ramen, gratins, omlettes, hash, couscous, kasha, pasta dishes, casseroles, stir-frys, burritos and tacos.
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10-10-2007 @6:02PM alosha7777 said... I'm with you marisa - I reheat leftovers in a pan or in the oven and I add seasoning, etc. at least then it still seems like a decent meal. :) I also don't have leftovers that often, so I don't worry about it much.
aloshaskitchen.blogspot.com
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10-10-2007 @7:23PM Janis said... I'm an avoider!
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10-11-2007 @1:06PM chris said... Defintiely in the "fresh" reheated leftover camp. My last meal I made was sweet and sour chicken with egg noodles and green onions for a garnish. I only made enough noodles for the first night. For the next two nights, I'd reheat meat and sauce, while making fresh rice one night and fresh noodles the other, both times garnishing with fresh green onions.
Other staple "home cookin" meals I make include meatloaf, BBQ chicken, blackened chicken caesar salad, pasta & meat dishes (always making pasta fresh if possible), jambalaya, chili, thai or indian dishes, and so on. The only thing that really doesn't work for leftovers in my experience is fish and chinese/mexican takeout.
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10-19-2007 @9:22PM Tina said... The only things I like to eat cold out of the fridge are pizza, homemade enchiladas. And meatloaf I always make it big enough to make sure we have it leftover for sandwiches.
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11-16-2007 @12:34PM Joan said... Left overs! Yes! Especially goulash! I cook so that I have left overs that are then stored in the freezer for my teens to choose from when they get hungry. Much better then a bag of chips or a candy bar. I store everything in Tupperware rock n serves that can go from freezer to microwave to table. Go check um out!
http://www.my2tupperware.com/oceanpatriot
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12-16-2007 @6:51PM Andrea said... Leftovers-Bleh. I can not bear to anything left over, My boys who are ages 5 & 7 however, Absolutely LOVE leftovers. Especially pizza. They like it cold. It turns my stomach whenever I see them eating it too.
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