How to win the leftovers game
Every time we invite people over, I get anxiety over one thing: Is there enough food?
Since we cook (or order) as if we’re feeding the entire neighborhood, it’s a fear that is not even remotely grounded in reality.
In our family there is no worst crime than someone not being able to replenish their plate … at will. The thought of anyone leaving our house hungry would be devastating. Seriously, not sure we would recover.
Our “problem” means we end up with lots of leftovers, even after forcing containers of food on our guests before they leave.
Yes, we are food pushers.
My husband justifies it by figuring out how many meals will we get out of this. So it’s a matter of how cost effective will this be in terms of meals per person.
It then becomes a question of how long can we store this food to squeeze the maximum amount of meals. It’s a delicate balance. My husband and kids don’t want the same leftovers for days. (I don’t have that problem.) Inviting people over the next day just means we’re cooking more food because what if the leftovers aren’t enough? The challenge becomes a race of refrigerate, freeze or toss.
Unfortunately, sometimes it feels like more ends up in the trash than repurposed.
It is estimated the United States as a whole wastes more than $160 billion in food a year. The average household throws out $640 of food each year. And that’s a conservative estimate.
It may not seem like a lot of money but imagine what you could do with just an extra $640 a year. It adds up.
To avoid tossing out perfectly good food, here’s a handy list of storage guidelines. Hopefully it will help in planning out the greatest amount of “new” meals:
Soups/Stews (w/veggies/meat)
Refrigerator: 3-4 days
Freezer: 2-3 months
Cooked meat/poultry
Refrigerator: 3-4 days
Freezer: 2-6 months
Pizza
Refrigerator: 3-4 days
Freezer: 1-2 months
Lasagna Homemade
Refrigerator: 3-5 days
Freezer: 2-3 months
Salmon (fresh cooked)
Refrigerator: 3-4 days
Freezer: 2-3 months
