In keeping with our theme of keeping our grocery budget under control,
one of the things we’ve challenged ourselves to do is eat all of our leftovers before they go bad! We’ve actually been doing really well at this!
So well, in fact, that when my mother in law was over last week, she asked us if we were doing ok financially, because there was no food in our fridge — Ha!
We had just eaten all of our leftovers and were going to make something from the freezer that evening, but it sure made her worried!
Over the course of these last few months of combating the rising cost of food, I have come up with a few simple strategies to use up those leftovers!
Cook Exact Portions:
I know I said easy, and maybe this one doesn’t fit that description, but cooking exact portions not only cuts down on the amount of food that ends up as leftovers, it helps to ensure you won’t get sick of the same food!
The principle is simple – don’t cook for a family of 6 when there are only two of you! If you’re wanting to make some extra for an easy night later in the week, go for it, but keep it reasonable!
Hold a Contest:
There is nothing like competition to make a irritating task fun! Whether it’s just you and the hubs, or getting all the kids involved, I find that making using leftovers a game brings mealtime to a whole new level!
We like to do a sort of “Chopped” challenge, with a basket of surprise ingredients that each contestant must make into a meal. The whole things promotes creativity, fun, and family, and that’s a win-win! (Bonus: you could include a prize for the winner!)
Put Leftovers Towards the Front
Package your leftovers nicely. No one wants to eat food in a container they can’t see through, and I can also guarantee you your family is not going to stoop down and dig to the back of the refrigerator for yesterday’s food.
With that in mind, I have found that moving leftovers to the front-most portion of the fridge for easy access greatly increases their chances of consumption.
Create a Tradition
The simplest of the solutions, if you don’t like eating the same thing two days in a row (or more), then make one day of the week “leftover day.” Growing up, my family did this on Sunday night, because no one wanted to make dinner after church. I think it was also nice for my mom to start the new week fresh with no leftovers in the fridge.
Do whatever works for you, but setting a certain day of the week as leftover day makes it an easy night for you and gets those leftovers out of the fridge!
Leftovers used to be the bane of my existence. I hated eating them, and I hated throwing them out when they started growing things on their own!
Luckily, with these 4 strategies, we’re eating all of our leftovers, every single time! And it’s working so well my mother in law was concerned about us!
How do you use up your leftovers? Any strategies you’d like to share?
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These are great tricks. This is a tough one in my home because I love having left overs for quick lunches and dinners on busy days but sometimes we get sick of eating the same thing. I find that experiments shouldn’t have left overs. So if I make a new recipe its not a good idea to make lots for leftovers in case we don’t like it.
Definitely a good one – I’ll have to remember never to make extras of an experiment!
Cooking exact portions is my number one issue. Love this! Thank you!
Yeah, it’s hard to estimate! I feel your pain, Jennifer!
Thank you for sharing these tips! I’ve always really liked leftovers – my mom is an amazing cook, so I was always really excited to eat whatever she made the next day!
Stacy @ Anastasia Vintage
Thanks for stopping by Stacy!
Having leftovers at the front of the fridge definitely helps.
I’m finding I waste the most food when I get overly ambitious with my cooking plans or when I buy fresh food in bulk. I think I’m going to have to get better at freezing things.
I am guilty of letting produce go to waste – especially when I stock up because of a good sale! Great tip Jenna!
I try to use leftovers as my lunch. I hate leftovers going to waste! I also freeze leftovers if there is enough for another meal.
Great tip!
I’m having leftovers for breakfast :) Tuna salad on a toasted bagel :)
Whoop! Whoop! way to reuse those leftovers!
I love the ‘make it a contest’ tip. Would never have thought of that!
Thanks for sharing :D
While it’s a great tip for the kids, I have also found that the hubby and I can use it!
I sometimes take leftovers for lunch the next day – they’re perfectly fine and can be a lovely, filling, easy lunch! :)
Good idea – especially if the significant other doesn’t like eating them!
I definitely need to start putting leftovers into the front of my fridge. I ALWAYS forget about stuff and then it goes bad! :(
Me too, girl, me too!
Love the contest idea!
Hopefully you can use it :-)
I’m a big fan of freezing leftovers. No one in my home wants to eat something we just had the other day, but if I toss it in the freezer and pull it out again a month later, they’re excited about it all over again.
Nice! That was one I didn’t think of!
We used to have leftovers once a week. Now I use them twice a week which makes it easier to use them up.
Nice idea! It seems like when there are tons of leftovers it’s even easier to ignore them!
My family is not great at eating the same thing several days in a row, but if I can repurpose and make it seem like a new meal, we’re golden. Turning leftover chicken into quesadillas or veggies into soup is my best leftover trick.
LOve it!
Great tips. I am a big fan of freezing leftover items. Holding a contest idea is interesting, will have to give that a try.
I like the “challenge” idea…will have to get hubby on board though. he’s a “it doesn’t taste the same” the next day…which is such a waste of money.
If I had a bigger fridge, I could keep two or three meals and have a leftover night, sighs. I will have to get creative with leftovers.
Stopping by from Mommy Monday Blog Hop
This is an excellent way to save $ on groceries! If we have leftovers after dinner, I write it into my menu plan for the next day’s lunch. Usually there aren’t enough leftovers for all of us to eat again, so I feed the leftovers to whoever loves that meal the most or to the person who least likes what I am serving for lunch that day. Thanks for the great tips!
It was fun reading the last of these strategies, since my mom used to do this when there were 5 of us in her dining table… she jokingly called it “Buffet Friday” and we got to pick our “menu” in order of age (starting with my then-4-year-old baby bro, and her having whatever leftovers were left) food by then was only 3 days old at the most (since every Monday we started on fresh menus).
Another great trick of hers was (we’re Mexican) turning EVERYTHING into empanadas! She would use almost any casserole as empanada stuffing, and we would have Empanada Saturday. You should try that too.