This is #17 in my series of Life Advice in a Nutshell.
Leftovers are a tricky business. Done correctly they are a delicious home made lunch, tasty dinner, or even an additional ingredient to a whole new meal. But if you don't manage your leftover situation well you are likely to end up with a science experiment to throw away and a pile of plastic dishes to wash.
Throughout my career as a cook and kitchen owner I have probably made every mistake in the book when it comes to leftovers. I have saved things I really didn't intend to eat again, let interesting molds flourish in my fridge, and wasted a lot of good food.
In this journey I have also learned some secrets to successful leftovers that I now want to share with you. If you keep these rules of thumb in mind as you are doing your menu planning, you will get some use out of your leftovers, keep your fridge nice and clean, and have some lots of yummy fresh food to eat.
1. When in doubt, throw it out. Let's face it, some meals are good the first time, and really don't want to be leftovers at all. If you can't picture yourself or your family eating it again, dump it. This also goes for tiny amounts of things, unless you have a particular use in mind like an additional ingredient for a soup or casserole the next day.
2. Package your leftovers attractively. I like to use a divided lunch plate container, and put a serving of each part of the meal in each compartment. Then its all set for tomorrow's lunch. Sometimes I can set up each part in a different side of one bowl as well. If it looks attractive and fresh, it's going to be eaten.
3. The perfect time to eat a leftover dish for dinner again is 2 days later. The next day you might be a bit bored from having had it the night before. Any more time than 3 days later and it might suffer from being not so fresh. The 2nd day is your golden opportunity.
4. On that 3rd day warm up your leftovers and add it to your previously scheduled dinner. Use it as a side dish. If it gets eaten, great. If not, chuck it out.
5. Keep a clean fridge. If you had better intentions than stomach for leftovers, throw them out. You did your best to save the food, and now its time to let it go. If you keep sketchy stuff out of your fridge you will have enough room for more fresh groceries and new leftovers. I like to clean my fridge out the night before the garbage pickup. It's also a great idea to clear old leftovers out of the fridge before you go to the grocery store. That's the perfect time to make space and also do a quick visual survey for things you may be out of.
