Leftovers anyone?
 

So it's 11.30am here and I'm absolutely dying to eat my lunch which is a container of leftovers from my dinner last night. How many of you used to consider the notion of leftovers for lunch a completely disgusting idea when you lived in the UK? I know I used to and when I first saw my Canadian MOL using leftovers I really wondered what kind of family I'd married into! However, after 8 years here, I now regularly bring leftovers for lunch and usually make my dinner with the next day's lunch in mind, but now it's my sister (in England) who thinks I'm completely disgusting and that leftovers either go in the bin or are given to the dog. Have I just lost touch with civilisation and it really is disgusting, or just sensible?

Re: Leftovers anyone?
 

you must have been in a minority i know loads of people who would bring leftovers to work for lunch in the UK...i know i used to esp if it was a curry or chilli etc.:thumbup:

Re: Leftovers anyone?
 

Why would left overs be disgusting? If they were good enough for dinner last night, they are certainly good enough for lunch the next day. That being said, ONLY make 'em eat leftovers for one day...my MIL used to produce leftovers every day till the wretched meal was gone (she's not a great cook) and once after day three of cold chops, I smuggled out the remaining tough pork nasties and binned them on Nose Hill...she's probably still searching for them now!

Re: Leftovers anyone?
 

Good grief. Never heard of leftovers being thought disgusting. I cook with them all the time. I hate to see food wasted.

Re: Leftovers anyone?
 

Hmmm!

I must be the odd one here then, again as usual. :@)

I can't do left over food, I can't even stand the smell of Old food, a piece of pizza in the microwave is about all I can do.

:(

Re: Leftovers anyone?
 

Not even left over roast meat?? Mash and cabbage turned into bubble and squeak? Soup? No turkey curry??

Re: Leftovers anyone?
 

There was something on the radio about a month ago stating that almost 50% of waste transferred to the landfill in the US is food of some sort.

To me that is disgusting - when millions of people around the world are starving this shows how wasteful and disrespectful of food western society has become; it also proves there is no need for gigantic portions that no one in their right mind would eat but in our ever-increasing demand for "value" equating to larger sizes, this is the consequence. Honestly if food is that cheap just reduce the size and the price then people won't get upset.

I feel guilty throwing out half a dozen strawberries because they have gone past it; I envision my Grandmother "glaring" at me for wasting food - she couldn't bear to waste anything, but I suppose war time rationing and being highly economical for the rest of her life would do that.

So yes, we eat leftovers; and I agree that something like a curry or chilli actually tastes better the next day!

Re: Leftovers anyone?
 

Think of it like this....back in Blighty depending on where you worked, there was bound to be a food motorvan round the corner than did sandwiches or a restaurants were fellow workers frequent at lunch. I guess you can say it was more of a way of life

Here because of all the driving it takes to get to work, and the lack of social gatherings (not talking hockey and Tim Horton hangouts), people just bring food and sit at their cubicles

I seriously miss the Fridays back home after work, curry and all that and then getting ready for the footie over the weekend.

There was a food rive in our area last night, I ended up giving away most of the non-perishable food that has been occupying the kitchen cabinets. Hopefully her indoors doesn't find out anytime soon

Re: Leftovers anyone?
 

I have always eaten leftovers and always put some spag bol or curry aside when its made for lunch or for hubbys nightshift meal.
I cant envisage throwing perfectly good food in the bin

Re: Leftovers anyone?
 

so, since general disgust for leftovers seems to be the minority position, a quick email to said sister has thrown more light on the subject. She reckons the reason she doesn't tend to use leftovers is because she remembers something our grandmother said years ago about it being something that 'poor people did' and it has stuck with her even though she knows it's ridiculous. So, it seems good old-fashioned snobbery is responsible; but where on earth did that notion come from?

Re: Leftovers anyone?
 

ultrarunner, you are absolutely right. Where I used to work there were any number of choices for lunch on the high street round the corner - Boots, M&S, sandwich shops, the pubs (of course), not to mention the sandwich lady that used to come to the office mid-morning with a basket of stuff (anyone else have this?!).
And what I wouldn't give for a Friday afternoon 'meeting' down the boozer with my colleagues; usually culminating in very drunk people in suits dancing around their laptop bags in some cheesy nightclub. Ah, the good old days :) I wouldn't have the stamina for it all now!

Re: Leftovers anyone?
 

Because it is what poor people do. It makes sense to buy a large piece of meat and use that for a few meals, and why waste money?

In your grandmother's day the leftovers were given to the staff. Rather like now except it's the sandwiches and fruit from the corporate table that end up in the cafeteria.

Re: Leftovers anyone?
 

I must be poor then as old fashioned snobbery has never been an affordable option in our house.
Yes I have had lunch from M&S (oh I miss it) and the pub and the sandwich lady but that was only on the days that I didnt have my leftovers. A GBP4.79 salad from M&S used to make me feel annoyed at the sheer expense

Re: Leftovers anyone?
 

Yeah you say that now because you live in canada. Back then you were earning GBP, had 20 days holiday, cheap flights to the continent for nowt, it was cheaper to fly to America and the Carribean

How much would a starbucks Grande cost you now, or a subway sub if you are into those things? Think about it.......there use to be a sandwich shop across Debenhams on oxford street (hmm..their baps were to die for) :)

Re: Leftovers anyone?
 

bats, I love the idea of my granny having staff! Think a very downmarket, Irish, Hyacinth Bucket and you're getting close... :)

Re: Leftovers anyone?
 

Used leftovers a lot in the UK, but I try to use it differently. Sunday roast would become a curry for later.

Something with rice one day might later go with a baked spud or chips, while the rice becomes a fried rice, using the unused meat from an earlier meal.

Other stuff not enough for a meal might give a bit more body to a soup.

Re: Leftovers anyone?
 

I thought the same thing until I came here, it was disgusting watching the cradles devour all their secondhand food. There was a reason they were called leftovers as nobody wanted them. But now I make stuff so that it is leftover because its better the next day when the flavours have mingled got more flavourful.

Re: Leftovers anyone?
 

nah, we are MUCH better off here than we were in the SE of England, where I had 25 days holiday incidentally.
At least I can afford my childcare here and my swimming pool chemicals :thumbup:
I have never been an advocate of throwing food away

Re: Leftovers anyone?
 

I do like some leftovers then? Turkey curry sounds awesome an roast beef butties. As long as it is not off a plate that was half eaten, a half eaten potatoe would make me gip next day in a dish with a half eaten meat pie. If it straight from the bird or joint then ok.

Re: Leftovers anyone?
 

lol, not even a cleaning lady to hand the bones to?


Daft bugger that's not leftovers, that's rubbish.

Re: Leftovers anyone?
 

When I was a kid, Christmas turkey would be followed by turkey sandwiches for a day or two and the remains would end up in a turkey curry the next day. Assuming Dad didn't leave it out on the counter where the cats would get it first :).

Re: Leftovers anyone?
 

The ultimate next day snack has got to be lasagne. The end.

Re: Leftovers anyone?
 

Ohh, and I thought you was all scraping plates into a bowl and loving it up next day. :@)

Re: Leftovers anyone?
 

My No Frills $7.49 thanksgiving turkey fed 5 on Monday, 3 for curry on Tuesday and 4 with turkey casserole on Wednesday.

I couldn't be bothered to make soup but there were enough scraps if you were interested.

Bargain!

Thursday we had a Ploughmans salad for 4 . Price of cheeses...... don't get that thread started!! More than the blinking turkey for sure!

Re: Leftovers anyone?
 

Actually, we're making turkey pie tonight with the frozen leftovers from Thanksgiving :).

Re: Leftovers anyone?
 

Made loads of mash yesterday (for the meat) with the intention of using the leftovers for a fish pie tonight.

Similar to Admiral's Pie but not as good as that so I called it Purser's Pie.

Well it was better than calling it Seaman Pie wasn't it? :rofl:

Re: Leftovers anyone?
 

:scarper::scarper::scarper::scarper::scarper:

Re: Leftovers anyone?
 

We always have leftovers. We actually cook more than we need on purpose for lunches and so that I can take some on the road with me if I'm departing the next day.

mahoosive + 1 for making curry with the leftover meats, my nickname back home was the Curry monster... think lister red dwarf :D ay smeg ed where's me poppadom???

Re: Leftovers anyone?
 

OMG...Red Dwarf, now that is ablast from the past :D

Curry Monster :eek:

Re: Leftovers anyone?
 

We generally don't have leftovers at our house, but then we portion control much of the food that we do have. For example bought a hunk of lamb for roasting from Costco and cut it into five separate joints of meat.

Seems that pretty much anything that's left over gets snaffled by our cats these days...

Re: Leftovers anyone?
 

Please don't encourage him.

No really. Please.

I'll admit I thought the same about left overs, mainly because our leftovers consisted of the shite that was the bottom of the frying pan. My Canadian mil cooks enough to feed a small army so theres always decent leftovers, and it's something i've started doing too.