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?

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.

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!

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

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.

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

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!

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

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

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?

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!

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.

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

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)

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