Yet another boring post about housekeeping. Are we beginning to notice a pattern here?
Today, I am cleaning out the fridge. So far I have pulled out all of the stuff (used to be labeled leftovers until the first week passed by) and put it on the counter. The garbage bag was full and needed to be taken out. It's so ever loving hot out there I figured I could stand to blog a little before doing that.
Back to the fridge. Why is it not as wasteful to throw out moldy, sometimes unidentifiably so, leftovers instead of just chucking them immediately after dinner/lunch/breakfast/midnight snack/extra dinner? I cannot bring myself to throw things away so I seal them up and place them in the fridge. And sometimes, if I'm really lucky, somebody will come along and eat them. Most times, especially in the case of leftover rice/soup/casserole, it just sits. After a period of time ranging anywhere from 1 week until the taxes are due next year, they are thrown out. While I am sad, and a little upset with myself for the waste... and for not being the kind of chef who can whip up an excellent meal from a leftover hamburger, one slice of pizza, half a cantaloupe and the rice... I move on, relatively unscathed. But, watch my daughter attempt to dump an entire, perfectly good, leftover serving of green beans? I will. not. have. it.
If this was January 1, here is where I would be making the resolution to try harder to cook just what we need. Speaking of that, why is it when I cook "just what we need" everyone wants seconds? But when I make two meatloaves I end up with a meat loaf and a quarter? Which, in the end, is really okay because everybody loves leftover meatloaf sandwiches with ketchup. But isn't so very good when the main dish is beef stroganoff.
Also, completely off topic, those of you who responded to my flyboy post, I appreciate your words very much. We sat down and wrote a letter to Joan LeRoy expressing our sadness and also letting her know how much that visit meant to our son.
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5 comments:
I'm not one to eat leftovers, but I luckily live with a husband who eats 3 times as much as a normal person (High metabolism). I could have a fridge of fresh veggies, but he won't eat them. But he'll clean out leftovers very quickly. As long as he can heat it up quickly in the microwave, he'll eat it.
So usually when I'm cleaning out the fridge, sadly, it is usually moldy "fresh" veggies that are getting the toss. So my resolution would be to not BUY more then when I'm going to cook.
My husband likes leftovers for breakfast, so he helps, but only protein or pizza. My kids will occasionally eat leftover spaghetti ot lasagne, but no one ever, ever eats leftover vegetables, rice, or mashed potatoes so I dont know why we go through the charade of putting them into little containers and housing them until the next week.
My mother in law saves everything. She will literally save one tablespoon full of leftover casserole "in case someone wants it for a snack". In our many visits, I have never, ever seen anyone have a "snack" from her little leftover cups, so I think she secretly tosses them once the guilt has passed. We were there for Thanksgiving one year and we had the leftovers for every single meal after. It was good the first day, and for lunch and dinner on Friday, but by Saturday dinner when she trotted those same old Rubbermaid containers out again for the 4th time, I feigned a migraine and skipped dinner.
I don't mind leftovers, but they tend to shoved in the back and left for weeks. Sigh.
And sometimes, if I'm really lucky, somebody will come along and eat them.
LOL!! Same happens with us. My wife always wants us to wrap the leftovers and I always say "To keep them fresh until next weekend when we chuck them into the garbage?"
It's a catch 22 here, too. Do I store leftovers in the fridge (or freezer depending on what it is) or just throw it out/feed the garbage disposal? Sometimes leftovers go, sometimes not. I think about cooking just enough for a family of four, but sometimes it's not that easy to predict. Oh, well.
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