I cannot cook just for the two us. I tried -it does not work. There is this little voice in me that misguides me each and every time. The common sense, I so hope I might have, flies out of the window as soon as I step into my kitchen.
I produce leftovers on a daily basis. Controlled by the fear that there might not be enough food, I start cooking and lose control. “What if he wants seconds and there is nothing left?” I cook three or four servings for the two of us; I prepare meals for a small village when we have company. I am the hostess, with the mostess -at least foodwise.
I fight leftovers, and I am well prepared. I have a cabinet full of containers in all forms and sizes. Nothing gets thrown out, that’s something I learned from my Grandmother. Every evening I clean out the pots and pans and store what we -again- couldn’t eat.
Two spoons full of mashed potatoes! Off in a container, it goes. We do not waste food -at least not at first. From Saturday to Thursday I collect our leftovers. Some of it gets eaten or is used for other dishes, some of it gets pushed back into the fridge.
How terrible it would be if we would look for our leftover food and it wouldn’t be there?
Then comes Friday, the official fridge cleaning day in my kitchen. I count back the days, try to remember what day we ate what. “Did the meatloaf come before the cabbage rolls, or was it the other way around?”
Out with all the stored food, we haven’t eaten. “STOP…this one is from yesterday, this one is staying.” Some containers survive the cruelty of the garbage disposal for another week, others manage to hide and become highly questionable science projects.
Why did I keep the two spoons full of mashed potatoes on Monday in the first place? Oh, how wish we still would give food offerings to ancient gods. I would devote my life to worship and would cook myself right into a better afterlife in no time. “There you go gods, enjoy the mashed potatoes.” Problem solved!
Perhaps I shouldn’t admit it, but sometimes I open containers and SNIFF food. If it’s still good how about…
Our dogs are family members. Our leftovers are their responsibility as well; all for one, one for all!
To be continued….
This post made me laugh. My freezer is where best intentions go to die. I make things and freeze it and never again take it out to use. I need to get better at that!
Me too. I am still cooking for four about 15 years after we became permanently two (and there are no dogs). I keep every scrap and operate and alternate day revisit. So the pasta leftover on Monday supper reappears on Wednesday, probably as a reheated snack, but if substantial it is incorporated in a new dish on Wednesday supper. Ditto Tuesday’s Paella. Straight fish is never left over. It sort of works out, but i made some curious mixtures.
Get a dog! 🙂
Funny that you mention it, we never have fish leftovers either.
I know the feeling Bridget.. its been years since my children have flown the nest, and still I peel too many potatoes and have left over cabbage.. I am sure though its because I so enjoy making bubble and squeak with the left overs..
Happy Cooking!
Love and Hugs xx
Well, I don’t have that excuse, it was always just us. I think my “portion control” is out of whack
LOL… well, at least you do not go hungry lol, and think of it this way.. I bet you are an expert and making the most out of Left-overs.. 🙂
Leftovers have always been a welcome thing in our home. Gilles has worked out of a home office since the boys were very small and relied on leftovers for lunch. It’s so much a habit now, I deliberately make an extra serving or two.
However, I’m much less fond of eating leftovers, but occasionally I too am grateful for that container or two of something reheatable in the fridge – especially if it’s soup on a cold day 🙂
I cook pots full of soups and chili and insist on gallons of leftovers. I freeze them, they are perfect for a small meal.
But other than that, I am not too fond of leftover myself.
Add me to the same list! The funny thing is my mom was a child of the depression but she doesn’t save any food! My grandmother did, though, and maybe she was the influence. I can’t seem to make smaller portions and I’m always saving scraps. It is a little idiosyncratic, though. You have me a great big laugh of recognition! 😀
I am so glad it’s not just me. I am out of control 🙂
So funny, Bridget. I have the opposite problem. I would love to cook enough so that I could freeze some and save myself a day in the kitchen. But I just can’t seem to manage it. 🙂
Let me think, do I have your address? 🙂
Mail me leftovers!! Ha ha.
And offline I go 🙂
This sounds so very much like me! I started being ruthless in the ways I could deal with, which meant that I would plan for a week of food and then just cut out one dinner recipe every week to shop for less. It invariably leads me to the correct number of dinners to cook for the week!
I think I am guided by the fear there couldn’t be enough.
Cutting one dinner, sounds great. I need to tell my husband and make sure he thinks it was his idea. 🙂
It ended up being a much better solution than trying to make smaller portions for us! Plus I got way better at reusing leftovers for a totally new dish the next day. 🙂
My husband refuses to eat leftovers. He just won’t do it. So I *had* to learn to cook for two — now I cook for one because we have completely different tastes in food. >_< He prefers restaurant food with lots of sauce, and I abhor sauce. Besides, he prefers his "large meal" at lunch so even when I made dinners for us that he liked, he never ate them. So he gets his food elsewhere, and I cook for myself.
It took me years to learn to cook for one. Years! After decades of cooking for six or more, cooking for one is hard! But it can be done. And I very rarely have leftovers. The most difficult part is the shopping.
Looks like you have a system!
This seems a very sensible arrangement
Sounds like a common problem (among a certain age group and demographic of women ((and some men)). The “leftover”. My hubby loathed left overs, but I noticed that some of them didn’t stick around long. After he died I had a devil of a time reducing my cooking portions to one. I finally gave up…I simply cannot make a lasagna just for one…and freezing it? Fuggitaboutit. I have stuff in the freezer that I can’t identify and it’s more than past time to purge it all and start over. Cooking for a couple when you’ve been used to a family is tough, but cooking for one when you’ve been used to a couple is tougher (IMHO). Isn’t that a wonderful ‘problem’ to have too? Too much food that we don’t know what to do with….it could be a lot worse! 🙂
Freeze it ! Where possible 🙂
Man remember growing up in house where 2vparent live through great depression & ww2.
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