Is it safe to feed your family leftover easy recipes than fresh meals?

1. 60

   crystaleyesposted 12 years ago

   I need to cook fresh meals every time, I usually have very less leftovers.. Even if i have i do not give them to my children.. Do you agree that leftovers can get fatal with children and the aged?

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   1. 80

      TamCorposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      No, sorry, I don't agree.  Heck, I grew up on leftovers, lol.
      
      If you store leftovers correctly, there is NOTHING dangerous about eating them.  Eat within a few days, or freeze them!
      
      But, if you didn't grow up eating leftovers, I can understand why you don't like them.  I came from a family of four, and leftovers were common.  My husband came from a family of eight, so leftovers were unheard of, so of course, he never wanted to eat them.
      
      It took a few years of being married before he finally realized that leftovers can sometimes be even better than freshly cooked food--especially soups, stews, even casseroles...many times I've made food, then put it away until the next day, because the flavor is so much more enhanced. 

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   2. 70

      the girlsposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Absolutely. Left-overs are good meals too.

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2. 60

   crystaleyesposted 12 years ago

   I definitely will make my family read your review..  it will save me from cooking some day.. I can cook in advance and store.. and then take a break and chill for two days..   lol
   
   Thanks for the advice anyways..

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3. 92

   peeplesposted 12 years ago

   I cook my meals from scratch. We eat almost no processed foods in my house. However I do freeze leftovers and cook some items in bulk to use for other recipes. As long as it is stored away the proper way there is no harm. This also saves lots of time. I would also suggest cutting veggies in advance all at one time  for the whole week and storing them so that you don't have to spend as much timeeach day. I buy beef roasts and slice part, chop part and leave part whole. I then slice my stir fry veggies, dice my soup veggies, and cut my potatoes and carrots to go with my roast. I store them in containers in the freezer until I am ready to use them. Make cooking easy! Take a break sometimes!

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4. 0

   jenuboukaposted 12 years ago

   Hate to be the bearer of reality, but about 80% of food you eat at a restaurant is "leftover" meaning that the kitchen will prepare large batches of let's say marinara sauce and use it for a period of 3-5 days.  Large chain restaurants are the worst at this. 
   
   So if you like to occasionally dine out at your local chain restaurant or even an independent restaurant; chances are your dish was prepped about 2 to 5 days ago....
   
   So when it comes to leftovers in the home; one of the most popular concepts is to cook a couple of large meals on Sunday that will carry you through the week, and those who live on a tight budget; this is a big time and money saver.

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5. 76

   psycheskinnerposted 12 years ago

   Not at all.  Left overs are perfectly safe if refrigerated or re-cooked.
   
   Not using them is very wasteful and IMHO not very respectful of the effort (and in some cases animal life) that went into making the food.

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6. 82

   WriteAngledposted 12 years ago

   I live on my own, and leftovers are an integral part of my eating.
   
   I often buy marked-down produce in shops, because it saves stacks of money and adds to the fun element of cooking. I never know what I will bring back home, and also don't know what will come in my veg box from week to week. I like to surprise myself with working out new flavoursome combinations of what is to hand in the kitchen.
   
   As a result, I might at times end up cooking huge quantities of things that have to be used immediately. I eat some that day, store some in the fridge to make the basis of another meal the next day and freeze the rest for future use.
   
   I am careful about unpacking really perishable stuff, such as seafood, as soon as I get home and putting it straight in the fridge. I also make sure that leftover cooked rice goes into the fridge as soon as it has cooled, because that can become really dangerous if left out at room temperature for a long period.
   
   I never get any sort of gastric problems whatsoever!

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7. 69

   denisemaiposted 12 years ago

   As long as the food is properly stored, I don't see why not. Most big cookbooks have a guide that tells you how long certain foods can be stored before they spoil. Like you,  I rarely keep leftovers. Not because I believe they are unsafe but because I have limited space in my refrigerator and freezer. My exceptions are roasts or large cuts of meat (I use them throughout the week for meals), broths (freeze for future use), and sauces.

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8. 60

   crystaleyesposted 12 years ago

   Thank all of you for your views. We are a pure vegetarian, small family so we do not have much leftovers.. and the little that we have is re-used..  Leftover food has a time period especially meats. Vegetable stews, soups and curries when re-cooked loose their texture and taste, and also some of their nourishment.. do you agree?

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   1. 80

      TamCorposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      One of our favorite meal is leftover soups and stews--to us, they have MORE taste, not less. As far as the nourishment factor--we all come away from a meal feeling satisfied, so I'm happy with that.
      
      I've often frozen leftover corn, green beans, peas, vegetables like that, then tossed them all into a stew, letting it simmer a long time--we really can't tell the difference between those and something I might have made from fresh vegetables.  I do add meat, though...we can't handle the vegetarian lifestyle, lol. 

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9. 89

   Cardisaposted 12 years ago

   We have left overs at least one per week especially on a Monday after making a large Sunday meal. So long as the food is properly stored and reheated, it should be fine. I suggest freezing for longer storage periods. Leftovers in the cooler no longer than three days should be fine.

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10. 94

    Thelma Albertsposted 12 years ago

    Leftover is not bad as long as you put them wisely in the refrigerator or freeze it for a few days or months. I have worked in a restaurant before and they pre-cooked their food or sauces to avoid stress from work. If you have leftovers, you can have a free day for not cooking the meals.

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11. 87

    Denise Handlonposted 12 years ago

    Leftovers 'fatal'  ???   Oh, heck no unless you leave them on the counter and unrefrigerated.    If my family did not eat left overs they would be pretty hungry.  Here are the reasons why I serve (and have always served) leftovers
    
    1.  It teaches children to eat what is available and not turn their noses up at perfectly good food!  (anyone hear of consuming a whole Thanksgiving turkey dinner and all the fixings in one sitting-no, because we love our Thanksgiving leftovers!)
    
    2.  It is economical--the money spent on food is not thrown out the window with the leftovers  (or garbage, as the case may be)
    
    3.  It allows me to be creative...instead of serving just the old leftovers I turn old into new:  have a chicken meal one day and the leftovers: make chicken fajitas or chicken stir fry...there are tons of ways to use left overs
    
    4.  It saves time!   How tedious to cook a fresh, new meal every single night!   In our home we have several different meals in consecutive days followed by a left over night where we take our choice of the meals we have eaten the previous nights.  Works out great towards the end of the week or on a Saturday night.
    
    Good luck with this...BTW, I also grew up with leftovers and I'm not dead yet!

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12. 82

    kathleenkatposted 12 years ago

    I don't think so. Food doesn't devalue with age (well, unless you leave it for a really long time and it goes bad).
    
    If you have something like spaghetti, and eat it again as a leftover the next day, it's equally as healthy as it was the day before. I often end up with leftover Sundays. Ah, well.
    
    Also leftovers can be handy. When you have leftover things like pasta and rice, you can add it to other dishes for a quick fix. Rice makes a good breakfast with brown sugar (like oatmeal), a good lunch in a burrito, and a good dinner in a rice bowl.

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