When you walk into a restroom stall and there is only a small roll of toilet paper left, you can tell if there is enough squares for you or if you have to go to another stall with more toilet paper – you know how much toilet paper you usually use. The same idea can be applied to food you order and cook too. Every day, you eat at least two meals. In a year of 365 days, that would be at least 730 meals. Having eaten so many meals, you should know how much food you typically eat right?
When I was in college, I would cook just enough for the day and never had leftovers. When I am at a restaurant I’ve never been to, I look around to see how big or small the portions are – I can also see if a dish looks extra delicious and order it too! At restaurants I’ve been to, I already have an idea of how much food I will get. Knowing the size of a dish helps me decide what to order, because unless I am planning to pack some food for tonight’s dinner or tomorrow’s lunch, I would order something that I can finish and not feel too full afterwards.
Leftovers can save you some time since you can just cook your food on one day, then easily reheat it for each meal. The food still tastes pretty good, but what if you had left over leftovers? I’m referring to the food you actually couldn’t finish, not the food you purposely set aside for tomorrow’s lunch – the food that’s left when you accidentally cooked or ordered too much.
I have seen people who would have leftovers, order more food or cook another meal the next day, have more leftovers, repeat, and their fridge would just be piling up with more and more boxes of left over food. “This is fresh, let’s eat this first,” they would say every day. Chances are, that food in the fridge will never get eaten, and after a few days you will even forget about the box that got pushed all the way to the back! This does not make sense to me because there will always be fresh food…if you decide to order or cook it.
Your leftovers may still be good the next day, but if you wait any longer, it probably won’t be as appealing to eat. Another few days, and you may start to wonder if it has gone bad already. The longer you wait, the less likely you will eat that food. It’s similar to leaving your dishes in the sink – it gets nastier if you leave it in the sink for a few days! You will end up wasting the food and the money you spent on it.
There are many ways to clear up your fridge from leftovers, but here’s what I would do instead:
- Order and cook the amount you plan on eating – you know how much you usually eat, so it shouldn’t be that hard!
- Think ahead and have a general idea of what you will eat the next few days. If you will be going out to eat tomorrow, aim to finish the food that’s sitting in your fridge today!
- Eat your leftovers the very next day, not a few days later. This will make it tastier and more enjoyable!
- Clear off your plate before you go for round 2! The fresh food next door smells yummy, but you still have food that’s waiting to be eaten on your plate.
You don’t always have to eat until you are full. Sometimes you can just have an appetizer or side dish if you’re really not that hungry!
How many times do you eat leftovers every week?