i am huge on leftovers! Growing up i watched my mum cook for a battalion – this is always what i tell people and it is absolutely true. My mother did cook large amounts each Sunday and my aunts, uncles and cousins would all come over and eat. Of course, we didn’t have a big house, just a modest HDB (Housing Development Board for my non-Singaporean friends) 4-room flat. So when that many came over, there was no room for all to sit at the same table, at the same time to eat. Whoever came first, ate first and then made room for the next persons. And many times we would just sit wherever we wanted to eat; the kids mostly sat in front of the TV 😉
i loved it! The house was crowded and loud but i loved it. i love being around people and being around family was even better. This is one of the reasons i like having dinner guests. It is also the main reason why it was hard for me to learn to cook just for myself (when i went to university) or just for two (during the first years of my marriage).
Then near the end of the day, when people were leaving, we packed up the leftovers and everyone took their share home and most of the time we still had enough to have leftovers for ourselves as well.
As much as we all liked gathering together, kids grew up, priorities changed, cousins moved to whole other countries to live and these big gatherings also stopped happening.
BUT… my mother still cooked large amounts on Sundays (not battalion-sized though). This time it was more for convenience. My mum worked full-time – she always has and still does. Yet she maintained a lovely home and provided wonderful meals for us. And having the meals already cooked in advanced was a great help to her.
So as you can see leftovers played a big part in my childhood, teen years and even young adult days. i still like having leftovers, some foods just taste better after a night in the fridge 😉 And that’s why the article below stuck a chord with me and why i am sharing it. It has a really tasty recipe at the end of it too.
Healthy leftovers? Good or bad idea? | Newsletters | Beyond Diet.
Do you serve leftovers? If yes, what is your favourite dish to freeze/keep as leftover? If no, why not?
syc
trippingdifferently 
We eat leftovers, although many of the things I cook are just enough for the one meal. Having such a small freezer ;-), I don’t freeze anything at the moment (although I want to try making Gluten-free ravioli, and if I do I’ll make a big batch and freeze it).
Our most likely leftovers are from a pasta dish I make called “bahnhof pasta” – because it’s inspired by something we used to get at one of the train stations. I often make a big batch and then we eat it for two meals.
LikeLike
Hmm… bahnhof pasta sounds very interesting 😉 Oh i know the freezer situation – hheheee… i just put my in the fridge & eat them within a couple of days… i mainly have the chinese dishes leftover & they just need some re-heating & fresh rice & it’s a meal – i love it! Sometimes i’ll just toss all the leftovers & some veggies in with leftover rice & make fried rice 🙂 yummy & it tastes slightly different each time, depending on what you’ve got left 😉
LikeLike
I do the same thing! I “stretch” the leftovers with rice or buckwheat to make a second meal. Leftovers are usually my lunch or another dinner the following day.
LikeLike
Well we do have to ‘stretch’ what we can, especially with the high food costs here ;)…
LikeLike