Mission Impossible

[Julia1Pin]

The problem: My fiancee HATES leftovers. He just doesn't want to eat them. I'm fine with leftovers (means I don't have to make anything).

How do I turn the leftovers into something he doesn't realize is leftovers? To make it even more difficult, he doesn't like casseroles!

Aside from me not wanting to waste food, it's annoying to have to list a million options for him every night (I'm just not comfortable with him eating cereal for dinner).

Can anyone help?



[This message has been edited by Julia1Pin (edited 03-28-2001).]

[Emdg]

Julia,
I suppose it would depend on what you had leftover as to what you could make....

Some general ideas: wraps, tacos, throw leftover veggies into soup, hash, egg dishes are easy to create from leftovers.

What are some of the things you have leftover?

[Michael Smith]

First off, Hi, I'm a guy. Why is the expectation that you do all the cooking? Where is this written that the girl has to cook, clean, etc.? Ok, I'll get off my soapbox now!
Hey, if he really loves you, he'll adapt OR give him the option - 1. eat the leftovers or 2. he cooks or 3. he can buy you dinner at a restaurant of your choice!

I'm not much for the same leftover dish the next night either, so I freeze portions which give me great choice when I don't feel like cooking. Don't serve leftovers on consecutive nights - it gets boring, so alternate. Also, making new side dishes also helps when serving leftovers to make meals seem new.

Keep smiling - you need a larger whip to train that boy!

[AndreaU]

Too much of a hassle- just don't marry him. KIDDING! But seriously, Mexican dishes do well with leftover meat made into different things, like Emdg suggested (tacos, wraps, burrritos, etc). I've been known to use leftovers in various pasta dishes- almost anything goes with pasta. I'm also a big fan of salads (lettuce and pasta)- so lots of things end up in salad form). I seem to remember CL doing articles (maybe just once) on play-it-again type recipes. You make one main dish, then use leftovers in a totally different dish once or twice until you run out. Does anyone remember something like this in CL??

[djoygirl]

Hi! My DH isn't crazy about leftovers, either, so I have to get creative.

Michael made a good suggestion about not serving them on consecutive nights. I go by this rule, too. Sometimes I'll freeze the leftovers and serve them again 2 weeks later. Voila! DH thinks it's a brand new meal http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

Emdg also has good ideas. I often make soups or casseroles from the leftovers. Or just try adding one or two new ingredients to the meal the second time around so it's a little bit different, without alot of work.

Andrea, I do remember that article. One of the recipes was for twice-baked potatoes, which then became baked potato soup. It was pretty good.


[This message has been edited by djoygirl (edited 03-28-2001).]

[Wendy w]

I happen to agree with Michael. My sister has that sort of problem w/her DH. His repertoire is so limited (McDonalds, meat, and potatoes) and he will not eat leftovers which is a pain to my sister. My personal favorite is that he won't eat onions but eats lots of chips and salsa. Hello? Aren't onions the 2nd most common ingredient in salsa? Go figure!

As someone who is single and likes variety in meals, I will make just enough to include leftovers for the next day's lunch and maybe for another day. If I make a larger batch of a soup or stew, I will freeze it for when I am lazy or craving a particular item. Good luck!

[Julia1Pin]

Thanks for the quick responses.

Michael - I cook 99% of the time mainly because no matter what time I come home, he's usually still working (he works from about 8am to 9pm).

Right now, we have left over chinese food (I LOVE leftover chinese food) and some grilled boneless chicken theighs leftover. I would make a salad, but a salad is not an entree for him, merely a side dish. Add to the mix, I don't like to make pastas to much, because I'm trying to weatch my carb intake at night.

[sneezles]

Well, I, myself, sometimes don't care for leftovers. My DH on the other hand is always asking what's leftover for him to eat for lunch (now that he's retired, lunch is now being served here! Used to be I could ignore it) and he loves casseroles!
The suggestions you've gotten about making different dishes is great and one I thought of is fried rice. Leftover meat, veggies and a bit of soy sauce with left over rice or noodles (lo mein) is a big favorite here!

[sneezles]

double posted...sorry

[This message has been edited by sneezles (edited 03-28-2001).]

[Michael Smith]

Understood Julia. I still think he owes you a night out for all your hard work!

Grilling is the hard part, so ...
Your grilled chicken would make an excellent taco/wrap main ingredient with low-fat hard cheese, green pepper, jalapeno, onion, cilantro and salsa. It can be eaten cold or microwaved.

[Gail]

Wow. I had to walk away and left my screen on and in the time it took me to answer, you've gotten a ton of responses, so I'll have to edit. Speaking as a member of the faction who hates leftovers and casseroles (and I'm the one doing the cooking), I do my utmost to avoid them. This means cutting down portions before you cook, sometimes, downsizing recipes as needed and and occasionally breaking up quantities of meat in packages and repacking before freezing the other half. It means, as Michael suggested, that if I must serve leftovers, I will wait a couple of days before serving it again, and then I'll vary side dishes or freeze the leftover portion, rather than having to face them again too soon.

Probably since the chicken is already cooked, you'd do well to go with something Mexicanish-- be it to either grind them up and use them in tacos, burritos or tostadas (your salad idea could be expanded to a chicken tostada with tomatoes beans, cheese, guacamole and sour cream) or if you felt ambitious, it could be ground and used as a filling for a quesadilla or tamale. Chicken croquettes or a tamale pie might be other options.

...as for the Chinese food, well, how about lunch for the next few days?

If you can give us other examples, hopefully we can all put our respective heads together and come up with some fresh ideas.

Aargh. Editing again here since I didn't see your thing about cutting carbohydrates. Our local taqueria makes soft tacos "Mexico City Style" which are strips of grilled chicken in two corn tortillas, one under the other. Nothing is added, however, you may spruce up contents with one of their salsas (check our search, particularly of the archives for salsa suggestions), chopped onion, cilantro, tomatoes. This is typically served with a simple lettuce salad with a vinegar/oil dressing and black beans, far lighter a suggestion than my tostada above.

I'm sorry, unlike some of the others I don't see that you have a problem as much as a quandry at times. You need do come up with ideas for your leftovers BEFORE preparing that first dish, your fiance can help by meeting you half way on those occasional unavoidable leftovers.

Good luck!

[This message has been edited by Gail (edited 03-28-2001).]

[Longhorn]

Hee, hee. Sorry, Julie. Some of us are setting you up for a big-ol' fight aren't we? :-) (I haven't read the "How to make smiles" post yet!) My grandmother-in-law has a cross-stitch in her dining room. Here it is:

Sit down to the table and take a look. The first complainer is the next meal's cook!

Words to live by! I know this doesn't help you in the short term, Julie. I'm sorry to say that I have no real ideas for you. My husband insists on leftovers! He's such a tightwad that he loves it when I make enchiladas and we get five meals out of them. Doesn't mind all that much if he eats it five nights in a row either! And the boy is only 24! I usually associate that kind of penny-pinching with 80-something Scots!
Watch me tapdance trying to justify buying saffron!

[Luiza]

Julia, you do have a problem. I agree with what Michael said, but it doesn't help you very much. I'm not sure what your fiancee considers leftovers. Does this mean that he wants something made from scratch every night, or just that he doesn't want to eat the same dish from the night before? If he recognizes any of the components of the dinner as coming from the night before, will he refuse to eat it?

Lacking more details about what bothers him, I would give the following suggestions. It easiest to diguise ingredients that are closer to their raw uncooked state. Roasting two chickens in the weekend will give you meat that you can shred to put in the salads or top with a sauce. Tomato sauces are good to cook rice in for the next day, with a simple side. Steamed broccoli or cauliflower can get topped with cheese and put in the oven. Boiled potatoes and cooked veggies can be chopped small, mixed with some chopped sour pickles and a mustard sauce and served as a salad. Just about anything can go into a frittata. Beans are good because you can throw them in a taco with some topping or make a salad with minimal amount of effort. Sandwiches can be made nutritious by piling good stuff on them.

And some nights let him eat cereal.

I really hope I'm not being preachy here, but if this problem bothers you now, it's best to sort it out with him before you'll lose your patience and discover at that point that he's settled into a routine he'll not want to change.

Good luck, and share with us any ideas regarding reusing leftovers. Everybody is faced with this issue at one time or another. Come to think of it, there is that smoked salmon in my fridge... But I think I'll just eat that straight. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif

Luiza

[This message has been edited by Luiza (edited 03-28-2001).]

[Julia1Pin]

Thank You Everyone. I think I'm going to start freezing leftovers and serving them later in the week or month. That way he won't know.

To be fair to him, he's not THAT BIG of a hassle. He's normally fine with an omelet, cereal, fast food, lump crab meat out of the can, etc... I just like real food.

[kwormann]

find a new fiance?????

just kidding!

kim

[tobykitty]

Julia,

Let me first say that I did have a good chuckle at some to the teasing on this thread. Love that whip comment Michael!!
But seriously, I understand you wanting to cook for him every night instead of giving him cereal. He works very long days and you want to make sure he is eating well. My husband often leaves at 4:00 a.m. and doesn't get back until 6:30 p.m. He does take leftovers for lunch and loves them. But I will also freeze a lot of leftovers for lunches/dinner later.

Additionally, I will make a couple of soups ahead of time and have them frozen for those non cooking days. I have a great Taco Soup recipe that is fast, simple, freezes great and he loves. For those days that I don't want to cook or I am happy with a salad, I keep something quick on hand to make him that he really likes but I don't usually make. For instance, Kraft mac n cheese. It never enters my dinner plans because I'm always counting points, but he loves it. I keep those frozen hamburger patties in the freezer and will fry those up and heat a can of baked beans. Or eggs and toast.

I have just found that on those days that I'm not going to be cooking a meal that preparing those simple favorites are fine. I know that some of those things aren't up to our culinary standards http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif but he likes them and they're hot and they beat cereal any day. But quit giving him a million options!!! He only needs about two or three and one of them does include McDonalds. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif