Do you re-heat?

My husband laughs at the latest announcement from Gordon Brown that we're throwing away too much food. I confess: I love leftovers. The bit of risotto hanging around after dinner. The roast pork enduring after Sunday lunch.

No bit of uncarved meat or pan scraping is too small for me to pop into a Tupperware container and reheat for breakfast, lunch or dinner. My mother used to call it "jungling up" (she said it was an old phrase used on the railroad).

When I was still living in New York and my husband called from London, he's often hear me just finishing a breakfast of Thai green curry or last-night's spaghetti. "It's unnatural!" he'd cry. "Noodles for breakfast?"

But what started out as a serious culture clash has now we've settled into symbiotic balance. He cooks a little bit more than we'll eat, and I'm not forced to have tuna sandwiches every day. As long as nothing gets pushed back behind the mayonnaise jar or hidden by the milk carton, everything gets eaten. This makes my husband especially happy since it doesn't have to get eaten by him.

What's the leftovers philosophy at your house? Are you one of those people Gordon Brown is mad at?

Comments

[Sue]

LM - I think on the issue of imported food it's necessary to look at Total Carbon Lifecycle Footprint (or whatever it's called!) - ie, that can take into account balancing factors such as foreign food may not need artificially heated polytunnels, or imported fertiliser, or watering with water that's been pumped by electricity, and is hand harvested without machinery, and all those factors taken into account against the air miles bringing it to the UK.

of course, that also has to be put into the balance against factors like whether or not the foreign food is grown on land that otherwise would grow crops for local consumption, rather than export cash crops that may only benefit the country's government and the landowner (who may not be the local farmer!) (or may even be a foreign multinational).

And one thing I hate about buying apples, for example, is that even in the spring you can still buy European apples that have been kept in cold storage for half a year! I have to say I'd rather buy new world apples in the British spring. Does their air miles exceed the 'refreigeration miles' of the European fruit - I don't know.

[Lazy Mummy]

Hm. On the original subject of wasting food though, I do agree with Gordon Brown that we - as a society - are wasting vast amounts of food and that bothers me, especially when thinking of global warming, people without adequate food/nutrition elsewhere in the world. So as I said earlier, we do lots of leftovers & are trying to be better at cooking/buying the right amount of stuff.

The thing that bothers me more though is "fresh" veggies/fruit flown half-way round the world in prepacked plastic for supermarkets. That seems to me to be terribly wrong, far more wrong than throwing things away. Of course, it's hard to eat fresh/local stuff all the time, especially in northern climes and in the winter most of our produce comes from California (I'm in Seattle, remember) but that's sort of like living in the UK and getting your veggies from Spain, just about OK (imo) and not as bad as getting stuff from Chile or Thailand or Kenya or wherever. It does bother me though.

But OTOH I think GB telling people to cut their food waste to compensate for inflation/fuel cost increases is insulting at best and just shows how out of touch he is, at worst. The parable about sticks & logs & eyes springs to mind.

[Sue]

You know, I do think this stuff about food proves that God is definitely a man! I mean, if God were a woman She'd understand that life is too short to cook a new damn meal every day. It really is just SO annoying when 'perfectly good' food goes off so you have to chuck it and cook a fresh meal.

Another pet bug bear of mine is defrosting food. The moment it's defrosted you HAVE to eat it - even if you've changed your mind. Plus, you have to plan in advance, and remember to take something out of the freezer in the morning. I've tried defrosting in the MW, and it's hopeless - the meat just starts to go this disgusting stringy pink round the edges, and 'ooze' yukky grey juice. Appetising - not!

[Franziska]

My mum always said that forcing kids to eat everything on their plate turns them first into chubby kids and then into obese adults. I learnt from an early age on that you start with little on your plate, if you are still hungry, go and get some more.

As for leftovers, I tend to cook more anyway (I don't know why though, we are only two people at home but it seems the army is coming every day!) so we use leftovers for sandwiches or lunch the next day and at least once a week I have a "grawitschko" day (my mum's fancy word for leftovers) and my husband loves it.

[Jo]

I am not going to recomend this but I did watch a programme where a guy ate food, including meat, well past its sell by date. He even ate bread covered in green mould (very yuk) but he didn't get ill. The food was tested for bugs in a lab and though it was covered in them at first once it had been cooked it was fine. I would never eat meat past its sell by date but on the rest I follow my nose and to be honest I don't get ill.

[j]

agree with caitlin, good to hear from other hotter places. I get my meat from the butcher and he wouldnt give me anything a bit brown or smelly and I wouldnt eat it if he did. I'm with Sakura on that. Most of my leftovers and more scary, like old rice- apparently also grows bugs really fast so needs the Debbie treatment- I really would rather cook the right amount to start with.

On the clear your plate thing, I suppose what I aim for is to cook a smallish first course, where the meat all has to be eaten up, and spare vegetables which can last over. They fill up on veg and fruit- a sort of layered meal. Though sometimes when I have got it really wrong they have to have a sandwich to fill up.

[Debbie]

Speaking with my professional food hat on - I run 7 cafes for a living - you must keep food over 60 deg C or below 5 deg C for it to be safe. Food can go between those temperatures for up to 2 hours and still be safe, but after that it must be thrown away. So the key thing is how long food is left out of the fridge or left to cool before it is put away or reheated. Food will keep well in a fridge for several days PROVIDED it has been kept below 5 C at all times and not left out standing for hours on end. In a hot climate where we live where it is over 30 deg C everyday, we put our cold food /meat/dairy into a cold bag to take home from the supermarket or otherwise it goes off really quickly. Also meat is not as fresh up here, so everything goes straight into the freezer and we use it from there everyday.

With my mummy hat on - I never make my kids clear their plates and let them eat until they are full and then leave the rest. I wnt them to know when they are full and only eat what they need. I found they balance out and sometimes when they are hungry they eat heaps, other times they hardly eat a thing. Overall they eat a very healthy diet and love to eat and try new things, eat veggies and fruit by the cart load. They are both slim fit and healthy girls and eat really well. We only do fruit or yogurt for dessert with ice cream or something else a once a week treat. We also do heaps of leftovers (provided it has not stood out on the table for too long)and I usually eat them for my lunch or put them straight in the freezer in individual servings and take them for lunch or use them when my husband is away and I want a quick meal for myself or the girls.

I have to say I am agree with Gordon Ramsey (did I just say that, I can't stand him personally )that we need to stop wasting food and throwing so much away. Food left on plates normally goes to the dog, everything else is reused or frozen. Plus I LOVE leftovers. I love reusing food from a roast or leftover rice/potatoes etc to make other things. Yummy comfort food and good economic sense. Or maybe my professional hat just makes me hate to see wastage as its money off my bottom line if cafes are throwing away food.

[Caitlin MOran]

Wow I'm loving the internationality of this. Why are there butter and milk shortages in Tokyo, Shakura? Oh it's like leaning over some global back garden fence!

[sakura]

Ill be brave here, and admit. I would never ever buy meat that was `cheap because it was on the sell by date`, much less freeze meat that was past its best.

I always search for the `better dates` or trust the butcher here and go by my eyes and nose. If it is in the slightest bit brown and sweaty I will not buy it, and if marked down for a quick sale, I would rather go without than put it on my families plates.

Here we have a butter/milk shortage. So we have to be careful with what little we can buy. Milk only comes in 1 litre or half or even quarter litre bottles. Cheese is outrageously expensive. Butter just cannot be bought easily at the moment. Instead we have copious good quality tofu, lots of very cheap and very fresh fish (yes I cook the sashimi quality stuff, I figure it is fresher).

That is it really, it might not kill you (though I dont want to risk it), but meat past its best does not taste good. I can afford to buy fresh meat. If we couldnt afford it, then I would cut my cloth accordingly. We would have to eat (here) more fresh fish and tofu. There are ways to eat cheaply surely, without putting eldery protein into ones mouth. Isnt food more than fuel?

Making my own `ready frozen meals` for convenience is a bit `heroic` (love that phrase!) here in Tokyo. The summer is proving to be somewhat sticky and very very hot. Leaving to cool off before putting into the freezer is not something I would like to risk.

My husband happily eats left overs. I recoil from it to be honest. Yes, he does get tummy upsets now and again, I presume from eating old food. Me and the children are rarely if ever ill like this. I would rather not pile on the pounds by clearing plates anyway. More than that, I dont want to eat food that I do not trust to be absolutely fresh.

Buying daily and in small amounts, mean my left overs amount to what fits into his lunch box the next day. I make fresh lunches for the school aged child.

There is no m and s, no ready meals to talk of, no proper ovens. However the government here doesnt presume to tell us how to use the food which we have paid for! I long for home sometimes, but sometimes I feel like running away to the countryside here and buying my own chickens.

[delilah]

Don't we all have fridges and freezers now? I got a microwave expressly for Defrosting meat bought cheap on its sell by date.

Anyone who thought that the c of e could have lady priests and not bishops needs to have their heads examined. The same will go for gay clergy too, in time. If apostolic succession matters at all the state of religious practice in Britain (Anglican vs catholic) indicates that it failed to survive the reformation. The c of e has become the NHS of religion -a branch of government more concerned with the promotion, pay and conditions of its middle-class workforce, and power-related political issues, than with the spiritual life of its parishioners, most of whom get little more than a fairtrade stall and a cleric who has lost his/her faith but can't give up on his/her pension.

[j]

hmm I think you are at the heroic end of teh scale Paloma and Sakura is living in a hotter climate than the UK. But I am suer she could freeze things safely- if she wanted to. But cooking and buying the right amount in the first place is the way to go, or you end up with a freezer like mine, stuffed with leftovers that we have to force ourselves to eat up. Would have been much better to make half as much in the first place.

[Paloma]

To all those worried about food poisoning - may I please just point out that food does NOT spoil so quickly; this is an idea that has been planted by food retailers to make you buy food more often! I do a big weekly cook and the food stays perfectly good *in the fridge*, not even in the freezer, for a week. Yes, even meat!! (although not fish) I have eaten this way for years, and I'm still happy and healthy. Please trust me, the food safety concerns are completely overblown.

[sakura]

I always worry I will accidentally poison someone with home-frozen meals. Leaving things to cool in this hot weather, then freezing....I just dont trust myself to do it safely.

I just have to get better organised!

I think a lot of worry with left overs is food poisoning. To be honest, where my husband will eat them happily, I would rather not eat, than eat old food. There I said it!

The government has no business in whether or not I want to risk food poisoning with old food. I certainly wouldnt feed it to the kids.

(am I baaaaaaaad?)

[mumoftwo]

Agree with Ann, I've always taught my children to eat until they feel full (when they were really little, I used to say, does your tummy want it?) I think it is important they recognise hunger pangs, but also when they are satisfied and not to just keep eating because the food is in front of them. I have one very picky eater, and she will eat almost nothing at some meals, just one food at another, and (rarely) a proper meal. Having said that, I don't put the food on their plates, but serve it in dishes so they can help themselves (thereby increasing water consumption for washing up, can't win!) That way, the picky one can have as little or as much as she likes, and the rest just goes straight back into the fridge rather than getting tipped off the plate into the bin. Then my husband comes and hoovers it up!

Glad it's not just me that things GB should leave people to make their own decisions regarding food and waste. As Gipsy said, we are all perfectly able to cut our cloth according to the state of the economy and our own household finances without GB lecturing us on what to do (I wonder if he chides heads of state to finish up what's on their plate at state banquets, I think not...)

[tiredmum]

I remember hating having to finish my plate when I was young and don't inflict that on my girls - I try to give them an amount they are likely to eat, but they have such variable appetites. Maybe when they are a bit bigger they will be more predictable.

It is difficult to avoid some waste when doing a big weekly supermarket shop - DH does the shop, and doesn't tend to plan out meals for the week, so will sometimes get vegetables without considering which meals they will be used for. I guess I need to get better at making vegetable soup.

Though we're not completely hopeless - I'm quite good at using leftover curry/chilli - we just have it in jacket potatoes the next evening. - And I sometimes freeze excess shepherds pie. If I make apple sauce for a roast, I always make too much and freeze it. I love left over roast meat for my sandwiches, so much better than crappy processed meat.

[j]

Lady bishops- well I guess you care if that might be you, or a friend.

I care for the sake of people I like who have a vocation for the church, even though I dont. But I must say that I wish the church could be equally supportive of gay bishops.

[mac jordan]

I try really, really hard not to waste food. I do often cook at least double quantities, and freeze them - to SAKUA, who bemoaned the fact that she has to cook from scratch every night, just make your own frozen meals!

[sakua]

Our leftovers go into my husbands lunch box/flask. He is somewhat of a human waste disposal system and deals with the problem nicely.

In the UK, I used to do a big shop at a supermarket and yes, we did have more waste than could be dealt with by husband-disposal-system.
Now in the far east, I am forced by lack of supermarkets, to shop small and local. There is less waste, and we we spend less overall, but more on individual items. I might splash out on a beautiful piece of fish, or a lovely bit of beef, and do something nice with it, whereas before I had become a bit of a lazy cook. MandS could do it much better than I could... However, it is more labour intensive, everything is raw ingredients and unprocessed. I work part time at the moment, and not being able to ever slam a ready meal in the oven, or open a ready made packet of salad, is pretty awful.

That said, I can see the gap in the market here. Eating badly but quickly has its benefits sometimes. Perhaps I should open up a ready meal delivery service!

I really dont see what business it is of the government what anyone does with food they have purchased.

Glad NOT to be in the UK at the moment. Nanny states are terribly boring.

[Eluned]

I can't stand it when I see parents making their children clear their plate when they're obviously full. It's horrible having to carry on eating when you're stuffed. They must forget that a child's stomach is only the size of their fist.

I tend not to buy more than we can eat in the first place, and what the kids don't eat, Prince or I hoover up quite happily :] I go to Morrisons about once a month for the 'big shop' to get pasta, beer, tinned soup etc but mostly it's the local fishmonger, butchers, bakers and healthfood shop for vegetables. It's the best way IMO because it's so easy to get lulled into buying more than you need at supermarkets because of offers and the whole 'getting it all out of the way' thing but I think it works out more expensive. But I suppose if we lived in a town or city I would have a different attitude... either way why is it any of Gordon Brown's business what we do with our leftovers? GOD.

[Lazy Mummy]

I'm with Ann on being allowed to eat what's on your plate. We rarely do pudding (or dessert as they say in the US) - it's usually fruit or possibly a biscuit or ice cream or chocolate if we have any of those in the house (not a given). And there's definitely a "no dessert unless you've eaten enough main course" rule, but it's presented as "if you're hungry enough for dessert, you're hungry enough to eat your [meat/vegetable] first".

Sue, in general I agree about wastefulness, but in the interests of preventing over-eating, I'm not going to force anyone to eat more - especially when out for a meal. At home, it's easier & I'd rather people have seconds than leave stuff on their plates, but eating out in the US is a nightmare. I've noticed though that it's worse (ie monstrous portions) in the chain/lower-end/"family" restaurants than in the higher end fancy places though. On the other hand, they usually offer to box up remnants & my husband loves those (I'm only excited at left-over chinese/indian take-out).

We have recently been making a concerted effort to have less waste. I tend to overbuy vegetables at the farmers' market & then we have soggy spinach or chard. We do a pretty good job with leftovers, are usually happy to take them for lunch, re-use in different format, freeze some. My husband is reasonably good at cooking with leftovers too, just needs creative suggestions sometimes, on what to make.

[delilah]

I think Gordon's lost it. As an economist he knows that if supply and demand don't make us thrifty, we don't need to be.

On the lady bishops, who cares? The thing I notice most about Anglican clergy these days isn't their sex but the fact that each parish seems to be supporting as many paid and unpaid real and aspirant clergy as parishioners. It wouldn't be so bad if said clergy weren't constantly on the make for shorter hours and more money to satisfy grumbling spouses and children who don't share their vocation.

[Sue]

KM: Looks like women bishops will pass, by the way guys...

- Yes, but is this entirely a good thing? I mean, that cerise/magenta is a really tough colour to carry off for some women! (And don't even think about what a mitre will do to your hair!) (oops, I'm trivialising the issue, I can see....).

[Sue]

My comment about puds was just to get round a situation where kids might be 'too full' to eat their sensible portion of main course but, amazingly (!), not too full to eat a pud.

It's a tricky thing about appetites - I do tend to underestimate the 'growing boy' syndrome, and have to remember tht they really do need larger portions as they get older. But I suppose I'd rather put a more modest portion on the plate, then have second helpings available (within reason), so that they do eat what's on their plate without leaving it. I really don't like the habit of leaving unwanted food on a plate.

I read an extraordinary article recently about the mother of a very obese child, who said she had 'no idea' why the child was so fat, and said she had 'no idea' that she was over-feeding it. I do find that hard to credit, somehow. It surely isn't beyond the wit of everyone to think, hmm, if I eat too much I'll get fat, and if I'm fat I've clearly eaten too much....

[KM]

Looks like women bishops will pass, by the way guys...

A whole new definition of a working mother....

[Ann]

Hi

I guess it is just a different way of looking at things. My kids would never ask me if they could leave something on their plates. They know how hungry they are and when they have had enough. Equally they know if they are hungry later - there will be nothing going but leftovers (99% of our food is reheatable and still tasty - no-one has to eat soggy, warm cornflakes).

I don't use 'pud' to try and get them to eat a main. Puds are still a novelty for them and only something that really happens in a restuarant. Having spent time cooking would be irritated to see main picked over and wolfed down in favour a bowl of ice cream at the end.

I have same problem with himself. Half the time the kids will come back for the lasagne/ cottage pie etc they left for after they came back in to find it has been scoffed.