It's Not Leftovers! It is a Buffet!
Most of our meals are made at home, and most nights there are leftovers. Leftovers collect and soon the fridge looks like this. (image from Flickr) Those leftovers need used. It just isn't frugal to throw them all out.
Oh, the blessing and the curse of leftovers. The blessing for mom is having food that only needs warmed up for a meal. The curse; the groaning mom has to hear when she announces that leftovers are for dinner.
There are many ways to get around that curse. You can disguise leftovers by serving them in a different form. Leftover rice becomes part of a stir fry. Vegetables from last night's dinner go into a pot of soup. Chicken gets de-boned, and used for a pot pie. Using leftovers in this way does help mom avoid the moans and groans, but she still has to cook!
My kids love to go to the buffet. They love to pick out their own food. It is a treat to decide what goes on their plate, instead of being served what the rest of the family is eating. So the easiest solution for the leftovers in this house is to create a buffet.
This happens here when the fridge gets too full, it is time to go get groceries, or mom just doesn't feel like cooking. It is really simple. Lay out all the leftovers. Let the family pick what they want, and then heat up their plate. There are no complaints. Too good to be true?
A lot depends on mom's attitude. Play it up, especially if you have little kids. Make it fun and let them choose their leftovers, even if they don't choose a single thing that is green. Walk them through the "line" just like at the restaurant. Mom gets rid of the leftovers, doesn't have to cook, or listen to the moaning. Everyone wins. Just remember, it isn't leftovers. It is a buffet.
Frugal Fridays
6 comments:
I love it!
That's a great example of cheerful frugality if there ever were one.
Great idea! Mom did that when we were kids but never called it a buffet. She saved any leftovers, even if just a spoonful, and on Friday nights we heated all the food and we all got a bit of everything.
I LOVE leftover night...unfortunately we don't have it often because Jake takes most of the leftovers to work and we eat the others for lunch. We do have chili left over from last night. Sunday after church we will be having chili cheese burritos!!!
My grandma always did this! I like the idea of calling it a "buffet." Thanks for yet another great tip!
My husband loves leftover times because as you say it is like going to a buffet. He loves getting all the chooses. The kids enjoy it to because they can chose what they like best.
We call it srevotfel (pronounced shrev-et-vel), "leftovers" spelled backwards, when we have all those bits and pieces of leftovers. The kids like it because there is usually leftovers of something they like. Then again, my kids are used to eating leftover - my goal is for every meal cooked to make enough for at least 2 nights (unless its fish).
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