My kids claim to hate leftovers. I am so tired of food going bad in the fridge. And I'm so very frustrated with them leaving food on their plates. I don't give them too much (although I have cut back on the portions some) and it is food they like; they just don't eat. So we wrap it up and throw it in the fridge and there it sits until it is icky and we toss it and wash the dishes.
Sound familiar? I hope not, but it probably does.
So I had an idea. And I know it will not work for every home, but it works here, so far. Money is tighter than tight. I can't throw food out.
The children were all busy with this and that while I made supper tonight. I took all the leftovers out of the fridge, including that which was on individual plates from the night before - the four kids had all left food on their plates. I took it and mixed it all in a casserole dish, added a can of peas. Then I threw it in the oven to re-heat it. If I'd had cheese, I'd have melted cheese on top, but I didn't have cheese. :(
I even made the dinner table up all nice for them. I put matching place mats, with matching cloth napkins. Everyone got a spoon and a cup and a bowl (all the bowls matched). I didn't go as far as candles because W would have just put food in them. And then I dished up their supper into their bowls.
I got ooohs and aaahs from them all. And, "why did you make the table so pretty?" And I answered with, "Because you are all so special to me, and I wanted to do this for you." They ate and put themselves in the tub and made a mess in the bathroom and they all got out and basically put themselves to bed. It was a really stress-free evening. :)
Now, at 10PM, I'm going to go eat supper with my man. We're having leftovers too; stew from the other night.
While on the topic of tricks for saving food, I'll just mention one other things I've been doing. I throw the leftovers directly into the freezer, even if there isn't enough for more than one person. Those leftovers can eventually all be thrown into a stew or soup.
2 comments:
You are a smart Mommy! I do that after we have mexican, I add most of the leftovers to the crock the next morning and we have "cowboy soup" which is more like Tortilla Soup.
My kids LOVE "restaurant" night. I make up a menu with all the food choices (made up of left-overs from the week and maybe some mac 'n cheese and veggies with dip to round it out) and they can order. It is maybe a little more work than your casserole idea but they have so much fun with it. Sometimes they like to take turns being the waiter/waitress too! Just a thought...
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