The dilemma of leftovers

Leftovers.

Ideally, these are a frugal person's friend, right? Meh...not so much, I've found.

When we first got married, I would try a new recipe, and, since every recipe is usually geared toward at least families of four, we would have tons of leftovers. I would dutifully pack them in the fridge...and then, a couple weeks later, just as dutifully toss them. The waste was crazy! As tired as I was of trying to figure out what to fix for dinner every night, neither of us was really fond of leftovers. And, even when I said leftovers would be the main course, we always seemed to favor Taco Bell...

So, over the past year or so, I've worked on solving the leftover dilemma. My solution is multi-faceted:

Be realistic about leftovers.
I usually put leftovers in the refrigerator once. If they get eaten, they get moved to my invisible "leftover" list. This list is very, very small and includes taco meat and pizza.

Use the freezer.
Some things freeze well. Some things don't. I fully admit that this takes some trial and error. Do your research. I always freeze my spaghetti sauce. One jar is always two meals for us. I serve dinner and scoop the rest into a ziploc baggie. Easy peasy.

Halve the recipe.
If it doesn't freeze well...you can't eat all of it...and you don't touch the leftovers, split that sucker in half. Instead of making a casserole in a 9x13 dish, halve the ingredients and put it in an 8x8 dish. For two people, that is a great size. Usually, when I buy garlic bread, I split it in half and only bake half. I put the rest in the freezer for next time.

Be creative.
I found out that leftover roast makes great beef and noodles. I'll often warm up leftover veggies and bread from one meal and serve it at the next. Leftover turkey and ham also go a looong way in this house.