For those who eat out.. do you take your leftovers home?
We are big on leftovers, not from fastfood type places, but normal sitdown places...I couldnt imagine leaving half my dinner(Of course if it tasted really nasty LOL, thats different)after paying for it.
Last night we went to one of those Japenese Steakhouse type places where they cook the food in front of you. We only usually go once a yr as they are so expensive.. And we usually only go for my birthday. But, my birthday is in Mid August, around the time baby is born.. I was afraid we wouldnt be able to go.. So we did it alittle early.. Me and my son always split a meal, as there is so much food..And, I still had leftovers to take home for lunch today. With 17$ a meal, I refuse to leave it there.
Anyways, a bunch of people were leaving and I noticed how much food was left , and I mean platefuls of food. My son even commented on the amt of food left..(Guess I trained him well )
So what do you all do with leftovers?
I have several friends who never do leftovers...whether they cook it themselves or go out to eat..to me it seems just like such a waste.

By Trina~moderator on Friday, July 2, 2004 - 08:07 am:

I agree. Personally, I love leftovers, especially from restaurants! Last week we ate dinner at a chinese restaurant. The kids and I enjoyed the leftovers for lunch for two days afterwards.

By Amecmom on Friday, July 2, 2004 - 08:30 am:

I always take left overs home. Most times, they do end up getting thrown away, but I try and be good about eating them.

When I cook, I always make extra (must be the Italian in me). I freeze the leftovers for a night when I just don't feel like cooking. What a huge help.

Maybe the people were visiting or staying at a hotel and had no place to store them or reheat them? Just a possiblity ...

Ame

By Coopaveryben on Friday, July 2, 2004 - 08:35 am:

We usually don't take leftovers, sometimes but not often. The reason we don't is 9 out of 10 we leave them lay on the table or in the car and the majority of times we are going out for a few hours afterwards shopping, etc. and I don't want to get them and have them sitting in the hot car for hours. Also, they tend to just sit in the fridge and no one eats them. I rarely save left over dinner's I usually give those to our dog, the vet said it was fine and gave me a list of things he could have.

By Marg on Friday, July 2, 2004 - 08:38 am:

We always bring home the leftovers, but I'm the one who usually eats them the next day, if I forget, they become a waste.

By Kaye on Friday, July 2, 2004 - 09:02 am:

I almost always bring them home, but I will say there are times I don't. It really depends on how long we were at the restruant and what we are doing next. I have a HUGE fear of food poisoning and if anything is questionable I don't tkae it. I never would take seafood home. I will say usually I only eat them though, my hubby really like fresh food..LOL

By Emily7 on Friday, July 2, 2004 - 10:14 am:

My dh takes leftovers for lunch the next day. We always take leftovers home. I was always told, "Think of the poor people that can't afford a meal." I feel so guilty if I waste food.

By Mrln05 on Friday, July 2, 2004 - 10:29 am:

I usually always bring leftovers home, too. It makes a tasty lunch the next day. If we are traveling, though, I can't do that because there is no where to store them. I feel bad leaving the food so I may try to eat more than usual so as not to waste the money. Then I'm stuffed.

By Mommyathome on Friday, July 2, 2004 - 10:45 am:

We never take leftovers from a restaurant. They just won't get eaten.
Sometimes when I cook a casserole and there are leftovers, I save them in the refridgerator. But, 9 times out of 10, they get thrown away a week later. I don't know why we don't eat left overs.

By Pamt on Friday, July 2, 2004 - 11:03 am:

I love leftovers so I am always thrilled by the prospect of getting a yummy meal for lunch again the next day...plus it means I don't have to cook. If we are out of town or going to a movie or something after we eat, then I don't take them because I have nowhere to put them.

By Texannie on Friday, July 2, 2004 - 11:07 am:

It depends on what it is. Most of the time yes.

By Insaneusmcwife on Friday, July 2, 2004 - 11:19 am:

I always like to take my left overs home, dh takes them to work for lunch. But I guess it depends on what it is, how much is left over and if we are going anywhere afterwards and if it will spoil by the time we get home.

By Rayanne on Friday, July 2, 2004 - 11:33 am:

I hate leftovers. It never tastes the same when you re-heat it.

By Debbie on Friday, July 2, 2004 - 02:30 pm:

I always take leftover home, unless I don't like my meal. In fact, we just got back from having lunch with dh and I brought home our leftovers!!

By Tunnia on Friday, July 2, 2004 - 02:57 pm:

If there is enough for lunch the next day and if we are going straight home after the restaurant then we take the leftovers home. Also, I usually make a little extra when I cook so that we have at least enough leftovers for one of us to have lunch the next day. Usually my dh takes the leftovers to work for lunch unless it's Chinese or pizza. If it's Chinese then he has to fight me for the leftovers and if it's pizza he has to fight the kids.

By Janet on Friday, July 2, 2004 - 03:35 pm:

Unless it's summer and we are not going straight home (read the e.coli post! LOL), we ALWAYS bring home leftovers. Honestly, it's a rare occasion when I can finish my meal anywhere. Seems portions are getting so big! The only exception for me is pizza, which I can't stand as a leftover. But most anything else (oh, and not fast food) is good for next day's lunch. Or a "snack" for my dh! The human garbage disposal, LOL

By Vicki on Friday, July 2, 2004 - 03:48 pm:

I agree with Rayanne, to me, things just don't taste the same. It is very rare we bring left overs home.

By Annie2 on Friday, July 2, 2004 - 08:15 pm:

I usually bring leftovers home. Most times they get eaten in the next day or two. If not the dogs get the meat scraps.
When I have leftovers at home, I usually have a different meal in mind with the leftovers.
ie: meatballs turn into subs, steak into steak fajitas or wraps, mashed potatoes for potatoe pancakes, boiled pots for hash browns, etc.

By Tink on Saturday, July 3, 2004 - 01:31 am:

I always ask for a take-out container when I order and, as soon as the food gets there, I put half of it in the container. Can you tell I have a problem with overeating? I like to talk for a while after eating out and I will pick at my meal even though I might be stuffed. Is it rude to ask for the container right from the start?

By Bea on Saturday, July 3, 2004 - 01:37 am:

We rarely eat more than half of the huge servings we get at most restaurants. We almost always ask for take-out boxes. Hubby loves hot lunches, and I put our leftovers into covered and divided plates to store them. We keep a cooler in our van, and will ask for a baggy of ice if we need to stop somewhere on the way home.

By Jelygu on Saturday, July 3, 2004 - 09:21 pm:

I wait tables, Tink, and I don't think it is rude to ask for a container at the beginning. Just so long as you don't get angry if we forget it at first
My family and I are so bad about eating leftovers. It just seems like we forget about them. I never take leftovers from restaurants, but then we don't go out to eat that often.