Lead with Leftovers

Managing leftovers effectively helps you reduce food waste and saves you the money and effort spent on buying and cooking food. In this module, you will learn how to keep track of your leftovers, discover cooking techniques for foods that are past their prime, and explore methods to ensure leftovers don’t become waste.

Leftover Tips

Tip #1

Use Proper Storage Techniques and Organization

  • Store leftovers in clear, airtight containers.
  • Designate an easily visible “leftovers” area in your fridge and/or pantry.

Leftover Tips

Tip #2

Use Your Creativity to Make New Dishes Out of Leftovers

  • Designate a day of the week as “leftover” dinner night. Pull all the containers of leftovers out of the fridge and think about how you could use or combine them.
  • See Cooking module for more tips on cooking with what you have on hand and download the app SuperCook.
  • Add a new sauce or use a different starch to make leftovers feel like a new dish.
Download SuperCook

Leftover Tips

Tip #3

Use Recipes and Techniques to Make The Most Out of Foods Past Their Prime

Leftover Tips

Tip #4

Use Proper Freezing Techniques

  • When freezing food items, keep them in airtight bags with labels to keep track of the foods you freeze.
  • Wrap meat and seafood products in wax paper, then in airtight bags.
  • Note which foods do not freeze well, including whole citrus fruits, cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuces, liquid dairy products like sour cream and cottage cheese.
  • Keep produce fresh and nutritious by blanching items before freezing them.

Learn how to store prevent freezer burn and blanch produce in this video!

Watch Video

Summary of Key Points

  1. Check your fridge regularly, keep older items up front, and eat or freeze leftovers before they spoil.
  2. Use recipes to repurpose leftovers and food scraps, and check the cooking module for inspiration.
  3. Store food in labeled, airtight containers, freeze items flat to save space, and know what freezes well.

Leftovers

Knowledge Check

Select your answers to these questions:

Question 1

Which of the following is NOT a recommended technique for managing leftovers to reduce food waste?

Question 2

Blanching fresh produce before freezing helps maintain its freshness and nutritional value.

Leftovers

Knowledge Check

Question 1

Which of the following is NOT a recommended technique for managing leftovers to reduce food waste?

Question 2

Blanching fresh produce before freezing helps maintain its freshness and nutritional value.

Goals for Leftovers

Designate a left-over dinner night when you pull out all the leftovers and use creative “re-mixing”.

Experiment with incorporating food scraps in your meals.

Practice good freezing techniques so you can use leftovers later.

 

What’s Next?

Homepage Leftover Resources
The Next Stage of Food Waste