I'll begin at the beginning.
Both my parents were children during the Depression and I'm sure they experienced all manner of corner-cutting and frugality.
Even though my father's occupation would have allowed us to live quite comfortably, we still ate as though pennies had to be pinched. As far as leftovers went growing up, we rarely had any. Largely because there were 5 children who were food vacuums.
Okay, on to my brood. I just thought my siblings were food vacuums. They were a broom at cleaning up food compared to my group that ate like magicians. Everything disappeared before our eyes. As a bit of info, two of the boys, by age 13, were 6'4" and 6'6". They were, literally, bottomless pits.
I'd serve supper about 6 p.m. and, by 7 or so, one of them would be scanning the refrigerator for a likely victim for a "snack." It was like running a mess hall. It was even more challenging when the children got older and brought home friends to eat with us. "Mom always makes plenty!" Imagine that.
The only time I've been able to see leftovers is after the nest became empty and that was a real eye-opener. The youngest will be 42 in a month or so, which means the nest has been empty for a long time.
But, leftovers....Boy, oh, boy, am I the queen of leftovers. I still haven't learned how to pare down my years of quantity cooking. I'm getting better and I'm so glad Glenn likes encores of many of our meals. Buck didn't particularly care for reruns, so this is a different world for me.
I agree with some who have said that making large amounts of dishes and dividing and conquering (freezing) makes sense. Especially with something that requires a lot of prep and time to get to the end product. Make one big mess and devote a block of time and you're set for several times.
I also concur that many things are better a day or so later. The herbs/spices get friendlier and the food takes on another depth of flavor.
Long about the end of August/first part of September, I look for opportunities to have leftovers that can be frozen. I know from experience how busy things can get prior to the holidays and it's a good feeling to have something in reserve.
I, too, don't understand the casual throwing away of perfectly good food. One of Glenn's daughters is as someone described in an earlier post. Just scrape it into the garbage.
We visited her and her family last month and filet mignon was served the first night. There were 6 at the table. Many ate their whole meal. Others did not. I was one who nearly finished, but had plans on snacking on my piece of steak cold for lunch the following day, along with the sides I couldn't finish. I like it cold steak.
I didn't get an opportunity to retrieve my piece of beef, nor did anyone else because as the table was cleared, everything on the plates went into the trash. And...they have doggies. If I had been Fido and witnessed that act of dog abuse, I'd have been pissed.
Personally, I really like leftovers, especially for lunch. Glenn teases me about a line I use as I clear the dinner table and there's just a dab of this or a dab of that. I'll put it together, in portions, in a bowl or on a plate and say, "This will be a good lunch." Now, he's saying it.
Never have any bits and pieces of frozen veggies in the freezer. When there's a scant amount left, it joins another bag with a similar quantity. Others get in on the fun and, pretty soon, there are enough mixed veggies to throw into a pot of soup or such.
Even though I didn't grow up with a "waste not, want not" household philosophy, I've just always applied to that way of doing things. And it goes beyond food for me. Glenn just shakes his head when I rescue something from the trash to morph it into another use. I think he used to think I was weird. Now he knows I'm weird. He's quit saying, "Why are you taking that useless thing out of the trash?"