If you visit our house, you’ll probably notice the chalkboard on our fridge showing what’s for dinner for each day of the week. Now that we’re empty nesters, you’ll always see one thing listed at least two (ahem … probably three) times no matter when you visit.
Leftovers.
There are a few reasons for this. First, I hate to waste food. If there’s at least two spoonfuls left of something, I’m putting it in a container and sticking it in the fridge. I then note the item on our dry erase board, just above the chalkboard, to hopefully jog my memory of it. This works … well, most of the time … to make sure it’s eventually consumed.
Second, I’ve been struggling to cook for two people since we’ve gone from a household of four to a household of two. When you’re used to cooking for two boys for 20-plus years, you tend to make gobs of food. It’s hard to pare down stuff.
The Shankland weekly menu with – you guessed it – leftovers for two nights. (Photo provided by Amy Shankland)
Third, what’s the most common serving size for recipes? Four. And yes, I can sorta kinda do math and halve everything … but why do that when you go to my next reason …
Fourth, I work and then go out and do stuff some evenings, you know, like a lot of adults. My husband John also has sales appointments at 6 p.m. a couple of days a week. So why would I want to go to all the trouble to cook something when it’s just me? It’s easier to cook a big meal and then have the leftovers ready to heat up for the evenings when John’s gone.
Naturally, I’ve also learned to be flexible in my meal planning since we don’t know John’s appointment schedule for a certain day until the evening before. Flexibility is not exactly my strong point, but I’m doing better in this area.
If John and I aren’t near the chalkboard, this is one of our typical conversations.
“What’s for dinner this evening?” he asks.
“Well, it was salmon … but now that you have a 6 o’clock appointment, it’s leftovers.” I reply. “So, salmon will be tomorrow … or not … in which case, it will be more leftovers.”
God bless him, John doesn’t even complain about this.
I know we’re not alone on this. In fact, according to studyfinds.org, a survey of 2,000 people found that Americans’ weekly diet generally consists of five home-cooked meals, three leftover meals, three takeout meals, and three meals out at restaurants.
Yep, no doubt about it, leftovers make life easier when you’re an empty nester. In fact, as I type this, that’s what’s on the menu for this evening … and Monday … and Wednesday … and maybe Thursday.