Leftovers

People who know me know that I am not fond of leftovers (the food type). Most re-heated stuff tastes yucky to me, though I will eat it for economy's sake.

It's really hard for a normal person to eat the over-sized servings most restaurants serve these days. It used to be considered gauche to ask for the proverbial "doggie bag" for whatever meat (Heaven forbid you had leftover vegetables!) remained from a steak dinner out. A haughty waiter packaged those last tasty bites, along with the steak bone and/or fat, in aluminum foil shaped like a swan (since anyone who owned a dog that ate steak had to be an art lover).

Now everyone's expected to save part of those supersized portions lest they seem gluttonous members of the Clean Plate Club. You get one of those horrible foam containers that never fit in the garbage can (or degrade in the landfill) when they're discarded. E-mails advise you not to use them for reheating food because the plastic supposedly gives off some kind of poison when heated in the microwave oven. They never close tightly enough to keep food from drying out if kept for more than a couple of hours.

The only leftover I eat regularly is spaghetti with meat sauce made from Mama Margaret's old recipe. My sauce version (available on request) yields more than 8 cups of tasty goodness. My reduced calorie regime calls for eating only 1/2 cup each of pasta and sauce, so I can get at least 16 meals from one batch of sauce (unless I'm unselfish enough to share some with family and/or friends). I cook 4 ounces of vermicelli, divide it out in 4 Corningware dishes and spread sauce on top. I then store the containers in the fridge to later pull out and "nuke" for 2 minutes. Quick, easy and downright delicious! Beats those little swan-shaped packages or boxes of dried-out leftovers every time!