I once knew a man who never ate leftovers. He was my hero.

He lived across the street from my childhood home. This lucky man lived that classic 1950s-era archetypal Ozzie and Harriet mealtime existence. When he woke up in the morning, breakfast was waiting as he walked into the kitchen. In the middle of the day, he left work, drove home, and enjoyed a freshly prepared lunch. At the end of the day, dinner was ready and on the table. That was his daily routine for decades. He never ate leftovers. A lucky man was he.

As a kid, leftovers were a large part of my diet. My brother and I had healthy appetites. Our refrigerator was always filled with a superabundance of items from several meals past. In those days it was harder to eat leftovers than it is today. The primary appliance used in today’s leftover consumption— the microwave oven— had yet to be invented. Well, it may have been invented, but no one I knew had one in their home in the 1960s and early 1970s. My grandmother was so skeptical of the microwave that she never purchased one.

I don’t eat a lot of leftovers today. Not because I’m wasteful, but because I live with a 15-year old human garbage disposal who consumes everything within 15 feet of the refrigerator. The shelf life of leftovers in our home is about 2.9 seconds.

The one food that does end up as a leftover in our home is turkey. That is half of the reason I love Thanksgiving. Sure all of that family togetherness is great, visiting relatives are nice, but if I am going to be 100% truthful about Robert’s excitement for the season, it would be one thing: Leftover turkey.

I usually prepare an extra turkey at Thanksgiving to make sure that there is plenty available after the main meal. This year, I will have to be very creative in finding a hiding place for the turkey leftovers. The aforementioned 15-year old human garbage disposal is also a major turkey hound. He loves turkey.

When it comes to hiding this year’s leftover turkey, I plan to use the craftiness my wife uses when hiding her jewelry before out of town trips. Though my options are more limited, as refrigeration is necessary. I’m thinking about putting the leftover bird in a double Zip-Loc bag in the back of the refrigerated drawer where the soft drinks are kept. He doesn’t drink soda so it should be safe. I might also put some in the back of the icemaker (no one ever looks in there). I’m considering leaving a dummy portion of white meat turkey in the refrigerator as a decoy. He’ll think that is all that remains of the turkey and not search for the dark meat hidden in several clandestine spots.

The pure simplicity of a dark-meat turkey sandwich on good-quality toasted whole-grain bread with homemade mayonnaise, salt, pepper, and lettuce is one of my favorite holiday treats. A simple meal of a leftover turkey sandwich, a few chips, applesauce, and a football game on Thanksgiving nigh— once all of the craziness has subsided— is a rare treat.

Thanksgiving leftovers are the best. I can make several meals out of leftover dressing and gravy. Like chili or gumbo, the flavors in cornbread dressing seem to intensify after a day or two in the refrigerator.

In the end, I would rather have a leftover dark-meat turkey sandwich than the center-of-the-plate Thanksgiving Day bird with all of the trimmings. That goes double if the leftover turkey is smoked.

The days following Thanksgiving are filled with turkey salad sandwiches, turkey pasta salad, turkey pie, and turkey tetrazzini. This year we’ll make one recipe for the 15-year old human garbage disposal and another full recipe for the rest of the family.

 

Necessity might be the mother of invention, but a growling stomach is the father. I imagine there are many foods that started out as leftovers that became featured entrees later—Shephard’s pie would probably top the list.

Some foods actually taste better as leftovers the next day—red beans and rice, Texas-style chili, and seafood gumbo are all better the second or third day.

A few years ago I developed a list of my Top 10 Leftover Foods

10.) Fried Rice— it’s a fence rider. Fried rice almost fits into the better-the-next-day-than-the-first-day category.

9.) Split Pea/White Bean Soup— using stock made from leftover/scrap smoked ham bones.

8.) Cold Pizza for breakfast— one of the 15-year old human garbage disposal’s favorite leftovers (and one his mom almost never lets him eat).

7.) Chicken Salad— made using last night’s roasted chicken or fried chicken (I throw the skin in, too)

6.) Cornbread dressing and gravy— who needs turkey if you make a great dressing?

5.) Bread Pudding— made using yesterday’s croissants instead of stale French bread.

4.) Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato Sandwiches— using leftover bacon from breakfast and homemade mayonnaise.

3.) Meatloaf— the quintessential leftover. As a child I hated meatloaf. Today, I am one of its biggest proponents. I am ready for meatloaf to make a comeback in a big way.

2.) Turkey Sandwiches— Again, not only for the holidays

1.) Steak and Biscuits— Wrap leftover steak-dinner scraps in aluminum foil and refrigerate overnight. The next morning, slice the steak into strips, reheat in the oven, and serve inside buttered biscuits sprinkled with a little steak seasoning (this one’s worth cooking an extra steak the night before so you’ll have plenty the next morning). Ribeyes work best. Serve with scrambled eggs on the side and fresh fruit.

Honorable mention leftovers—Spaghetti and meatballs, pot roast with gravy, and beef lasagna.

Without a doubt, the worst leftover of all time is tuna casserole. Hands down, no question. It’s as bad the second time around as it was the first, maybe worse.

I always warn: Be careful with leftovers and always use proper food handling techniques. It’s a good idea to label and date leftovers. A good rule of thumb: If you can’t remember when you made the dish the first time, it’s too old to eat.