I have a zillion little containers of leftovers in my fridge at all times. I have trouble remembering how long each thing has been in there. I often have left over canned fruit, veggies, noodles/rice, and sometimes meat. Anyone have tricks on remembering how long each thing has been in there? Or should I just give things the sniff test to see if they are still edible? Do you have general rules, for example, don't keep meat longer than 3 or 4 days?
I appreciate the suggestions!
I love love love this site -
just type in a food and it will tell you how long it will keep.
I write the date on a small piece of paper or the all over sticky note and tape it to the dish with regular tape. It comes write off.
Nothing goes in the fridge unless there is a plan for its removal. In other words the pasta I am going to put in there tonight is also dinner Saturday. If you don't see a removal date there is no point in putting it in the fridge to begin with....unless you are really into random science.
You could use a dry erase marker to write on the containers. What I have done is post a calendar on the fridge, I use a free one someone gave us and just write what you put in the fridge on the day it went in. Last night we had tacos, so my calendar reads "taco meat" on 9/6 so I at least know how long things have been in there.
NEVER refrigerate anything in a can.
ALWAYS put it in a different container.
I have a trick. I pay close attention to what is in my fridge on trash night, and I throw out anything that was left over from last week's trash night. Choose a 'leftovers' night and eat all leftovers on that day, maybe a day or two before trash day.
We only save stuff we know we will eat, otherwise we just end up dirtying containers and throwing things out a week later, lol! We mostly put left-overs in the freezer right away in ziplocks with a date it was put in there and a description (all frozen stuff ends up looking alike). I gratefully use left overs since I hate to cook and putting together a bit of this and that from hubbie's weekend BBQ's and adding a veggie or steam bag of rice constitutes a gourmet meal in our house!
I would toss any leftover that have been in the fridge more than 4 days. They will start to harbor bacteria after that time and can lead to botchulism and other unpleasant food born illness's. I keep track of my leftovers by putting the date on a piece of masking tape and sticking it to the container. Then you know exactly how long they have been there. Have a blessed night.
Working in a restaurant gave me a 3 day max. I am constitutionally incapable of eating food more than 3 days old. Even if it's still just FINE (unless it's pickled or a 'sauce' like mayo/ mustard/ etc.)
I also smell *everything* before I eat it. Even brand new containers of milk, meat fresh from the butcher, etc. Smelling fresh food also helps you realize when food is not so fresh.
Even if something has only been in the fridge for a day, or less, if it smells off.. it goes away.
My mum saves stuff for a week. Amazing how I stopped getting "the 24 hour flu" a couple times a month, and diarrhea on a weekly basis when I moved out.
Usually I won't ever eat left overs. I'm just weird about it, but my husband does eat it. If it's in the fridge for more than 2-3 days, I toss it
Fruit- like half a watermelon or pineapple- 1 week but I throw out the part that was exposed to the air the day before. Leftovers from a restaurant- 3 days. Canned vegetables, rice, noodles, cooked meat- I keep for about 5 days. For open jars of tomato sauce, we write the date on the lid with a permanent marker and keep it for up to 3 weeks (or until mold forms on the underside of the lid).
Lots of ways to keep track...for condiments and other things that can stay in there awhile, I write on the label the month and year that we opened it. Helps us figure out if we're buying too big too. Second, make a meal plan and keep it on the front of your fridge. If something was made and served on a Monday and is still in there on Sunday, it might be time for it to go. And for the freezer, log it. ALWAYS keep an inventory and label it when it goes in. Your cannot rely on your memory (and other family members may have less of a clue one when things were made/stored). Also, I say use your five senses to decide...don't always rely on expiration dates as those can lead to excessive food waste (but obviously be smart about it--if it's questionable then toss it). I have a blog that might be helpful to you too! It's www.mealplanningmagic.com HTH!
I have a bunch of plastic containers..... I put the item in it, and hopefully put the date on it that it went in.
I frequently take leftovers for my lunches, but usually remember when I put it in the fridge.
The "sniff" test does no good.....the bacteria that grows in there does not create an odor.
Labeling stuff helps - a great deal. We're big leftover eaters here so if there's more than a serving left, I save it. Sometimes it goes on a salad for lunch, sometimes my husband takes it to work, sometimes it hangs around a while and changes colors. ;) Seriously, though, my rule of thumb is to keep things for no more than a week. Some foods (eggs, seafood, other "delicate" stuff) gets only a few days; some high acid foods like tomato sauce may get an extra day. In over 20 years, we've been pretty lucky.
One rule of thumb: if it's been sitting out for any period of time, pitch it right away. Stuff that's been out for a party evening usually gets tossed. Anything that's been outside in the summer heat also gets thrown out. I hate wasting food, but I hate the idea of making myself or my family sick even more.
