Darlene! How do you do it?

How do you cook for 2 WLS people and not have enough leftovers to last for weeks? I cook for myself, a picky 4 year old and a skinny husband that never has a second helping and we always have SOOO much food leftover! I need someone to teach me how to cut down on the amount of food I cook because hubby and daughter are tired of leftovers. Anyone have any ideas? Kathy P.S. I have new family photos on my profile. First time I allowed a family photo since my daughter turned one and I cried the whole way home because in one pose I thought I looked like Jabba the Hut sprawled out on the floor.

Hi Kathy, You look so beautiful. Your family pictures are so nice. We might try to have one done this winter, before Christmas. I doubt you looked like Jabba!! You're too pretty for that! As for the food and cooking. I have learned to put all of the meat I buy into just enough portions for one serving/one meal. For us that is no more than 16 ounces of meat and I usually try to stick closer to 12 oz. For my girls & I it's 3 oz each and then the rest is for my husband. I also usually only fix just enough veggies for one serving each. At first my family, esp my husband and younger daughter, didn't like this. They always wanted seconds and my hubby likes leftovers for his lunches. But I made the decision for my family that the seconds weren't needed and now they are used to it. I came from a big family, 6 of us, and it was hard to learn to cook for only 4 and serve normal size portions. But we have adjusted well and my grocery bill is even lower. I hope this helps somewhat. Hugs, Robin

I guess I'm gonna have to start measuring portions for my family too! It was hard enough for me to give up Sams club. Though my grocery bill hasn't gotten any cheaper because I now buy better quality food than I did before. (Boxed macaroni and cheese is CHEAP! ) I'm having a crockpot roast tonight and I know we'll be eating it all weekend!

Hi there! First off, sorry that I cant help you with the food problem. I have a family of 5 with 2 very hungry teenagers and THEIR FRIENDS so I never have leftovers! If you give me your address, i'll send the football team over to clean out your leftovers. They do a great job here! haha Secondly, Your family photos are GREAT! You look beautiful and there is no way you could have EVER looked liked Jabba the hut. You are gorgeous. Not "then" and certainly not now! Have a great day. =) Trish

I might have to take you up on that football team offer. We have leftovers in the fridge from eating out on Monday still!! It thursday now...I should probably throw them out. As far as Jabba the Hut, one day I will get enough nerve to post "THE picture that changed my life." I know I didn't throw it away because my daughter looked sooo beautiful in it. Lets just say it was last Christmas and I was bigger than the Santa. I cried all the way home then too. For the first time in my life, pictures don't make me cry!

What a beautiful family you have!!

Kathy, Its sooo hard!!!! Part of the reason my Hubby gained 100+ lbs after marrying me was because I grew up with a large family and was always cooking for 8-10 people... when I got married and there was just the two of us, I couldnt cut back, no matter how hard I tried I would always make way too much... and of course we ate it... I normally still do have lots of left overs..... we end up wasting a lot of food.... Breakfasts are easy for us, because we use 1-3 eggs, or dish out a portion of cottage cheese etc... so no left over issues there.... Lunches, we always make individual size salalds cause you cut it up when making it... often If I make foods, soups, beans etc I take out what we would eat for maybe 1 or 2 days then I freeze the rest in 2-3 RNY person sized portions ... It really helps now that we are cooking for EJ's Mom now too.... Dinners similar... honestly we have had to change our way of eating so much--- often I'll want to just go home and eat cottage cheese LOL... when we eat out, we eat the left overs the next day... If I make pasta for myself, I have to eat it everyday for like 3-4 days then throw it out hahaha.... it seems we are so wasteful now! I no longer buy big packs of stuff... like a container of mushrooms... instead I buy them free flow and buy just 2-3 mushrooms at a time... because if I got a container of 10-12 button mushrooms most would go bad before we used them.... cheese lasts for a long time, so I always buy lots of that at a time, and same with any dairy that has far away dates--- cept we always seem to waste milk too.... Honestly... I dont know how to cut back! LOL

Oh PS: We do also have a Food Saver v *** seal thing.... Like last night, chicken was buy one get one free-- so I came home with like 10lbs of chicken hahaha... that will feed us for months.... freeze it

I will have to invest in a food saver and I WISH our freezer was larger... I have a real hard time with leftover cooked meat because it ends up so dry and I can hardly get it down. That is mostly what gets thrown out. I'm from a poor family and food was the way we showed love. Its also my culture to show love with food (I'm hispanic.) NOONE leaves my house hungry. It was the way I was raised. Doesn't matter if you visit at mealtime or not, we are having a meal! So when I cook, I'm always worried that there isn't enough for everyone to eat. Even if it is just us, I don't want anyone to be hungry. Habits are sooo hard to break. I guess its gonna be something I have to work at.

I was raised that food equaled love also - I do a lot of the things other people have suggested for you - I mesure portions before I cook - if I am making a stew or cassorole I cut stuff up into my 2 quart mesuring cup and stop when it gets full. I make salads into individule bowls. I still bake for my family but I bake, cool, wrap and freeze everything in indivdule protions you say you have a small freezer - if you are buying better quaility foods in smaller quanitys you can do more - skip the cheap stuff in huge boxes most of it is not good for you anyhow. freeze leftovers in the best quaility freezer Ziplocks you can find and freeze them flat - you can stack more in that way I also remind myself I can fix better quality foods in moderate servings and still feed my family with love. I can make things prettyer instead of larger etc. hugs danni striving for moderation in all things