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ARE YOUR EYES more glazed than the ham? Have you opened your belt buckle another notch? Just… one… more… roast… potato.
Christmas is all about abundance and I know that I will have cooked (and bought) far more than we need for the meal on the day itself. That’s not to say that what I’ve cooked is going to waste. Far from it.
Once the food-fog has lifted and there has been a power nap or two on the sofa, it’s time to tackle the leftovers. Here’s what to do!
First things first, invest in a roll of freezer bags. They’ll set you back about €2 in the supermarket.
Vegetables
My absolute favourite thing to do with leftover vegetables is bubble & squeak with a fried egg on top. Stir together mashed potato with chopped, cooked veg, use a little bit of milk to bind it all if it’s too dry, then panfry until crispy on both sides. Serve with a fried egg on top. It’s real traditional Irish food that’s frugal and very, very tasty.
If you have plenty of leftover gravy, stir some meat into the gravy along with cooked vegetables. Pop the lot into a baking dish then sprinkle some leftover stuffing on top. Bake in the oven until crispy and there’s another meal.
Failing all of the above, once cool spoon your leftover vegetables and mash into freezer bags and freeze for another day.
Meat
Well, the ham is the easy part. Chop it up into slices or chunks. Allow about 50g per person as a portion and section out what you have left into meal-sized portions. So, if you have five members in your family, pop approximately 250g into each freezer bag. Once cool, fresh cooked sliced ham will keep for up to two days in the fridge. Everything else can be frozen and reused at a later date.
The turkey takes a little bit more work. The legs in particular have hard sinews so you need to break up the meat into small chunks. It’s not enough just to pull off the meat and store it straight away. Get stuck in and pull all the meat off the carcass. Again allow 50g of meat per person, crucially it doesn’t keep for as long in the fridge, so only leave the cooled meat in there for about a day or so.
Crisps and snacks
The good news is that nachos, crisps, nuts and popcorn have long expiry dates and so will keep grand in sealed containers (or still in their packets) for many months to go. If you have too many crisps or nachos, consider crunching them into crumbs and using the crisps as topping on a pie, though.
Chocolates
Check the expiry dates on the selection boxes – chocolate does go off. On the positive side, it keeps very well in the freezer and makes for an excellent baking ingredient. If you can prise the stockings away from the chocaholic in the family that is.
Dairy
The secret to making these ingredients last longer in the fridge is not to store them on the door of the cabinet. The door is continuously being opened and closed so it’s more prone to temperature fluctuations. Make sure that they’re stored in the main body of the fridge to get the products to last all the way to their expiry date.
If you have far too many of any of these items, then they will also keep for longer if you stick them in the freezer.
Sweets and alcohol
Do you have any leftover sweets or vodka? Now would be a great time to combine them both together and make a sweet infusion for next year.
Now, where did I put my shopping list for 2015?
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Tell this to all the obese ladies out there, it’s gone shocking lately..
Great idea Rory.
The thing is, when all those girls have slimmed down to what you deem acceptable, you unfortunately will still be single on account of the fact that you’re an odious excuse for a man.
Unfortunately Rory is right, it’s a disgrace the amount of obesity in this country and its largely down to laziness, it’s so simple for them to get up of their behinds and go for a walk
Paddy, his comment was aimed specifically at “ladies”. He’s more concerned with aesthetics than the health of the general population.
Maria, I’m afraid there is something slightly wrong with your comment, I have a bodyfat % of 8.5 and a girlfriend who works part time in Abercrombie whilst in college, obesity is down to laziness, you don’t wake up one
morning and realise your massive it occurs through lack of excessive and excessive consumption of unhealthy foods.
Thank you Dr Rory for your professional assessment of the causes of obesity. And as nice as it must be for you to have a girlfriend who works in a clothes shop, I still don’t really see what that has to do with you attacking obese “ladies” specifically.
I don’t know why you aimed your comment at women Rory. Have you not seen all the men with beer bellies protruding over their belts? Obesity doesn’t affect women alone.
Can’t we all just get along <3
We’ll get along when you stop being a misogynist.
I checked with every other man in Ireland and we all agreed to vote Rory out.
Oh I must get off my lazy ass when im finished picking up after my children…. and my fella! Are men exempt from obesity???
It seems so, according to Dr. Rory up there. He has a PhD is misogyny, don’t you know.
Yes, as a man you don’t need to worry about weight, you just need to have a massive cock… ney accent… The girls go mad for it, something about the pronunciation I hear….
Rest assured Rory I have plenty of self respect!!!! Yes I am overweight and yes I do have a gym membership which I use!!! Not everyone is obviously as motivated as you Rory!! Maybe getting up at 5.30am each morning,driving into Dublin City Centre to work in one of the busiest hospitals for hours then to drive home and care for a young family has adequate time to do what you obviously do???? Don’t tarnish obese people with the same brush!!!! Don’t be so narrow minded!!!!! One should wait until they have their own family and see how life changes!
If you work as hard as you say you do then the problem is your diet, if you have self respect you’d make a lifestyle change in what your consuming and maybe you’ll avoid spending most your time in hospital when your older, and I’m not talking about you working in it.
Agree with you Rory, Irish people in general do not look after themselves! We eat and eat, pure crap and do nothing on a daily routine to keep ourselves in shape. It is so different when you go abroad and everyone is normal weight! Too many take aways and too many hot chicken rolls every day for lunch probably do not help! Btw, being over weight is unhealthy and just because you have kids cannot make u overweight :) Kids do not force you to eat crap!!!
To be honest I started off earlier trolling for a few red thumbs off women, but on obesity in Ireland It’s a disgrace, takes 20 minutes of cardio a day to keep active. You need to have a calorie surplus of 3500 to gain one pound and that’s a lot of food. It’s beginning in the children in recent times and the excuse is they want to eat bad food. Stop feeding your kids shite and they won’t be puddings and be bullied for it.
Thanks for the advise. One shall take note of your wonderful expertise!! As it seems you have an answer for everything!!!! As I sign off I’ll pass on some advise of my own. In my 10 years of nursing I can recall hundreds of healthy, fit & active people who have been hospitalised or many that have subsequently died despite their fitness or diet. Maybe we don’t have full control of what the future holds for us!?! I do however understand that it is important to keep fit and be healthy that was never my argument. It was simply that maybe you should refrain from such offensive comments. It’s very easy to pass comment or judgement but be prepared for it in return!
@rory and @Paul, I do agree we are getting more and more obese, however, rory, I’m sure you know its not just ” ladies ” men are obese too.
Gillian, that’s an odd comment from a nurse! Obese people, like smokers, have a much worse health outlook. That’s not to say non smoking normal weight people won’t get ill, it’s just far less likely.
If he says we are obese girls then we obviously are! The mirrors have been lying to us all these years!
‘Ive a girlfriend who works in Abercrombie’. You clown. I think she needs to go to specsavers. Whilst shes there see if she can find you a pair of mens shades. Some people are ‘addicted’ to food, much like alcohol or cigarettes. They get a bit fat, feel down and go back to their addiction for comfort. It’s a wholesale change in education and attitude that will bring about change. 20 min cardio might work for some but it sure wont for others, there’s no quick fix for it.
@Rory For the record Abercrombie have yet to open their store in Ireland, just saying… is you’re girlfriend one of the burly builders…?
‘A calorie surplus of 3500 to gain a pound’ am laughing away to myself. I smell a ‘gym doctor’ here. You know them, all the answers and technobabble you need to get on the front cover of men’s health haha ‘if you pull this bar sideways it’ll actually make your guts spectre an enzyme that puts you off rashers which is why I look awesome’ haha
What a lovely comment Rory!!! I take it you’re single with a comment like that!?!?!? And rightly so too!!! We may not all be as slim as catwalk models but here’s the thing maybe we’re happy in our own skin!!!! People like you make me sick, that you actually think ya have the right to pass comment on others!!! One could search the world looking for perfection but would return empty handed as it does not exist! Maybe think before you speak next time Rory rather than be perceived as a shallow human being!!!! Or is that what you want, attention!?! Get a life!!!!
No I’ve a wonderful girlfriend who has something many women in Ireland lack these days…….self respect. Get off your backsides and do a bit of exercise.
As the oul fella said…. I’m glad I’m perfect!
Yes Rory, of course, weight loss is that simple – what about those people who are unable to exercise to their full capacity due to a long-term injury, what about people undergoing certain treatments in which they have to take massive amounts of steroids which causes massive weight gain, what about young women who’ve fought with bulimia for 20 years and as a result it has messed up their metabolism and their relationship towards food so much they wish it was as simple as a bit of exercise!
The world isn’t black and white Rory and there’s more to life than image. I know skinny size 8 women with high cholesterol and who smoke 40 a day and drink regularly and never exercise yet society and people like you would view such women as healthier than a curvy size 14 women who exercises regularly and eats a balanced diet. Health over image is the key Rory and to tar anyone who’s overweight as lazy is just pure ignorant!
Strange observation Rory, I wanted to say something quite opposite.
I see so many people around me walking, running, exercise etc. I feel bit ashamed I never do it regularly as I used to. I honestly don”t see that many obese people these days, maybe just bit overweight sometimes. But your rant about body fat level, eating, etc. does not work for everyone, as people have different metabolism levels and different gene pools. I know some people who have fried / fast food EVERY lunch and dinner, no exaggeration, and they’re skinny as rake. I need to watch what I eat all the time for a change as I get bigger right away, while I love many foods and can’t really help it :-) Only serious workout can balance this out for me.
I bet you are the type who can eat pretty much anything and stays the same weight so it’s easy to slag people :)
Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels
Sorry typo… should have read as ‘skinny fries,’
obese wimmins coming here, stealing all our food. It’s not right Joe
10. Reward Yourself
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Hmmm off to Burger King? :)
why do I have felling Rory spend more time getting ready for night out than I do. ya PEOPLE are putting on pound but its the life style and ready maid foods Rory just been douch about it. good tips buy way its not easy at start two get in two.
It’s a battle once u give up the cigs tho, so hard to keep the fab at bay
‘Secrete’. I hate auto-correct.
I’m still in shock after reading there’s 600 calories in a portion of prawn crackers :((
Our country is fecked. Cut child benefit, cut social welfare. Put a charge on water that you cannot drink. A charge on a home we’re never gonna be able to pay for.
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